Care professional of the year awards - Inspired to care
Who are Inspired to Care?
Inspired to Care is a ground-breaking initiative that has been making significant strides in addressing the recruitment and retention challenges within the adult social care sector in Leicester and Leicestershire. Committed to improving the quality of care for vulnerable adults, this programme is a collaborative effort between local authorities, healthcare providers, adult social care organisations and educational institutions. Its primary aim is to inspire, support, and empower individuals to pursue careers in adult social care while simultaneously boosting the retention rates of existing staff.
At its core, Inspired to Care recognises the critical need for a skilled and compassionate workforce to meet the growing demands of an ageing population. The initiative undertakes various strategies to achieve its objectives:
Education and Training: The programme collaborates with local colleges and training providers to offer high-quality training courses and apprenticeships, ensuring that individuals entering the sector are well-prepared for their roles.
Awareness Campaigns: Inspired to Care conducts awareness campaigns to inform the community about the diverse and rewarding career opportunities in adult social care. This helps attract a more diverse pool of talent.
Mentorship and Support: The initiative provides mentorship and ongoing support to new recruits and existing staff, recognising that transitioning into adult social care can be challenging.
Recognition and Rewards: To improve retention, Inspired to Care promotes the importance of recognising and rewarding the hard work and dedication of care workers. This can boost staff morale and job satisfaction.
Partnerships: By fostering partnerships with local employers and healthcare organisations, the program creates a cohesive approach to workforce development.
The impact of Inspired to Care has been impressive, with an increase in the number of individuals considering and pursuing careers in adult social care. Moreover, the retention rates among existing care workers have improved, leading to more stable and reliable care services for vulnerable adults in Leicester and Leicestershire. This initiative serves as a beacon of hope in the ongoing effort to address the staffing crisis within the adult social care sector, ultimately benefiting the well-being of the region’s growing population that draw on care and support services.
Home Instead West Leicestershire won 2 awards…
Home care professional of the year – Sherree Westley
Sherree is very conscientious and is always looking out for her clients. Sherree takes great pride in being an ‘eco warrior’ (her words). This shines through in her work with her clients too and dedication to the local community. Sherree is part of the Glenfield wombles’, a litter picking group who operate in her village and Sheree volunteers to take part in regular litter picking in her spare time to help keep her community clean.
Diversity Champion – Beth Hoskins
Beth started with ‘Home Instead’ a few years ago now and has gone from strength to strength over this time. Considering Beth has never worked in care before working for ‘Home Instead’, you genuinely would not know this when you see her in action with her clients. Beth is always willing to take on new challenges as she wants to continue to learn more. An example of this is that in early 2024, Beth started working with one of her wonderful clients who has an acquired brain injury, something Beth had not supported previously. Beth had to take it in her stride to learn everything there is to know about supporting an individual with an acquired brain injury.
This client is also of a different culture to Beth’s, so she was keen to learn all about his culture and what she could do to support his rehabilitation and engage in those cultural activities that he was no longer able to at the time. Beth and this client now have an unbreakable bond and they have got to know each other so well with Beth now understanding the gentleman’s own style of communication.
We also had the following nominations;
Support professional of the year
Natalie Mohindra
Home Instead West Leicestershire & Market Bosworth
The nominator says Nat deserves this award for her unwavering commitment to clients and care professionals, always acting in their best interests. She supports clients and families, visits hospitalised clients, liaises with hospitals, and offers expert advice. As a Field Care Supervisor, she assists care professionals, shares her industry knowledge, and performs visits to ensure firsthand understanding of care practices. Nat handles sensitive issues like safeguarding with care and professionalism, has completed extensive training, and attends clients’ funerals to show her genuine care. Her contributions are crucial to the company, making her a deserving candidate for this award.
Mental health professional of the year
Meeta Gohil
Home Instead West Leicestershire & Market Bosworth
Meeta started with Home Instead West Leicestershire and Market Bosworth in December 2021 in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was during this time that Meeta came into her own as we can all understand that there was a decline in mental health support at this time when it was most needed.
Office staff member of the year
Laura Reynolds
Home Instead West Leicestershire & Market Bosworth
Recently Laura has worked as a Care Coordinator. This has absolutely become the role for Laura and her motivation and dedication to her work has shone through, particularly in the last year.
Laura will admit that building relationships used to be challenge for her but the past year Laura has taken it in her stride to work on her relationships throughout the service to ensure she can deliver the best service possible. This has taken a lot of confidence and dedication on Laura’s part and she has come leaps and bounds from this point.
Dignity champion
Raj Patel
Home Instead West Leicestershire & Market Bosworth
When Raj first joined care over four years ago, he had no previous ‘professional’ experience although he did have compassion, empathy and a willingness to learn. Raj has had many clients over the years and has treated them all with the dignity and respect they deserve. He knows when to ask for advice and report when needed. When Raj first visits a client, he gets to know ‘the’ person inside not just what you can see now. He understands the aging process and looks at ways he can support the client to reach their goals; this could be something as simple as taking the client out for lunch or to the market each week. Raj takes clients out each week to ensure they are accessing the local community regularly.
