Our Windsor franchisee Anitra Camargo, who was inspired to open a care franchise after her life-threatening brush with cancer, has become our 14th office to receive an Outstanding Rating from the Care Quality Commission.
Holding the highest rating possible from England’s health and social care regulator, marks a defining moment in franchisee Anitra’s personal and professional life story.
She opened the Windsor, Egham and Staines franchise in 2011 – inspired to work in the care sector following her life-threatening experience with the disease.
In the early noughties Anitra was working for a London software company. Her professional life was ‘full on’ and a promotion to Vice President saw her relocated to New York. She moved back to London a few years later but was still travelling to Europe twice a week.
Anitra had started to feel unwell but work was too busy so she soldiered on. But she was eventually diagnosed with secondary cancer and gave up work to undergo treatment.
By 2011, treatment had been successful and Anitra was ready to return to work. But after this life changing experience she was driven to embark on a new career in a completely different sector.
She said: “I was really keen to get back to work but, having experienced amazing support from some wonderful health and social care professionals during my illness and recovery, decided that I wanted to give something back. After all, I’d been given a second chance – well, that’s how it felt.”
Anitra was introduced to the Home Instead Senior Care franchise through a friend who had invested in the St Albans territory. Anitra was instantly drawn to the brand’s mission to ‘change the face of ageing’ by providing person-centred, companionship-led care to people in their own homes.
Six years on, Anitra and her own team are making a huge difference to people’s lives with the CQC Outstanding rating, and inspectors’ comments in the report, testament to this.
One relative said: “We couldn’t ask for better. The staff are wonderful and know what they are doing.” Speaking about their CAREGiver, one client said: “We have time to talk about anything and everything.”
Commenting on Home Instead Senior Care’s ethos, Anitra added: “An overriding theme for us is that our care has to pass the ‘mum test’ – is the care of a standard that would be good enough for our own mums? Our care is delivered by caring and compassionate CAREGivers who love their work and who feel respected for what they do.”
Home Instead’s philosophy, and the robust support structure its franchisees benefit from through its 42-strong team at National Office, presented the perfect opportunity for Anitra’s second career path – a far cry from the software business.
She added: “We are absolutely thrilled to be the 14th Home Instead office to achieve an Outstanding rating. I have been part of the Home Instead family for six years, during that time I have had tremendous support from National Office and from my colleagues across the network.
“We all share a vision and this makes us strong individually and even stronger as a network. We are changing the face of ageing and our CQC report bears testament to this.”