A purpose built and designed Plymouth Care Home has opened its End of Life and Palliative Care Unit completing the project owners Kevin and Sue Briscoe started over three years ago.

Hartley Park Care Home is a specialist unit caring for people living with dementia but differs from other dementia focussed homes because it has been designed so that residents never have to leave their surroundings no matter what changes there may be in their condition.

Director Kevin Briscoe explained: “So many care homes are located in converted accommodation, albeit some with new built extensions.  However, many have to adapt their service to the space available and to provide the minimum levels of care now required. We were able to use our long experience in care to design and build Hartley Park which we strongly believe is a model for the provision of dementia care.”

The £4 million project involves a total care facility with 66 bedrooms arranged on three floors - 23 bedrooms catering for residential dementia, 23 for nursing dementia and 20 for end of life and palliative care.  Hartley Park employs around 70 staff of all grades including nurses, carers, chefs and cleaners.

Located in a quiet leafy private road on the site of a former school for young disable people, Hartley Park is only a short distance from Plymouth City Centre.  The first resident arrived in early August.

Sue Briscoe said: “We have all the facilities and services you would expect from a modern care home aimed at providing dignity, choice and the very best quality of life for our residents.  We are helped by a very capable and committed staff who understand our culture, aims and objectives and they are led by a wonderfully accomplished and caring home manager in Nicola Kelly.

“Because it has been built to our design, we have been able to create a very light, airy and spacious environment which gives our residents freedom of movement in a safe and comfortable environment.  Each bedroom, for instance is 19.5 square metres which is much, much larger than the legal minimum.  The simple lay out helps people understand where they are and helps them to get around easily and identify which room is theirs and which rooms are for common use.”

Kevin Briscoe added: “We are absolutely delighted with the outcome and would like to thank our professional advisors who made it possible and who are all locally based. Ivan Burnard of chartered accountants Francis Clark LLP provided superb financial guidance, Paul Riley of Christie & Co brought unrivalled knowledge of the care sector to the process and architect Ian Russell of Plymouth based Design Developments Ltd contributed brilliant design concepts.

“We have used Francis Clark for over 15 years and their advice has always been invaluable.  They are very responsive and Ivan Burnard always gets you where you want to go.”

Ivan Burnard said: “Kevin and Sue are passionate about how they want their care home to run.  In achieving the best for their residents they are also achieving the best for their residents’ families and for their own staff.

“At a time when the care sector has received a lot of adverse publicity, it is refreshing to see owner/managers buck the trend by being prepared to invest in their ideas and to take the provision of care forward to new heights.”