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Words from The Judges

With a 110% can-do attitude, Emma streamlines processes, innovates, and supports her staff team. Her fantastic rapport with clients and exceptional multitasking skills have transformed systems and the business. Emma’s impactful contributions, energy, and professionalism make her truly deserving of recognition for her outstanding contributions.

Words from the winner, Emma Jones

I was thrilled to hear that I have been selected as a finalist for the Awesome Administrator Award and to be recognised for the work I love doing. I have worked at Wright Care at Home for 2 ½ years now and I am so proud to be part of this fantastic team.

On the 14th June 2024 we attended The Stars of Cocial Care Awards hosted by the lovely Josie Gibson!

A fantastic evening celebrating exceptional people in the ‘Home Care’ industry.

CONGRATULATIONS EMMA!

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Donna from Wright Care at Home was chosen as our May Star Carer as her customers continually praise her for how calm, friendly, efficient and caring she is. She continually works around the clock putting her customers’ needs above her own to ensure they are safe. She has also helped one of her clients find relief during a period of grieving. She is described as amazing by her colleagues.

What was your reaction to winning CareLineLive’s May Star Carer Award?

I was very surprised and I was shocked but it was lovely. I am really pleased.

What aspects of being a carer do you enjoy?

I love all of it and I have been doing it for 2 ½ years. I love hearing all clients’ life stories – they teach you so much. I love meeting new people and making a difference to their lives – allowing them to stay in their homes and be independent. It’s also nice to see the smiles on their faces when you walk through the door.

I just enjoy it as every day is different.

How does CareLineLive’s Carer Companion App help you in your job?

The CareLineLive app is good as it has all the things that you need to do your job, for example the tasks and the medication that needs to be given – so you know what you need to do at each of the calls. It also includes history from previous visits so you know what is going on with each customer.

You can get handover notes from other carers so things that need to be done don’t get missed plus we have all the information about the next of kin so we can contact them if necessary.

What are the challenges in your role?

It can be up and down, end of life care is so emotional – it’s really hard, but it is a privilege to be there and look after them.

How do you switch off after a hard day at work?

It varies and depends on what time I finish my shift.

I sit down with a cup of coffee and watch the telly and chill out.

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Music enthusiast Phil expressed to the care team Supervisor at a review he would like to see ‘Level 42’ live in concert. They were touring and with the support of the team at Wright Care at Home, they made it happen.

The ethos of the home care provider is to promote independent living and to focus on the hobbies, beliefs, and loves of each individual to enhance their daily lives.

With positive risk assessing and careful planning nothing is off-limits. The team really cares and wants to make a difference.

This was an example of just that.

Claire ensured she had access to the concert, the correct transport, and planning to ensure Phil had a lovely time.

All our customers are assigned a key carer to support them within the community. This allows a holistic and person centered approach to care. Bringing social and health care together is a goal that Wright Care has always strived to.

Following the concert, we spoke to Phil

‘I had a fantastic night at the Level 42 concert last night. Claire looked after me brilliantly and she is a credit to your company. Well done Claire and thank you Wright Care at Home.’

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It was a wonderful sunny day giving the perfect setting for some well-deserved self-care and mindfulness following the months of isolation for customers in the wave of the pandemic.

Care Director Samantha and Manager Sarah then surprised Jackie and both carers by bringing them a lovely hot coffee and piece of Chocolate cake from the Don’t Lose Hope café. They all sat in the gardens putting the world to rights. They then had the opportunity to explore the tranquil garden and speak with the charity owner Dominic.

Jackie had a lovely time as did the carers. Our carers really love what they do and to make such a difference gives them such reward. We look forward to many trips here but also getting involved in the many workshops that will be provided here in the community.

We wanted to share these wonderful photos and thank everyone at ‘Don’t Lose Hope’ for this fantastic space. It makes so much difference.

We spoke to Jackie to see how her visit went…

“I thought it was lovely and will be a success. I like the idea that it is run by volunteers. I thought it was a restful place and very calming. The organiser Dominic was there when we were and he was very welcoming and friendly. I think it will be helpful for people who have mild anxiety and depression or as a compliment to professionals for those with a more severe mental health illness. My favourite part was the chocolate cake from the cafe and the company. I enjoyed sitting in a beautiful garden in the sunshine.

A big thank you to Nicola and Donna who organised this for Jac

kie and of course our Care Director Sammy and the Care Manager Sarah for bringing the cake and coffees. A lovely morning and we look forward to many more.

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But the last year has really been the toughest. I’ve never felt so many emotions, having to be positive and strong in front of our customers, when deep down inside I’ve had my own feelings of being scared and frightened by the uncertainty of Covid19.

Being a single parent, having to juggle work and home schooling has been challenging, and not something I ever anticipated for 2020 or 2021.

New working ways of wearing full PPE and taking weekly covid tests have all become natural and just I guess the normal to us now working in care.

I would like to say a massive thank you for the people who made us our scrubs, headbands (these were a life saver at the beginning ) especially in the hot weather. For the love of scrubs and Helping with Headbands. They have been a consistent to support to us throughout the pandemic.

A thank you too to the community and the company for the tokens of good will and gifts to keep us going. Some of these tokens were pamper packs from the Ellie Star foundation, fresh fruit and veg from Tallington farm shop, and isolation packages from Morrison’s and the Stamford Covid SOS group.

But the biggest shout out goes to us all at Wight care at home, for the girls support and regular check ins, we have become tighter as a team and that is because we are FAMILY xx

Written by Nicola Vickovic

Care Ambassador

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The days that followed saw us pack up the office and move it into our own homes, could we function like this? We didn’t know but we were going to try our hardest to make it work. We all quickly learnt how Teams worked and Margie set to work on diverting the office telephone number to our personal mobile phones.  The reality of working remotely hit!

The workdays that followed were filled with phone calls to customers and the care team to check in with them, whatever they needed we listened, and we found a solution.

The acts of kindness that started to happen were just second nature to everyone and 12 months on they are still an everyday occurrence, the Acts of Kindness newsletter was born and was sent out with schedules and some word puzzles and activities to help with boredom during lockdown.

PPE deliveries were arriving on my doorstep and paperwork drop offs and pickups were happening through my kitchen window, nothing was stopping us continuing to provide the outstanding care to our customers.

People refer to the last 12 months as ‘Strange times’ I think I prefer to think of it as a ‘life lesson’. Human Beings are far more resilient to change than they give themselves credit for and the Team at Wright Care at Home have evolved into a stronger family because of this.

Every day we count our blessings but we will always remember the families that lost loved ones during this time  

Written by Melanie Clipston

Office Manager

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I never thought we would ever have to face such times as these. I must say at first it was very scary for us as a team, but we remained a strong unit, supporting each other thinking it would last a few months.

As time passed, we realised a pandemic was looming. After lots of doubts uncertainty and tears a stronger bond was built between the team and our customers. We always go above and beyond for our Customers, but now they needed us more than ever emotionally.

It was a huge challenge being there for Customers, Team Members and Families, a huge smile and positive outlook really helps towards some type of normality and calm for them. Concerns, worries and emotions were a big challenge for us throughout and still remain so.

We became seamstresses, card makers and bakers providing emotional support while breaking inside ourselves and masking our own fears and uncertainties.

Our Office team were amazing keeping our PPE levels high, organising little treats, having scrubs and headbands made for us, little pamper packs and self-care packages to keep us going.

A massive Thank you to them all it was so so appreciated and will never be forgotten. I must mention ‘Cafe Black’ who stayed open supplying us with well-deserved and needed lattes, they even offered to deliver our daily orders.

It is great how our Community pulled together for each other. I am confident with the high standard of care and outstanding commitment the team provide we will look back with pride at how we accomplished such a massive task, and all got through it together.

Written by Tania Dixon

Care Ambassador

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I have come across some incredible people and it has been a pleasure to care for them. There are always highs and lows in the care industry, and the challenge that hit us most was Covid and we had to change how we worked to become more vigilant about protecting those that are vulnerable.

As expected, ‘Wright care at Home’ became tight and with the introduction of new covid policies, procedures and introduction of PPE was among us.

From the first lockdown our protective equipment was Stage 4, head to toe. Including visors. For twelve months this has not changed. I can honestly say, it was the best decision from management. We have all been protected and all those in the community too, right from the very start. It was a new normal for us, that has now become a habit.

As with any care company, we are only human and although we are passionate and determined to provide the best care for the vulnerable in the community at times, we too need to express our concerns, feelings, and emotions. With the management on hand day and night, support for carers is always their priority.

Four months ago, I was approached by the management as the need for a new Care Lead for a 24-hour care package became available. They thought this would be a position I could flourish in and grow. This was the best move I ever made. We are a team of six, and the quality of life we have given to a lady in such a short amount of time has been incredible.

We have incredible carers who have joined ‘Wright care at Home’ throughout the pandemic and have shown their dedication, helping fellow carers through tough times, especially when the snow and ice hit.

No matter the challenges we take them head on. All those in the community have been amazing to adapt to the changes over the past year, and very understanding. Many of us are fortunate to of been vaccinated now. We will not be beaten by the pandemic. We will always be here to protect our customers and one another.

Written by Michelle Thompson

Community Care Lead

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In August 2017 my big sister suffered a Stroke, she was fit and healthy and looking forward to her 50^th Birthday celebrations. We were all shocked and upset when this happened, we are a large family and other than a few broken arms and legs we had been so lucky not to have experienced anything like this before. We rallied around for hospital visits to make sure she saw us every day and never felt alone. The first few days were so tough but we all stayed strong and talked and talked and talked even though she couldn’t respond. My younger sisters painted her nails, we took photos to sit by her bed and remained positive and upbeat throughout, only allowing ourselves to crumble a bit when we left her side. In these darkest times we all found our inner strength and pulled my sister and each other through it, we all knew this could have been a very different situation with the severity of her stroke and I am still in awe of all of the doctors, nurses, physios, carers that helped my sister. As a family we will be forever grateful to our mighty NHS.

My Dad and brothers completed a ‘DIY SOS’ style revamp of her house so that she could settle back into her home with as much ease as possible. After 2 weeks on the stroke ward at Peterborough Hospital and 6 weeks in the rehabilitation centre with daily physio my sister returned home, I can still vividly remember the sheer glee on her face to be able to sleep in her own bed and to snuggle into her very large sofa for comfort. I saw first-hand how this made a huge difference to her recovery and she very quickly regained her independence. The months that followed she needed support with communication and understanding, Aphasia was something I had no previous knowledge of and I decided to educate myself so that I could support her as much as possible. I have always taken for granted my ability to pick up a phone and find the right words to complete a task, I couldn’t break down the physical barriers for her but I could certainly help with this. We worked through the challenges together and 2 years on she is back at work and dragging me to yoga!

When I saw the advert on Facebook for the Administrator position at Wright Care at Home I was more than curious! Running through my head was ‘I have no care experience’ ‘no auditing experience’ but wait this is a company that’s ethos is to care for people in their own homes. I had just seen the benefits of this with my sister and my current job included dealing with vulnerable customers maybe I did have more experience for the position than I gave myself credit for. I decided to apply and I was invited for an interview with Sarah. It was quite possibly the hottest day of the year, not ideal when already feeling nervous and sweaty. Sarah instantly put me at ease, I talked about my current role but was still feeling emotional and raw about what had happened with my sister so swerved that subject. Sarah absolutely oozed care, compassion, empathy and strength, what a lovely lady. We chatted and talked about the hurdles of being a working parent. As I walked back to my car I really hoped I would be offered the position, i wanted a role with purpose.

So there we are, back to the here and now. Wright Care at Home is a family that I am whole heartedly a part of so when Sammy asked me to also be involved with organising charity events for the team to take part in and raise lots of money I grabbed it with both hands. So many of our customers can and have gained support from these charities. Sammy’s vest and medal are framed on the office wall from when she completed the marathon and raised money for The Stroke Association, this is a charity that helped my family immensely when we needed further information and support.

 We now events planned for the next few months and have already completed 2 bucket collections. I was reminded this week of how my mum has organised charity events in the past, a garden fete for the Bone Marrow trust and how my dad completed the London marathon 3 times raising lots of money for various charities. I guess this role was a part of me before I knew it would be.

I am right where I want to be, doing a job I love…….I’ve found my tribe

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