A Sutton Coldfield care home has been recognised for its standards of person-centred care for veterans.
Care UK’s Mercia Grange, on Lichfield Road, has officially received ‘Veteran Friendly’ status. The Veteran Friendly Framework (VFF) is a collaboration between Armed Forces charities Royal Star & Garter and Royal British Legion, and NHS Veterans’ Covenant Healthcare Alliance (VCHA), with funding support from the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust.
To achieve their Veteran Friendly status, Mercia Grange was required to meet eight standards. These included: noting Armed Forces status within care plans; addressing social isolation; and signposting to support services, such as their local Royal British Legion branch, and other charities that provide support for veterans or partners of veterans.
Mercia Grange supports veterans through a range of activities, including intergenerational history groups. The team also learn about any resident’s armed forces background within a week of the resident moving into the home.
Michael McNelis, Home Manager at Mercia Grange, said: “We’re so proud to have become a VFF-approved care home.
“We pride ourselves on being warm and inclusive to all, and with so many veterans in our home, it was important for us to ensure we can provide the right environment for them to lead fulfilling lives. We’ve learnt so much in the process and have already started implementing activities such as intergenerational history groups.
“The entire team has been working tirelessly to achieve the accreditation, and I’d like to say a big thank you to all of them. We’re looking forward to welcoming more veterans from the community into our home!”
Mercia Grange is a state-of-the-art care home which provides full-time residential, nursing, dementia, and short-term respite care. The three-storey care home, which features 67 en-suite bedrooms, has been designed to enable residents to live active and fulfilled lives, while also promoting independence.
The care home incorporates plenty of space for leisure activities and hobbies, and includes its own cinema, hair and beauty salon and café. Care UK is one of the largest providers of residential care for older people.
As a well-established organisation with over 40 years of experience in caring for older people, we are proud to run more than 150 homes offering both residential and nursing care.
For two years running, Care UK has won more major care sector awards than any other large care home provider.
They also have more outstanding rated homes than any other organisation. Those are just some of the reasons why we’re trusted by more than 8,000 families.
Their care homes provide an impressive range of services for older people, ranging from short stay respite care to nursing care, end of life care, plus specialist care and support for people living with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. They are proud to be building so many modern, luxurious and comfortable new care homes - we have opened 55 new homes since 2013 and expect to open at least 10 more homes between 2025 and 2026 in locations including Yate, Angmering, Wilmslow, Southampton, Saffron Walden, Tring, Birmingham, Stafford and Copthorne.
