DEDICATION to helping residents 'live life to the full' has seen staff at an Abingdon care home win a regional award.

The 84-strong team at Bridge House Care Home took home the Putting People First Personalisation Award at the South Eastern Great British Care Awards on Saturday, which pay tribute to those individuals and teams who have demonstrated outstanding excellence within their field of work.

They are part of the Great British Care Awards, a series of nine regional awards celebrating excellence across the care sector.

The Oxfordshire team scooped their accolade after being judged the best care home to demonstrate an innovative approach to empowering their residents to have more control of the support they need in their lives.

Representatives from the team received their trophy at a ceremony held at Brighton Racecourse and the care home will now go through to the national final at Birmingham’s ICC in Spring 2018.

A notable element of the Bridge House submission was its unique ‘Making Every Connection Count Challenge’.

The aim behind this is to ensure that everyone working in the home – from nurses and carers to maintenance and domestic staff – are individually trained, taking into account their differing levels of responsibility and interaction.

Judges were full of praise for the team's efforts, commenting: "This team enables genuine person-centred care.

"They allow residents to live life to the full and get the balance right between risk and choice. A dedicated, person centred team of care professionals."

June Maharaj, home manager at Bridge House said: “This award is so well deserved. Every member of the team is totally committed to our ‘Making Every Connection Count Challenge’ and this continues with every new member of the team.

"The overall objective is to improve communication with residents – particularly those living with dementia – and encourage every member of staff to get to know each and every resident as an individual, ensuring they understand their needs and can help them express their wishes whatever their level of dependency.”