We ourselves, Mrs Susan Constantine and Mr Paul Constantine, are the Registered Persons in Control, live on the premises, and also manage the Home on a daily basis in our positions as Home and Business Managers.
Because both of us have a caring disposition we took the opportunity to purchase The Retreat, as an empty property, that had previously been used as a Nursing Home, to make a living and to provide a loving environment that would promote the maximum independence of each client.
Sue is a State Registered Nurse and had been working as a District Nurse in the community for fifteen years; as well as raising children and working part-time in the evenings and weekends at The Retreat Nursing Home. Paul over the past few years had been a Horticultural Therapist working with children, the elderly, Down's Syndrome young adults and small groups from psychiatric hospitals. He has recently obtained a BSC Honours in Mathematical Sciences from The Open University.
We identify the training needs of all staff and produce individual training plans that are regularly re-assessed every six months at Staff Appraisals. We run a very comprehensive in-house training programme. Most of our staff are studying, or have completed, their NVQ 2 and/or NVQ 3 in Care. Our residents will sometimes join in on some training sessions such as food hygiene, Asthma or Diabetes awareness.
