Poem by the wonderful Ken Cockburn to sum up the themes, ideas and feelings from the recent National Annual Care Home Convention and Exhibition Friday 18th November at the Hilton Hotel in Glasgow.
Shared Stakes by Ken Cockburn
We’re trying to do things differently this year
It’s always good to ponder what we mean
A shared stake in the success of care
It needs to be done correctly every day
We’re not perfect, I wouldn’t pretend we are
But are we really as good as we think we are?
We all know what the problems are by now
Struggling with constant distractions and urgent tasks
All the uncertainty that goes with that
We know new models are developing
With everyone in the room we’d work this out
Professional loneliness we should avoid
Everyone’s a house with four rooms
They will give us their own perspective on things
I’ve enjoyed my life, apart from this carry on
She gets back to sleep again, he doesn’t
Again a very tangible example
To give that physiotherapy student a glimpse
Doing good things in difficult circumstances
Being able to have the language at those times
Seeing the delight on people’s faces
My grandchildren – thinking about them laugh
Being by the sea and listening to it
This is the kind of thing I’d like to highlight
How do we capture that and then move forward?
Assistance from afar but when you need it
Being hands on, being there for someone
We need to get about it as it’s pressing
Something we need to do across the board
It’s so important that we have that voice
Just some examples that I’ve whistled through
Please do not underestimate what you do
I hope you enjoy the rest of your afternoon.
