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Current job title
Care force co-ordinator, trainer, assessor and carer for Safe
hands carer's in Folkestone.Care force is a service provided by
safe hands carers - the care force is a team of two care workers
who support people that need more than one carer for example
someone who needs lots of physical care and may need to use a hoist
to get out of bed or into the bath. The care force teams are
provided with a sign written company vehicle and travel between
service users homes together - this means that they arrive
together, on time and have everything they need to complete their
work, this ensures that they deliver a cohesive service to each
service user.
How did you come to be working in Social
Care?
I started work as a home help for Kent County Council in the 1980's
as the flexible hours suited my lifestyle with two small children.
Since then I have workied in a wide range of jobs always in social
care. This has included working with Children and their families in
Family aid where I helped families with their parenting skills and
home life, working in adoption and fostering where I supported
children through the process of living woth foster carers or being
adopted. I became a care worker for adults in the 1990's, I ran my
own domiciliary agency for a time before joining safe hands carers
in 2002.
What is your working pattern?
Part time - I work 30 hours per week
How long have you been working in this
role?
Overall I have worked in social care for 24
plus years - I have been at Safe Hands Carers since 2002.
Could you briefly describe a "typical" day as a care
force co-ordinator?
I generally start my day at the office, when I arrive in the
mornings I read the previous evenings out of hours report so that I
have all of the information that I need for the day. During the day
I will contact carers, care managers and family if any thing has
happened that they need to know about. I answer endless telephone
calls and deal with enquiries, start new care packages, visit
clients in their homes, attend meetings, complete paperwork and
organisie clients visits and staff rota's. I also keep records up
to date on the computer system. As part of my role at Safe hands I
also work with new members of staff on their induction to make sure
that they understand the requirements of their job and with more
experienced members of staff training them in moving and
handling.
What is the best thing about your job?
My job is Flexible, has lots of variety - no two days are the same.
It is very rewarding to know that the work ou do has such a huge
impact on the lives of the people you are working with.
My ambition for the future
To pass my
knowledge in care on to younger or less experinced careworkers.
How would people get into this sort of
work?
There are often no particular qualifications needed to start work
as a domicialary carer, most companies will help you do an NVQ 2
once you are working in the role. For the role that I hold now I
have NVQ 2 and NVQ 3 in care.
The Facts and Figures
Salary: Salary depends on the company that you
work for but on average a co-ordinator in a domiciliary service
might earn around £8.25 ph.
Hours: A flexible 30 hours a week during normal
office hours - A full time position would usually be 37
hours.
Annual leave: 20 days. |