Peppercorn House, Extra Care

Peppercorn House is an Extra Care service for Older People in Ipswich. Ambient has a staff team of 23, providing care and support to tenants, some of whom are diagnosed with dementia. The tenant’s ability to lead independent lives was severely impacted by the pandemic. Many were self-isolating due to health vulnerabilities and were at risk of social isolation, anxiety, and depression. Staff worked creatively to overcome this changing the way they interacted with people. This included staff working extra shifts, taking on new roles such as inhouse hairdresser and beautician, personal shoppers, IPC leads and housekeeping duties. There was no loss of life at the service due to the virus. However, several tenants died as part of the natural aging process. The team at Peppercorn supported these people in their homes all the way through to End of Life (EoL) by working in partnership with the Suffolk District Nurses. They received recognition for this outstanding care by being given an award from Suffolk County Council in 2021, the first of its kind given to an Extra Care team in the county. The team at Peppercorn demonstrate the very best of what it is to be social care professionals.