St Elizabeths Centre Annual Report End Dec 2022 FINAL - Flipbook - Page 6
Joint statement from Chair of Trustees and Chief
Executive
Christopher Kemball (Chair)
Jill Rankin (CEO)
We have this year changed the format of our report and accounts
to explain in more detail the transformation which St. Elizabeth’s has
undergone, the services we now provide and the outcomes we have
achieved for our residents, together with some personal stories.
Closure of the Adult Home
The values on which we base our behaviours and decisions are
compassion, joy, collaboration, creativity and aspiration. These values
have served us well during the past few testing years. The Covid
pandemic has severely affected all charities in the care sector and we
were not alone in experiencing severe staff recruitment and retention
shortages once lockdown ceased and the economy opened up, despite
having lost only one resident to the virus. This meant that, throughout
late 2021 and 2022, we were struggling to maintain adequate staf昀椀ng
levels which had negative effects on training, management oversight
and ultimately our ability to provide safe and secure services to our
residents. As well as the Board and senior management, our regulators
and providers were concerned at the likely deterioration in the quality
of our services and our safety record which led to Inadequate ratings
from both CQC and Ofsted.
In early 2022, and having determined that the outlook for staff
recruitment was unlikely to improve in the foreseeable future, the
Board took the very dif昀椀cult and heart-breaking decision to close the
Adult Home by the end of November 2022. By doing so, we would be
able to reposition the services on our parkland site at St Elizabeths as
primarily an educational and skills charity. We continue to focus on those
with epilepsy and related conditions. The care and support services
we now provide to adults are in community settings, at our Bishop’s
Stortford Windhill site, and through our onsite Day Opportunities
provision. These offer as much independence as possible to the adults
we continue to support.
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