Blesma Blackpool offers ‘Gold Standard’ care to injured military veterans

3 October 2013

Blesma Blackpool has been recognised for the quality of care it provides to its residents for the second time.

London based military charity Blesma, The Limbless Veteran’s residential home in Blackpool has been awarded the ‘Beacon Status’ Gold Standards Framework in Care Homes (GSFCH) Reaccredited Quality Hallmark Award three years after they were first recognised, for the excellent way they care for their residents.

Blesma Blackpool is one of 25 homes to have received this award which was presented at the Ninth GSF Annual Conference in London on 27 September 2013. The awards are endorsed by all major care homes’ organisations and Skills Academy for Social Care.

Jacqui Longden, Home Manager Blesma Blackpool says: “The team here is over the moon to have received the coveted ‘Beacon Status’. The recognition goes a very long way in boosting the morale of the staff here who work tirelessly to ensure the highest possible care is offered to injured veterans who have served the Crown. We promise to continue to provide the best for the best.”

Blackpool home provides 24 hour nursing and residential care for Blesma Members who require permanent, convalescence or respite, accompanied or unaccompanied by partners. The qualified nursing and care staff are supported by a local doctor and health care practitioners.

Maggie Stobbart-Rowlands, GSFCH lead, said the success of these 25 care homes demonstrates that GSF provides care homes and their residents with a long term, sustainable care model.

“Homes like Blesma Blackpool are a beacon for others to follow as they are providing the right care, in the right place, at the right time, offering their residents the sort of care we would want for ourselves or our loved ones.”

GSF is the UK’s most widely used end of life care training programme. The GSF Quality Hallmark Award is recognised externally as a means of objective quality assurance by the Care Quality Commission and by commissioners – GSF is now used as part of the Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulation process for care homes.

Blesma, The Limbless Veterans was born as a result of The Great War of 1914, and has continued to support service men and women to look beyond their injury and live fulfilling lives. It is a national charity for all limbless service men and women, their widows and dependants. It became a national charity in 1932.

For more information on Blesma Blackpool, please visit /what-we-do/blesma-blackpool/?returnto=1

-ENDS-

Notes to Editor

Hi-res images can be downloaded from the links below
Blesma Blackpool /media/8082/blesma_blackpool_home-0028.jpg

About Blesma, The Limbless Veterans
Blesma, The Limbless Veterans is the national charity for all limbless serving and ex service men and women, their widows and dependants. It is a membership organisation which helps wounded service men and women rebuild their lives by providing rehabilitation activities and welfare support. Their membership includes those who have lost the use of a limb, an eye or the sight of an eye.

Blesma was formed in the years following the First World War and became a national charity in 1932. Blesma today has over 4000 Members and widows. The membership consists of men and women who have served during the Second World War and the many subsequent conflicts and peacekeeping operations since, including the Falklands, Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan.

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