OVER 40 staff at a Hexham care home are celebrating after completing 18 weeks of intensive training on dementia care.

The team at Dene Grange care home are among the first tranche of homes run by Four Seasons Health Care to receive the company’s official accreditation under its own Dementia Care Framework.

The framework is aimed at personalising care for people living with dementia by using electronic records to continuously review and update the personal care needs of each resident.

It was developed in response to the Dementia Core Skills Education and Training Framework, which was commissioned and funded by the Department of Health, and officially launched last October.

The 48-bed home offers nursing, residential and dementia care and all staff have now completed training on targeted areas, including communication, activities and resident experience.

Manager Nanette Swan said: “It was a challenging but important process. We used an electronic audit tool to address nearly 200 questions and ensure all of our care plans and supporting documentation met the criteria.

“We’re now the first Four Seasons home in the North-East offering full dementia care to be accredited.”