Our campaign to have the work of care home nurses, carers and ancillary staff recognized alongside NHS workers has now reached nearly a quarter of a million people. 

Donna Pierpoint, manager of Broomgrove Nursing Home that has worked in health and social care for 26 years, said: “The NHS deserves every ounce of praise they get but I want to remind people that the nurses, carers and ancillary staff in care homes like ours work just as hard and deserve equal thanks.

“We’re turning up for work every day to care for some of the most vulnerable people in society. Few people are more prone to the devastating affects of coronavirus than our residents.”

Nearly two-and-a-half thousand people have now shared Donna Pierpoint’s original Facebook post in support of her campaign. It has now been viewed by nearly a quarter of a million people. 

Broomgrove Nursing Home closed its doors to visitors a few days ago in order to protects its residents.

Donna Pierpoint added: “It broke my heart to see relatives crying when they realised they didn’t know when they were going to see their mums and dads again. But as manager we have to do all we can to keep our residents safe and work within the guidelines we’re given. These are unprecedented times and we’ve had to take unprecedented measures.”

You can join the campaign on Facebook @BroomgroveNursingHome

Broomgrove Nursing Home will be closed to all visitors from this Friday, 20th March, in response to the coronavirus, COVID-19 outbreak. We have taken this action to prevent the potential exposure of the virus to our residents. They are some of the most susceptible to becoming seriously ill and we want to do all we can to prevent the infection from reaching our home. Our priority is, and always will be, the health, safety and wellbeing of our residents, and that of our staff members. We hope you understand that this decision has not been taken lightly. We will still allow visits from medical professionals and deal with emergency situations should they arise. Please be assured that we are taking every necessary step to keep our residents and staff members safe, comfortable and happy, including maintaining our strict health, safety and hand hygiene procedures. We would like to take this opportunity to thank our amazing staff for their support and send love to our residents. Thank you all for your understanding.

A group of Sheffield nursing home residents are helping shape the city’s health services.

Broomgrove – which is sited just off Ecclesall Road – has become the first home in the region to work in partnership with Healthwatch Sheffield on a project run with the city’s Accountable Care Partnership.

The residents chose to look at ways to assess the disabled provision currently offered by the city’s community dentists and opticians as an area to study.

Broomgrove residents have spent the past few weeks working with HealthwatchSheffield’s Laura Cook to produce a comprehensive questionnaire to be given to care home residents across the city.

Donna Pierpoint, the manager at Broomgrove Care Home, said: “Our residents have really appreciated the chance to be involved in something like this. They have a lot to offer and they are keen to see improvements to disabled access to community facilities like this.”

The feedback will inform improvement recommendations to health and care providers and decision makers. 

Healthwatch Sheffield is the local consumer watchdog for health and social care facilities.  It works with adults, children and young people to help them influence and improve how services are designed and run.

Healthwatch’s Laura Cook said: “Living in a care home shouldn’t be a barrier to being heard. The residents of Broomgrove have demonstrated – given the opportunity and support – they can continue to make a positive contribution to society.”