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Meet the team… Leah
Leah took some time out of her day running Nobilis’ busy Bristol branch to tell us about how her career in care began and what her day-to-day job entails running a large city branch
I fell into my care career really. I had a trauma involving a close family member when I was young, and that gave me an insight into what ‘care’ really meant. Then, when I left school after my A-Levels, a friend of mine was already working as a carer so I followed her into a care job too. I’ve been working in the sector for 11 years now.
When I started it was in North Somerset as a community carer, before moving to be a senior carer and then a team leader for a supported living facility (Extra Care Housing). I later began working for Nobilis as the prime provider when it took over from that business in 2019.
Working as part of the Nobilis team is brilliant, it’s a forward-thinking company. When it took over the branch office here in Bristol, the carers were immediately given the opportunity to complete their Level 2 & 3 Care Certificates and online training.
Training gives us all the extra skills and understanding we need, plus the confidence in knowing that we are doing is right. Also, carers who have gone through training are more engaged with the company business too.
All Registered Branch Managers are regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), and I’ve just passed my CQC interview. As manager, my job day-to-day now involves everything in the running of the branch. From scheduling and managing the work of the carers and team leaders, to all of the background administration to make sure it all runs smoothly. But I still miss working as a carer on-the ground care. I recently had to do a review with someone who had just come home from hospital and I really enjoyed that, but generally I don’t get out into the field very much now.
I think that a good carer is someone who can see the client as a person and provide emotional support as well as the physical personal care needs. It is about balancing your time with the client to ensure that when you leave their home, you have helped them feel safe and cared for. A good carer has empathy and a belief that everyone needs that helping hand sometimes.
I absolutely love my job. It was my dream when I started in care to progress to Registered Branch Manager before I was 30 and I have achieved it, which I am so proud of.
You can find out more about a career with Nobilis at Nobilis Recruitment