New build


event for local businesses, which Charlotte explains help to create referral routes when customers or clients start asking, “We’re struggling with Mum – where do we go?” Meanwhile the team are building


“relationships with neighbouring homes”, including residential providers, to support smooth transitions as residents’ needs change, adds Donna, who says reciprocation is important. “The older generation we care for now are


the VE Day generation, “she says. “Their parents were in those institutional


homes where everyone sat in one room watching the same TV. We have to break that stereotype by showing people something different.” Social media is part of that transparency.


Even with just a handful of residents, Heathfield Rose’s feeds are “full of activity and interaction”, offering a window into daily life for prospective families and the wider community.


Purpose-driven digital innovation Macc Care has committed to “avoiding paper-plus-digital ‘dual systems’”, which can create serious governance risks, explains Charlotte. At Heathfield Rose, all care plans and


records are digital, time-stamped and fully archived. Medication is managed through electronic medication administration records (eMAR)” – no paper drug charts, and audits are completed and stored online, rather than being printed, filed and forgotten. Meanwhile, visitor management is digital,


replacing handwritten sign-in books. Charlotte says she is particularly


passionate about eliminating pockets of paper that linger around supposedly digital homes. “Ten years ago, when we first moved to


online care plans, people kept fluid charts and turning charts on paper ‘just in case’,” she recalls. “Half the evidence ended up on paper, half on the system – and things got lost. That’s not safe.”


QR codes, COSHH and AI on the horizon Working with a major cleaning and chemicals supplier, Macc Care is also piloting “QR-code–based COSHH compliance”, says Charlotte, which means “staff can scan a code on the cleaning trolley to bring up “risk assessments, usage instructions and safety data”. She adds she has pushed the supplier to go


further and “embed cleaning schedules” into the same system, eliminating the traditional


Just because you’re old doesn’t mean you can’t do the things the rest of us take for granted


bulging folders of paper tick-sheets. More broadly, the group is exploring AI


and automation to handle routine tasks – from certain aspects of documentation to parts of housekeeping – with the explicit aim of “freeing staff for ‘the business of caring’”, not replacing them. “Every care home wants AI to free people


up for the residents,” says Charlotte. “That’s the measure – does it give us back time at the bedside?”


IPC built into the fabric Post-Covid, infection control is paramount – and runs through the building at Heathfield Rose. Doors throughout are fob-controlled


reducing touchpoints and allowing very specific access – right down to a relative’s fob working only on the floor where their loved one lives; hands-free taps and sanitiser units are standard, with front-of-house dispensers styled in stainless steel to avoid the institutional look; Ozone decontamination is used in sluices, and under-floor heating and fully built-in wardrobes minimise trip hazards and dust traps. The layout allows for “rapid


compartmentalisation” of areas, drawing directly on lessons from Covid about how


to safely cohort residents during outbreaks, says Charlotte.


Outdoors, views and biophilia Across the home, residents have “meaningful” access to nature, says Charlotte. This means many lounges and some bedrooms open directly onto balconies or garden areas, while views over neighbouring “fields, horses and alpacas” provide year-round visual stimulation. The garden has been heavily


re-landscaped to create “level, accessible pathways” and will soon feature pergolas and additional planting. With a second complex dementia centre


opening and at least four more homes planned, Macc Care’s model of “clustered, clinically led, digitally enabled growth” is one to watch. In Shirley, though, the impact is simpler


to see. A problematic pub site has become a place where older people can live “on their own terms”, supported by a team whose passion for detail ranges from the right hand-sanitiser casing to making sure a frail grandmother makes it to one last family wedding. For a sector still fighting outdated


perceptions, that’s a powerful story to tell. n July 2026 www.thecarehomeenvironment.com 17 Donna with resident


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