Activities at Laurel Bank Care Home

Laurel Bank celebrated the day of love by having a delicious Valentine’s Day meal of smoked salmon with crushed new potatoes and seasonal vegetables followed by homemade chocolate mousse prepared and cooked by Chef Melvin. Staff and residents then went on to play their own version of the hit TV game show Mr. and Mrs., which they dubbed Happy Couples.

Staff and residents teamed up with their paddle boards whilst Laurel Bank’s Clinical Lead, Sally Fisher, hosted the event. A series of questions were asked to each couple and they all answered with their paddles. General Manager, Lyndsay Scott, and Kerry O’Hara, Head of Maintenance, stole the show- they answered every question correctly and won first prize!

Laurel Bank on Westbourne Road in Lancaster passed a recent Care Quality Commission inspection with an overall “Good” rating after being praised for a responsive, safe, effective, caring and well-led service.  The CQC inspected the home on 20th December 2023 the report was released on 5th January 2024 and rated the home, run by Barchester Healthcare, as “Good” overall.

The report stated that there were, “Processes to check continuously by the registered manager to check and maintain people’s welfare.” The report went on to say “People told us that they felt safe living at Laurel Bank. One person said, “Some of the residents can be a bit unsteady but there is always staff in the dining room and lounges.”

Staff at Barchester’s Laurel Bank care home in Lancaster have stepped in to help a local carer in her hour of need.  Tragically, Louise Chambers, who was born and bred in Preston, was recently diagnosed with a brain tumour and told there was no cure.  She is only 44 years of age.  She very quickly started to lose feeling in the left hand side of her body and when she lost the ability to walk, Lou started a go fund me page to try to raise the money she needed to buy an electric wheelchair.  Laurel Bank’s kind-hearted Head of Maintenance, Kerry Ohara, saw the fundraising page and immediately asked the General Manager at the home if they could help.  

Happily, the home had an electric wheelchair that had been left to them by a former resident and they were only too happy to gift it to Lou who is over the moon to be able to regain some of her independence. Lou used to work as a carer for a young boy but sadly her diagnosis has meant that she is no longer able to work.

This is Audrey who lives at laurel Bank. Audrey used to be a teacher for primary school children and one thing she loved to do is read to them. We now encourage Audrey to carry on reading to us. Her favourite book is the owl and the Pussy cat.  Audrey will read to anyone and loves to put on her best story voice for us all.

Residents at laurel Bank love trips out! We took the gentlemen out to Morecambe for a stroll down the prom it was very cold but it didn’t dampen the mood of the fellas. We had a lovely meal at The Bow Window café and enjoyed a nice hot drink to warm us all up.

Staff and residents from Barchester’s care home, in Laurel Bank, joined fellow keen quizzers from over 250 Barchester care homes and hospitals across the whole of the UK, including Wales, Scotland, Jersey and the Isle of Wight, to put their collective general knowledge to the test.

The inaugural Barchester Big Quiz of the Year took place on 9th January 2024 when Laurel Bank got super competitive and took on its sister homes from all over the country to find out which Barchester home or hospital had the best quizzers.  From historical humdingers and musical musings to pictorial puzzlers and connective conundrums, the homes battled it out to find out who would prevail.