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Enriching life in a beautiful setting

Independent  and family-owned, Birchwood has been offering outstanding care to the elderly for over 30 years at Birchwood House, our beautiful care home in  Speldhurst.

Our dedicated, qualified and experienced staff support residents enabling them to live as fulfilling lives as possible, by providing a safe environment and a variety of activities to engage and stimulate them.   

A true home from home

At Birchwood House Rest Home, our residents are at the heart of everything we do, putting their comfort and independence first. We pride ourselves on our family atmosphere providing a true home from home.

Birchwood House is a former manor house set in nine acres of landscaped gardens in the heart of the Kent Weald. People tell us Birchwood feels like home the minute they step through the front door from the communal and individual rooms and soft furnishings, to wholesome home-cooked food and friendly staff.

Pulling the stops out with Birchwood events

Ensuring everyone enjoys their time in the home is something we work hard to achieve. We hold regular in-house activities and seasonal events and go to great lengths to plan and run these ensuring everyone takes part and has fun.

Birchwood Smiles

At Birchwood, we’re determined to do everything we can to give our residents a personalised approach where we put loving care at the heart of everything we do. Our recently launched Birchwood Promise acts as a constant reminder of what caring at Birchwood means.

Last year we launched Birchwood Smiles.  Every team member wears a lanyard around their neck, with a large picture of their smiling face on it. This helps them engage with residents and clients, even when wearing full PPE. So much of caring is about making a human connection and we want to remind our residents that there’s always a smiling face not far away.

Staying connected

Birchwood House has a supply of tablets for residents to use at any time. We actively encourage residents to stay in touch and video call their families and are always happy to set this up.

Exercise and wellbeing

We understand the importance of exercise and well being at Birchwood. Whilst some of our usual activities were reduced at the start of the pandemic, we’ve been fortunate to keep residents mobile both indoors and outdoors.

We have beautiful grounds at Birchwood, set in 9 acres of the countryside so residents are always able to go for a walk and feel they are escaping the home. Popular walks include a gentle stroll observing all the wildlife and flowers. Our residents love to see all the nature we have the privilege of sharing our home with including deer and rabbits.

If you would like to find out more, book in for a virtual tour or visit our website.



Visit Birchwood House Rest Home


CQC Rating View full report Whats this?

Overall

Good

  • SafeGood
  • Well-ledGood
  • CaringGood
  • ResponsiveGood
  • EffectiveGood
Last CQC report update September 11, 2018 • Listing updated August 29, 2021

Manager: Helen Geer

Provider:

Number of beds: 38

Location Type: ,

Specialisms/services: ,



Accommodation
Ensuite Bedrooms?:YES
Residents may bring: Own furniture
Own decoration
Rooms have: Phone point
TV point
Internet Access
Wheelchair access *: To all floors
Outdoors *: Secure garden
Seating area
Weekly cost: Accept local authority rates
Personal care cost from:£925 per week
Nursing care cost from:£925 per week
Lifestyle
Meals: Meals are Flexible
Meals can be taken in own room
There is a choice of menu
Meals are prepared in the home
Snacks are available at any time
Vegetarians are catered for
Special diets are accommodated for
Activities
Available activities: Entertainment in the home
Regular activities programme
Outings
Location
Location type *:Rural
Near Public Transport:YES
Registration & Specialisms
Care for people who need: Minimal help
Moderate help
A high level of help
Can usually accept people with: Visual impairment
Deafness
Urinary incontinence
Moderate memory problems

Covid-19 Information

We continue to prioritise our residents and staff welfare and safety and this will remain our number one focus throughout 2021 using the latest Public Health England guidance and NHS advice. We monitor the situation extremely carefully on an ongoing basis and consult with healthcare professionals, our staff and our residents’ families before changing our policy. It isn’t a decision we take likely, and all decisions follow a full risk assessment.

We’re hopeful and positive about the future as we feel proud of how we’ve managed a difficult and evolving situation putting in place robust measures and contingency plans from the very outset. We’re proud of everything all our staff have accomplished over the last year and how wonderfully supportive our residents and their families have been.

Welcoming new residents

We’re welcoming new residents into our home and will follow our health and safety Covid-19 onboarding guidelines for all new residents. Health and safety at Birchwood House include a range of one-off and ongoing measures and initiatives.

All vaccinations completed for Birchwood House staff and residents

In a major milestone in the battle against Covid-19, we’re pleased to confirm that staff and residents have now had their second Astra Zeneca vaccine. Whilst this is an important step for Birchwood residents, staff and their families, we continue to adhere to strict infection control procedures for the safety of everyone.

We’re fortunate to have regular visits from local GP’s, usually every Monday and Friday to check upon residents and support anyone who may need it.

Rigorous staff testing three times a week

We have a tight procedure when it comes to testing our staff every week before they even arrive at Birchwood House from their own homes. All staff are tested three times a week.

We have the flexibility for every staff member to test themselves at home twice a week, where they can confirm in 30 minutes, they are negative, providing visual evidence by taking a photograph and emailing in their result to our senior team in advance of arriving for work. A third test, known as the PCR test, is taken and analysed by the NHS with results typically received within 24 hours.

In addition, all residents are once a month.

Ensuring a healthy stock of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

PPE is part of our everyday life. We continue to ensure we have a large reliable supply and were lucky to have close supplier relationships with some of the best suppliers in the country very early on before PPE became mandatory.

Family visits indoors and outdoors

We know how important it is for our residents to maintain close contact and connection with their families too. From 03 May 2021, as per the new government guidance, we’ll be able to offer indoor visits.

These will be closely monitored and a member of staff will be available on hand to ensure these run seamlessly and everyone follows the strict guidelines to protect all our residents and staff. All family members will need to complete a test and have a negative result, before entering the building. They’ll be required to wear full PPE and pre-book their visit and we’ll only be allowing 2 family members/friends to visit the house at any one time. The visit will last for 30 minutes and take place in a designated area. Extensive cleaning will take place before and after each visit. As we’re sure you’ll understand, guests won’t be permitted to walk around the home.

Outdoor visits encouraged

We enabled our care home early on since the pandemic to offer a Covid-secure visiting area for close friends and family and it has proved extremely popular. As such we will continue to offer this facility and it will allow more than the 2 nominated family members to see their loved ones.

Social distancing with non-physical contact is maintained using a perspex divider screen and clear communication achieved using a two-way microphone. Separate entrance and exit points are used by the residents and visitors. This is accompanied by extensive cleaning.

Being able to provide this throughout the pandemic and still keep everyone safe has brought some much-needed joy to all. One family said we had done an amazing job keeping everyone safe, and another said “what we were doing clearly has worked” which means so much to us.

We’re also able to offer general outdoor visits using the same procedures as our indoor visitation from 03 May 2021 allowing closer contact with your loved ones, whilst wearing full PPE.