Worthing’s Acre Care Home Care given new lease of life as part of Platinum Care Solutions Group

Acre Care Home Care has been supporting the county’s most vulnerable people for a generation, delivering care in the community 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Working with West Sussex County Council, private patients and organisations such as Turning Tides, Acre Care looks after people living with conditions such as dementia or brain injury, those struggling with substance abuse and anybody in need of support to remain independent in their own home.

In April last year the service brought in a new registered manager, Emma McCrory, and four months later became part of the Platinum Care Solutions Group.

While adapting to the demands of the fledgling Covid-19 pandemic, Emma quickly set about developing and restructuring the team of carers.

It is the team, Emma said, that makes Acre Care so special.

“They are brilliant,” she said. “They work together, they communicate so well and are always helping each other out. When we recruit, we are always looking for a special person, someone who has that caring nature who we can nurture and develop.

“It’s not a job for the money – they have got to want to do it, you’ve got to want to help people.

“We want to make someone’s day. Often, that carer will be the only person that service user will see, especially during the pandemic. But that is why we go above and beyond, because we know we are helping somebody.”

Platinum Care Solutions has breathed new life into Acre Care, investing in its team of already experienced carers (some of whom have been with the company for over a decade), through additional training and opportunities to upskill. The staff have seen an increase in salaries and benefits and two long-standing employees have been promoted to the new role of Team Leader.

A co-ordinator has also been brought in to oversee the provision of care and to ensure carers when possible, are assigned to service users based on their personalities.

“Our service is designed to encourage and help clients maintain their independence and enjoy a better lifestyle,” said Emma.

“Getting to know our service users and understanding their needs and wishes is vital to achieving this through developing a tailor-made care plan for them.”

The office in Tarring Road, Worthing, has also had a complete refit, not only to make it Covid-compliant but to give staff somewhere pleasant to relax where they can seek support if required.

The Platinum Care Solutions Group is one of the largest independent care providers on the south coast.

Founded in 2004 by Jo Barry, Platinum Care Solutions started in Portchester as a care and nursing staff agency before adding homecare provision to its service in 2014 and branching into Bognor Regis.

Since then, the business has blossomed through growth and acquisitions, first welcoming Safe Harbour Homecare in Petersfield and now Acre Care in Worthing into the Platinum Care Solutions Group.

Being part of a larger organisation has brought immediate benefits for Acre Care.

With the takeover coming in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic, Acre Care now had access to the PPE, operations teams and safe working protocols of the Platinum Care Solutions Group providing much needed support and advice during a time of uncertainty.

Only one service user and one carer have tested positive at Acre Care since the start of the outbreak, a testament to the stringent safety practices which have since proven incredibly successful.

But the new regime offers even more for the future as we emerge from the pandemic.

Staff now have access to a much wider pool of resources and ideas, allowing the service to offer more specialised care packages and, as a result, support more service users.

More contracts have been secured with the NHS and Acre Care through being part of the Platinum Care Solutions Group now has access to a wider employee database and resource pool meaning that it can expand and explore a raft of fresh ideas

The carers, Emma said, have been reinvigorated. “The excitement that everyone is feeling, and the opportunities that we all have now, are amazing,” she added.

Now Acre Care is looking to the future, with its sights firmly set on expanding the number and variety of service users it can support, the areas it can service and many more years of caring for people in their own home with dignity, respect and kindness.