Design and innovation
Enhanced infection control Infection control has always been central to Hallmark’s care provision but in recent months the team has enhanced measures with a pioneering cleaning process sourced from New Zealand. During the pandemic, they started using a spray proven to be 99.9 per cent effective against killing the Covid-19 virus, sanitising and protecting for up to 30 days on surfaces and providing 24 hours protection on skin.
The spray is also environmentally friendly and contains no alcohol or harmful chemicals. This innovative product is now used in conjunction with our rigorous infection control policies and has helped to protect residents and team members from Covid-19 and other viruses including MRSA and E. coli. It could be said Hallmark Care Homes actually builds innovation. Last year, Hallmark made the bold decision to launch care home construction sister company Savista after years of outsourcing their construction.
Future-facing design Drawing on their knowledge of care provision, feedback from residents, and keeping an eye on care trends of the future, Hallmark has created a number of future-facing homes that will deliver the care they believe their residents will be looking for. Hallmark has been recognised on multiple occasions for their meticulous attention to detail and ability to innovate with each new build.
Hallmark has also won the national Pinders Healthcare design award for ‘Best New Care Home’ eight times in just over ten years. Many Hallmark homes appear in the Knight Frank Luxury Care Home Guide each year and Henley Manor,
We hope to run the innovation challenge again next year and build on it by possibly extending it to residents and their relatives, the care industry and potentially university students
our facility in Henley-on-Thames, has recently been shortlisted for two awards including the Knight Frank best luxury care home of the year and a Society of British International Interior Design (SBID) international design award. Henley Manor, which opened in January, features coloured and textured walls chosen specifically for their benefits to those residents living with dementia and has several facilities to help their well- being and encourage reminiscence, including a sensory room, farmhouse kitchen, hairdressers, cinema and café. Hallmark, in partnership with Savista, has been able to make their mark on care home design and include features to meet the evolving needs of residents and incorporate them into their homes. Prominent features in Hallmark Care Homes now include multiple activity areas for residents such as craft, sensory and music rooms, kitchen areas being installed at the heart of the home to help with logistics, larger windows and enhanced use of natural light including circadian lighting in their recent builds, and easy access to outdoor spaces for all residents. We have also introduced environmental features such as combined heat and power boilers to convert heat from the building that would otherwise be wasted when generating electrical or mechanical power.
Technological progress Technology is increasingly playing a part in the world we live in and Hallmark, in conjunction with Savista, are constantly looking at new technology we could incorporate into our homes to improve the wellbeing of residents and keep them safe. For example, they are currently trialing an acoustic monitoring system that alerts care teams remotely through an app when residents are restless or up and active.
The monitor builds a profile of the resident by collecting data and when changes are identified from normal patterns of activity an alert is sent to the app and dashboard in real-time. In addition, data is recorded showing performance and nature of response, which is useful to know from a management perspective. What is really special about this technology is that it filters out background noise including corridor noise, airplanes and other noise that is not connected to the resident’s profile. Within three nights, the app has fine- tuned the residents’ movements, motions and routine.
This provides the resident with a greater sense of privacy and decreases the likelihood of the resident having a disturbed sleep because team members do not have to physically enter a residents’ room to check they are alright.
Encouraging ideas
Hallmark actively encourages team members to contribute ideas to improve their services and methods used. I was recently recruited by Savista and Hallmark to drive further change by coordinating an innovation challenge designed to give employees from all areas of the company the opportunity to put forward their ideas and solutions with the aim of improving Hallmark’s care provision across their current and future businesses.
Since implementing this challenge in June, there has been a great response, with a total of 269 ideas submitted, both big and small. A rigorous process was put in place to judge the entries by the senior
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