New opening
plenty of time for Bluebell View to establish itself as part of the community, which is very important for Michelle and the rest of her team.
“It’s all about enriching lives and living,”
says Michelle. “It’s about people socialising, about stimulation, about still having the freedom of access, to be able to go out into the community, and then community groups coming in and spending time with us. “We’ve got the community centre just across the way, and they are working with us – they’re spending time here and residents have gone over there. So, if they’ve got anything going on, they’ll invite us, and vice versa,” she continues. “We want to be the heart of the community.” Currently, Michelle and the team are offering what will eventually become the dementia floor of Bluebell View as a community hub, an initiative that has proved popular (Michelle: “We have had Help the Aged come in. We’ve had mother’s meetings with support from the church. We’ve had volunteer groups from Qube, which is a big community charity within the town.”). More importantly, the groups that have utilised the space have reciprocated with invitations for Bluebell View residents to visit them in return, building and strengthening the home’s community links ever further. Of course, the home offers plenty of in- house activities for residents to enjoy, from cinema nights to morning chair exercises, and – for better or worse – a selection of traditional ‘classics’: “I always said I never want to hear ‘bingo!’ again,” says Michelle, “but I can’t rule that out, unfortunately, because the residents request it!”
Technology and build The building development and progression was overseen by HC-One’s Richard Smith, director of design and construction, and Gordon Asher, senior development manager. Completion of Bluebell View was subject to a modest delay, with the projected December 2023 opening slipping to April. Michelle explains: “We did have some difficulties with the grounds work at the rear end of the home – there was some extra drainage that needed to be incorporated into it, which wasn’t identified initially, and that slowed things down … We had a few problems with contractors – only because the town is relatively small, so they have to source further afield, so that did take a little bit of time.”
I ask Michelle and Jodie about the role environmental sustainability played in the build of Bluebell View. While the home does not currently feature heat pumps, EV charging, or solar panels, HC-One and the Bluebell View team are keeping such things under discussion, and I am told that EV charging infrastructure is in place beneath the car park, ready for when the time is right to install charging stations for guests’ and residents’ cars.
Nonetheless, when it comes to
incorporating the latest technology, Bluebell View and HC-One are keen to implement and consider new solutions if they can be shown to have a benefit for residents. Currently, Bluebell View uses a call bell system courtesy of DNS Solutions, which Michelle tells me is “fantastic”, and, being a new build, safety technology such as acoustic monitoring could be installed relatively easily as and when the needs of residents – particularly those living with
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www.thecarehomeenvironment.com November 2024
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