Service : Care Home Support Team
Service overview
Our service Care Home Support Team also known as CHST.
We support your care home staff in the vital work they do to improve the wellbeing of residents.
We can also build your team’s skills and confidence by provide training sessions suited to their needs.
Training
Training is provided by our multidisciplinary team which includes specialists from nursing, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, speech and language therapy, pharmacy, dietetics, and palliative specialist nursing.
Please view a list of all virtual training offered to Berkshire Care Homes. If you are a Berkshire Care Home and would like to join the training, please get in touch.
Virtual training we offer (CHST) - 2025
File size: 104KB
Virtual training
If you’re a Berkshire Care Home and would like to join the training, contact our teams to find out more.
East Berkshire Care Homes
(Bracknell Forest, Slough, Windsor and Maidenhead)
West Berkshire Care Homes
(Reading, West Berkshire and Wokingham Council)
Further training
We can also provide targeted and bespoke support to residents and staff with more complex needs, over a longer ongoing period.
- Development and ongoing support of care home staff champions around key areas like pressure damage, dementia, falls
- Support care home staff to make appropriate referrals to other services
- Mental health assessments with a focus on psycho-social interventions
- Encouraging person-centred approaches through MDT (Multidisciplinary Team) support
- Liaise with local hospitals, identifying residents admitted from care homes and provide support to facilitate timely discharge
Accessing our service
To be referred to our service, you can contact us directly
West Berkshire provides a direct patient service for postural management, and palliative (end-of-life) support.
We may also be able to signpost you to other support services. You can learn more about different services by visiting their service page, where you can find out more about how to access them.
Training
We can build your team’s skills and confidence by provide training sessions suited to their needs.
Training is provided by our multidisciplinary team which includes specialists from nursing, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, speech and language therapy, pharmacy, dietetics, and palliative specialist nursing.
Care homes can contact our team on an ongoing basis, as and when issues arise.
View our training courses by downloading what we offer.
If you’re a Berkshire Care Home and would like to join the training, contact our teams to find out more.
Contact us and FAQs
East Berkshire Care Homes
(Bracknell Forest, Slough, Windsor and Maidenhead)
West Berkshire Care Homes
(Reading, West Berkshire and Wokingham Council)
We can also help you with
Is there any information for friends, family and carers?
If you’re a family member/carer or you look after someone, there’s practical, financial, and emotional support available to you from a range of local communities and national organisations.
How do I request an interpreter?
We can provide language translation and interpretation support whenever you visit or contact us.
Tell our staff which language you prefer to use, and we will make sure the right communication support is in place for your assessment and treatment. Please let us know as early as possible so we can ensure the appropriate translation or interpreting support is available.
We offer a range of professional services to ensure everyone can understand and be understood:
- telephone interpreting
- video remote interpreting (VRI)
- face‑to‑face interpreting
- written translation
- British Sign Language (BSL) interpreting
How can I get information in an accessible format?
Anyone with a disability, impairment, or sensory loss has the right to receive information in a format that meets their needs. Under the Accessible Information Standard (AIS)—a legal requirement for all health and adult social care providers—we must ensure that people who use our services, including carers and families, can understand the information we provide and communicate effectively with us.
We can offer information in a range of accessible formats, including:
- British Sign Language (BSL)
- large print
- braille
- audio
- easy Read
- text message
- face‑to‑face support with a carer or advocate present
If you need information in any of these formats, please tell a member of our team and we will make sure your communication needs are met.
Are service dogs allowed to my appointment?
Yes. You are welcome to bring your registered service animal, such as a guide dog, hearing dog, medical alert dog, or other trained assistance dog to your appointment.
These animals are recognised as essential support and are permitted in most areas of our services.
To help us prepare, please let the team know before your appointment if you will be attending with a service animal. This allows us to make sure the environment is safe and comfortable for you, your animal, and other patients.
Please note that service animals may not be able to enter certain restricted clinical areas for safety or infection‑control reasons, but we will always work with you to find an appropriate alternative.
Treating our team with respect.
Respect is important.
We will be polite and kind and we expect that you treat our staff in the same way.
Abuse, hate and discrimination against our staff is unacceptable.
We will take strong action against anyone who is verbally, racially, physically, or sexually abusive to them.
This includes contacting the police to prosecute, and stopping future access to our healthcare services.
External support
Dietetics
The Food Services Specialist Group and Older People Specialist Group of the Association of UK Dieticians (BDA) have worked with the National Association of Care Catering to develop the first menu planning and food service guidelines for care homes for older adults.
The menu helps residential and nursing care homes provide high quality food and drink services for residents in their care.
Visit the BDA website for practice resources for care home teams.
Equipment
Guidelines Insertion Of Slide Sheets And Hoisting Into Chair - CHST service guide
Komfitilt 3 Vikta - CHST service guide
File size: 182KB
Seating advice - CHST service guide
File size: 221KB
Toto Lateral Turning System - CHST service guide
File size: 165KB
Palliative (End of Life)
Eating And Drinking Towards End Of Life
Patient Just In Case (JIC) Medications
Syringe Pumps - CHST service guide
File size: 133KB
Postural
Dorset Healthcare University NHS Foundation Trust have produced a video for carers to highlight the risks associated with the development of joint contractures and practical preventative steps.
Contracture support
File size: 205KB
Postural Care - CPD for Practitioners
File size: 370KB
Feedback
We’d love to hear from you!
How was your experience with the Care Home Support Team?
Your thoughts help us understand what we’re doing well and where we can improve, so we can keep providing the best possible support.