Dedication and hard work pays off
Excellence in leadership, innovation and service delivery to older homeless people was what gave Mission Australia’s Charles Chambers Court the leading edge in deciding the 2011 HESTA and Aged & Community Service Australia (ACSA) National Organisational Award winner on Tuesday (13 September 2011).
Excellence in leadership, innovation and service delivery to older homeless people was what gave Mission Australia’s Charles Chambers Court the leading edge in deciding the 2011 HESTA and Aged & Community Service Australia (ACSA) National Organisational Award winner on Tuesday (13 September 2011).
The inner-city homeless aged care facility competed against mainstream aged care and was awarded the prize for its excellent skills in people management, training, customer service, the environment and stakeholder communications.
Charles Chambers Court provides modern, stable and secure accommodation and care for elderly or frail people living on the street or to those moving through crisis accommodation.
The facility’s service manager, Jill Bicknell, accepted the award on behalf of the service and told guests training, attracting and keeping high-quality staff was central before the services’ success.
“Because our staff turnover is so low, at just 3% a year, we have a very stable base for delivering quality and dedicated care to our residents,” Ms Bicknell said.
From 2001 to 2006, the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed a 33% increase in the number of homeless New South Wales people aged 55 years and over.
“For this reason, Charles Chambers Court is a much-needed aged care facility servicing the needs of the aged homeless,” Ms Bicknell claimed.
“This permanent accommodation for our residents is, in many cases, the first real home they have had for many years,” she added.
As the national winner for this category, Charles Chambers Court received a trophy and $10,000 from ME Bank to spend on residents and the facility.
“You just don’t win an award like this without the dedication and hard work of staff who look after a particularly difficult client group, and do so with immense dignity and respect. They do such wonderful work – I honestly can’t say enough about my staff,” Ms Bicknell said.
