Right at Home owners from across the country met as a group for the first time recently, during which we all have a great opportunity to compare notes, learn from each other on great care tips, and catch up on all the latest & greatest news and innovations within Right at Home and across the care sector as a whole.
Listening to presentations and having informal conversations with everyone from Right at Home UK CEO Ken Deary, to the equally inspirational Olympic champion athletes Roger Black & Steve Backley, and the other Right at Homeowners and partner organisations that we work with, had me reflecting on the last 3½ years of our service in Reading & Wokingham.
From day 1 we have built our service on a core belief that in order to deliver the best care, a care company has to also care for its carers. We invest heavily in hiring great people, and then also offering the best support, ongoing training, mentoring, career prospects and the feel-good factor of being part of a multi-award winning locally owned & managed care company. My own personal family experience of seeing the impact of great care and not so great care on not only the people being cared for but also the carers themselves motivated me to start Right at Home in Reading & Wokingham. When thinking about what kind of care I’d want for my own parents (and one day, myself!), I carefully researched the care sector, and I soon realised that there are different approaches to care.
For example, a member of my family had worked as a carer for a care company near her home town, and while she absolutely adored the role and the people she would visit, ended up leaving care completely due to the stresses of the role – she was always rushed, never felt she had time to actually care for her clients, was alone and felt unsupported by her management. A truly lovely person, and a credit to the caring profession, was no longer there to help the vulnerable people in her local area.
Around the same time, my own mum was helping a close friend in his 90’s (an ex-Naval officer) who had been discharged from hospital after a short illness. He had previous experience of a care company but had found it unsatisfactory and was resisting the idea of any care at home – wanting to cope alone. My mum however was worried about him and felt that it must be possible to design a service for him that he would appreciate, while also keeping him safe. Together they found a local care company. A few weeks later, at a family get-together, I met him for the first time in several months and could not believe the transformation in him. He looked amazing and his self-confidence had returned. I remarked to him how well he looked, and he immediately said to me “Yes, that’s because of my caregiver”. He explained to me that every morning she makes sure he has a fresh shirt ironed, his shoes polished, as part of getting ready for the day. He spoke glowingly about how much he was enjoying the visits and the fun conversations he had with his caregivers. The care company? Right at Home, in his home town near the south coast. They had arranged unrushed visits, understood what, as a Navy man was really important to him and even managed to match a main carer whose father was in the Navy.
This was a big part of what convinced me to open a Right at Home for our community, here in Reading and Wokingham District. My entire team is dedicated to always going the extra mile and delivering the best care we possibly can. The accolades we have racked up since 2018 are a testament to our amazing team :
- Rated Outstanding for Caring by CQC
- Rated 10/10 by our clients
- Top 20 Most Recommended SE England 2019, 2020, 2021.
- 100% Client Satisfaction in an annual anonymous survey, 2019, 2020, 2021
- 5*Review status on Indeed (a leading recruitment website)
- 5*Star Employer Award 2019, 2020, 2021
If you, a friend, neighbour or family member would like to learn more about our care services, or about our career opportunities, give us a call or contact us via our website.
More information?
Right at Home is a respected award-winning homecare company in the Reading & Wokingham area and needs more wonderful people to meet the growing demand for our services. For more info, visit our website and click on “Join Our Team”, check us out on Facebook, or simply call on 0118 207 0600.
Kevin Lancaster
Right at Home Reading & Wokingham District
