Butler Green, Oldham’s enhanced intermediate care unit, will be celebrating its 10th anniversary on Saturday 7th August with an afternoon tea party for patients and staff.
Butler Green is a multi-award winning facility that offers patients a caring and supportive environment in which to recover before returning home either after a stay in hospital or an admission from home. The unit houses a multi-disciplinary team of nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, GPs, social workers, therapy assistants, assistant practitioners, catering staff and healthcare assistants who work together to support and plan a safe discharge home for patients.
The team will be celebrating the landmark occasion with a visit from Mark Warren, Managing Director of Community Services and Adult Social Care and a range of activities, including a bake off. They will be reflecting on a decade of caring for vulnerable patients in Oldham, particularly the past 18 months, which have seen the team overcome some new challenges, which have emerged as a result of the COVID pandemic.
Ever since the unit was set up in 2011, the Butler Green team have set the benchmark for similar providers and shown innovation in the way they work, and this has resulted in multiple awards for the team. The unit was one of the first care facilities in the North West to offer IV services to patients and their efforts to provide the best possible care continues to be recognised with the many awards to unit wins. Over the past year alone, the unit has won three awards from Healthwatch Oldham, including the People’s Choice Award.
Mark Warren, Managing Director of Community Services and Adult Social Care in Oldham, has congratulated the team. He said: “Happy 10th Anniversary and huge congratulations to the Butler Green team. Thank you for all the fantastic work you continue to do to rehabilitate and support some of Oldham’s most vulnerable patients. The care the team provides is invaluable in helping many patients to be safely discharged back home.”
David Jago, Chief Officer and Director of Finance at Oldham Care Organisation, said: “Butler Green is such an integral part of the local community and the services we offer patients in Oldham. The team do an amazing job. Happy 10th anniversary and thank you for everything you do.”
Butler Green is a special place, reflected in the fact that many of the original team who joined the unit when it first opened are still in post and also in the close relationships that the team have been built up with patients over the years. Many former patients are part of the unit’s Friends of Butler Green Group and continue to visit the team each year for their Summer and Christmas Fetes.
Vicki Elcock, Head of Service at Butler Green, has been with the unit since the start. She said: “We are thrilled to be celebrating 10 years of Butler Green. We’ve seen many changes and challenges over the years, none more so than over the past 18 months with the COVID pandemic. I am incredibly proud of how the team have developed and adapted over the years to meet the needs of our patients and the local community. We have a fantastic team who really pull together in times of crisis. They always care for our patients with a big smile, even during the toughest of times. I really couldn’t be more proud. Here’s to the next 10 years!”