Priory Adult Care (formerly Amore Care) has won the ‘Excellence in Training’ award at the 2015 LaingBuisson Awards ceremony in London.

The prestigious event, one of the main highlights in the health sector calendar, celebrates the achievements of independent healthcare providers who are ‘best in class’.

The 2015 competition was fierce, with submissions significantly up on last year, but despite this Priory Adult Care (formerly Amore Care) beat seven other finalists to the top spot in the ‘Training and Rehabilitation’ category - winning important recognition for its work.

Specifically, the award celebrates Amore’s exceptional dementia care training.

Its ‘Creative Minds’ programme, which has received university accreditation, supports people with dementia to live their lives to the fullest capacity.

It focuses on understanding the impact of dementia on the person and family, enabling positive experiences for people living with dementia, understanding stress and distress reactions in dementia, and promoting dignity and respect for all those living with dementia.

Creative Minds is available for all Amore care home staff and offers participants a variety of ways to learn, including active participation, best practice films, exercises, presentations, theory and reflective learning.

Adrian Pancott, CEO of Amore Care, said: “It is an absolute honour to be part of Amore and it is wonderful to receive this external recognition. We set very high standards for ourselves and that does not make life easy, however we were also recognised as the UK’s most outstanding residential care service in 2014 at the Global Over 50’s Housing Awards.

“This latest award centred on our exceptional dementia care training - Creative Minds - and I am very proud to be leading the people who make Amore what it is.”

Stephen Amos, Dementia Lead at Amore Care said: “Creative Minds gives a clear message that people with dementia can contribute, be purposeful, can engage and be active, can share emotions and develop relationships. Our absolute belief is that people living with dementia need to be valued, with a continued role and purpose in life, need a sense of belonging within their care home community, need to feel they are loved and need to have meaningful engagement, activity and occupation.”

The annual awards are hosted by Laing Buisson, a highly regarded provider of market intelligence on the independent health, community care and childcare sectors.

The quality and dedication on display among the finalists was “astounding”, according to the healthcare consultancy which celebrates its tenth year of acknowledging and spotlighting the expertise and successes of independent and charity sector providers operating in UK healthcare services.

Since its beginnings in 2006, the awards programme has celebrated the work of a large number of organisations dedicated to innovation and high quality delivery in UK healthcare.

Award winners were announced at a Gala Dinner at the London Lancaster Hotel, hosted by Michael Portillo, the broadcaster and former Cabinet Minister.

This year’s board of judges included: Lene Gurney of the Association of Independent Healthcare Organisations (AIHO); Dr Judith Brown of the National Autistic Society; Howard Lyons of Healthcare UK and Matt James of the Private Hospital Information Network (PHIN) and Dame Donna Kinnair of the Royal College of Nursing.

LaingBuisson CEO William Laing said: “Over the past decade it’s given me great pleasure to recognise and reward the invaluable contribution that private, independent and voluntary sector providers make to this economy. This special 10 years of excellence awards was a truly unique occasion for leaders across the industry to gather on a single evening and celebrate the best in ability, performance and achievement.”

He said it was a chance for himself and LaingBuisson to apply over 30 years’ of experience immersed in independent healthcare to say “yes, these are the best in show”, whether in acute services, care of older people, dementia, homecare, learning disabilities, mental health, residential care or supported living”.

For more information on the specialist services Priory Adult Care can offer, please call the enquiries and referrals team on 0808 208 2147 or click here to make an enquiry.