Care Home Xmas Gifts

Great thanks for that

my mum has been there years and I like to think I have a very good relationship with the staff they call us one big family and are always very kind to me so I try and be nice back

sorry you feel like that in you work peoples like me must frustrate you

I own and manage a care home. Gifts are not expected, but anything that is given is gratefully received. Not sure if other homes do this but any gifts we receive I put a raffle ticket on and the staff all take a ticket so they all get a gift to take home. If there aren't enough for one each I buy extra to make sure everyone has a gift. Anything which is given to me I pass onto the staff. This way it means that all the staff get a gift rather than just those that are on shift the day the box of chocolates come. Cans of drink are also loved !

We gave ours a coffee machine one year for the staff room so they could all bring in their own pods if they wanted to. That went down really well.

I was a hospital ward manager for a number of years and staff were always grateful for any gifts (chocolate/biscuits etc) but we had an ex patient who was a green grocer and once a year he bought us a huge hamper of fruit which the staff loved. If you go with fruit choose things that don't need to be cut up (avoid melons/pineapples etc) and go with things that can be eaten individually.

I always buy a case of mixed beers and ciders for the staff to share out. They seem happy with that (one lady said it was a nice change because they get loads of chocs)

I cornered a few other relatives I recognise at my Nana's care home, and managed to organise 5 families putting in £20 each so we had £100, and giving them £100 vouchers for a local pizza place, so that staff can order in pizzas on their shifts. They had LOADS of boxes of chocs from other families already, so I thought it might be nice to try something different!

we have 74 apartments.. Most gifts are multiples so already looking at 148+
i think most people are sick of xmas choc by January..
Its abit like buying teachers best teacher mugs at the end of a school year .. you can only home so many .

we have some who do that and its always really appreciated. Thank you x

Whilst I agree with @pavillion1 that people shouldn't be giving more to the managers than the other staff, I don't understand the feeling that they could be 'over-run' with chocolates and biscuits . Most will have a decent best-before date on them so it's not as if they need eating by the end of December and if there really are that many, then each member of staff takes one home to share with their family, as we used to do in my office . Given the number of staff at the home my parents were in, which far exceeded the number of residents I'm surprised there would even be that many.

What would you suggest as a better gift then @pavillion1 ?

We weren't allowed to accept individual gifts anyway when I worked in a care home. They had to be handed in and redistributed by management. Which was shit. so we used to sneak them out and hope no one checked

I'd have been really insulted if management got nice presents and we only got chocs to share. Not because I'm ungrateful, but because we were the ones doing the daily grind.

I have some cash for their Christmas social. No idea if that's wanted or not tbh but they can spend it as they wish. Gave it to the lead nurse on shift.

But they are not going to tell you what they really think now are they 😳

I always take tub of chocs and box of biscuits in
Staff are always happy with this and I see everyone eating them so I guess every home is different but I know mum home is always happy with this cos they have tell me

I bought a tray of cupcakes when my mum was in a home and they went down well

Make sure your managers know! I asked our (very hands on) manager and she was adamant that chocs were best

Best for who though ? We are quite a healthy bunch so we would never get through that many chocolates in a year ..

I took in a couple of boxes of wrapped chocolates/ biscuits and a Christmas card which always gave my thanks to the staff . Left them with the managers office on mum's floor.

How do you identify them all? I know some of the day staff, and the laundry lady, and the cooks, but I don’t know the night staff

Make sure your managers know! I asked our (very hands on) manager and she was adamant that chocs were best

I gave my stuff mid-January, to help people stagger through the next couple of months before the spring without all the excitement of Christmas.
Card and thank you before Christmas.
My mum’s care home was thousands of pounds a month, with actual workers on low wages and still providing wonderful, individual care. I was very grateful, why should they be?

Forget about presents. Send each of the carers who works with your dad an individual card with Christmas wishes and a personal message of thanks and appreciation for all that they do. I honestly think that will mean more to them than a few chocolates.

Im not trying to sound ungrateful but if you could only see the amount of Quality street and Roses we have already and tbh it goes straight to the food banks come january 1st..
Im not asking for wine either just pointing out how it makes us feel.

I don’t think @pavillion1 is being ungrateful, OR suggesting that you should be buying them all wine, but is feeling that you see the managers more worthy of “more” of a gift than the care staff, who are generally the ones on minimum wage, amd are the ones doing the direct care for residents

Pavillion doesn’t sound ungrateful to me, just a foot soldier who is the one putting in the 1:1 support whilst being nagged by the managers to do more, better and for less. Then come Christmas, it’s the managers who get the thanks and wine.

I did a hamper.
Tinned drinks like coke and lemonade
Energy bars for when you don’t get time for a proper break
hand creams lip balms
Crisps, biscuits in individual packets
Black biros because they were always elusive
Ask the staff what’s useful and what they’d like in the staff/break room.