Welcome to Bluebird Care Careers in Leicester

Case Study 1 - A senior at Bluebird Care

Su Joined Bluebird Care Leicester in May 2014. She was sent to our office for an interview by a Back to Work agency in central Leicester.

When the manager met Su at the interview there was an immediate connection. Su was nicely dressed and a spoke confidently. Straight away we knew she would blend in with the Bluebird team.

Su had not done care work before. Her background was management with breaks for raising children. Further back she was based in an army complex in Germany where her husband was placed. Care work was completely new to her.

Though very confident, Su was not in her comfort zone with the type of work she would do. When we dive into something new, we feel either fear or excitement. For Su it was a bit of both. Luckily she took to it like a fish to water.

Thinking back to when she first started, Su says “I had provided personal care to my children, but never before to adults. It was strange at first but when you get to know the customers you feel like part of their family. It’s great fun and very rewarding. “

Sue quickly learned the ropes and within a few years she became one of our most popular staff members. She has mentored many new starters with Bluebird Care and takes pride in the details of the care provided.

 “It’s often the little things that make our clients happy” she says. “It’s the chirpy morning banter and things such as knowing their morning routines; how much sugar they like in the tea or how brown the toast should be.”

Six years on, Su has now progressed to be a Senior member of staff. Her role now extends to spot-checking new carers to see if they are correctly practicing what they’ve been taught; setting up new clients and creating their care plans; involved in allocating visits to carer staff and being on-call some evenings or weekends.

You have to enjoy this type of work which deals very closely with people and the personalities; however, there are opportunities for career progression if you are willing to put time into a bit of studying.

This usually equates to about 1-2 hours per week but can be very rewarding and give a better understanding of how care works alongside GP, the hospitals, Occupational therapists, Pharmacists etc

Su has competed her QCF Level 2 and 3 and has gained many certificates in specific areas of learning such as end of life care; PEG feeding and Multiple Sclerosis care to mention a few.

For More Information on becoming a Care Assistant please call us on 0116 217 1405

Jay is in charge of the efficient running of the business and brings to the role a mix of Customer Service, Marketing and Commercial Management skills.

As a result of this experience, Jay's aim is to provide good quality care and to ensure the highest levels of service to Customers and Employees at all times.

A growing need for high quality care means that customers have choice.

“Giving people the ability to have a say in how they have their care delivered is an important part of the way we work. We will endeavour to put the needs of our customers and their families above all else and be very flexible as their situation alters.

Having had members of my extended family require care, I understand the need for quality and tailored delivery of care. At Bluebird Care we aim to listen, assess and act accordingly.”

Richard has over 10 years  experience in the care sector having worked with people with learning disabilities , physical disabilities and  the elderly.

Richard has gained NVQ level 2 in adult social care along with a QCF level 3 diploma in adult social care and  QCF level 5  in Leadership and Management in adult social care .
In addition to these qualifications Richard has a level 4 teaching certificate and is also a trainer in the care certificate. An Edge trained Moving & Handling trainer, a UKHCA trained tutor in medication and end of life care .along with a tutor qualification in Signalong.

Richard has worked his way up from a caring role so knows what is expected of a carer by a client and has a good working knowledge which he passes on through training others.

“Putting people in control of the care they receive“ is the golden rule and the ethos Richard instils in all new recruits irrespective of their previous experience .

Raj at the age of 57, had been in a residential home for 3 years.  Raj has Down’s Syndrome and has cognitive impairment as well as being physically disabled. His family, which consists of his sister Mani and her daughter Visha, could not visit easily as Mani, who is in her seventies, does not drive and had to rely on her Visha to take her to the home.

Mani’s concern was that Raj was not getting the care he needed. Food and medication was not given at set times and he was getting no verbal or physical stimulation. Raj was permanently in a fetal position in bed and rarely sat in a chair.

Mani decided she wanted Raj at home with her. With the help of Bluebird care Leicester Raj came to live with his sister towards the end of 2014. Although she was relieved to have him home, she didn’t know how she would cope.

We gathered most of the information from his sister who had looked after him most of his life and so knew him best.

We also obtained information from other family members and the multi-disciplinary team who had input to Raj’s care. This allowed us to write an outcome based and person centred care plan which would ensure that all Raj’s needs were met.

Within weeks Mani had noticed a difference in Raj due to the effectiveness of the care he was now receiving at home. We had established a routine that meant Raj care was given meals and medication at the times requested and not when staff were doing their rounds in the residential, home.

Within seven months he was able to sit in a chair and no longer defaulting to a foetal position. We even took him to the park or round the block in his chair to see the outside world when the weather permitted.

Bluebird Care Leicester was at the centre of discussions with the multi-disciplinary team that looked after his long term wellbeing liaising with his GP, Occupational Therapist as well as family and the social worker.

Raj was now getting six hours a week of sensory stimulation which involved sound, touch and visual interaction with him. He was able to communicate through smiling, and with his eyes. His sister Mani said that this was a completely different Raj to the one in the care home.

As time progressed Raj’s ability to swallow deteriorated and so we worked with the Speech and Language therapy (SaLT) so that all the staff that looked after Raj received specialist training to make sure his food was at the right consistency so that he did not choke whilst eating and how to spot the first indicators of aspirational pneumonia.

Raj is now 63 years of age, which is considerably older than what his general life expectancy should have been. However, he has a much more active and fulfilled life then he did when in a windowless room by himself.

Case study - Miss M

We were contacted by  Miss M ‘s  social worker asking us to take on a package of care for her as this was quite complex and, from her experience, the social worker knew we had the carers with the right skill-set that could meet the lady’s needs .

Miss M has a profound learning disability; she is deaf and has no power of speech. She also requires feeding via a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy tube (PEG ).  Miss M also has all her medication administered via the PEG .

Miss M has a limited Makaton vocabulary and uses many gestures in order to communicate. She also has behavioural problems which very often lead to displays of challenging behaviour. It is essential to her wellbeing that these are managed correctly.

At the start of the package it was difficult to get Miss M to engage with carers as there was a reluctance to change but after a couple of days Miss M warmed to carers and began to interact with them.  As carers got to know the meaning of Miss M’s gestures, communication became easier and the frequency of challenging behaviour became less .

Miss M had a long history of hospital admissions following displays of challenging behaviour where she would often self-harm or pull her feeding tube out.  These admissions caused Miss M lots of stress and anxiety and it would often take several days for her to calm down

The multi-disciplinary teams involved with Miss M all remarked that here had been a significant change in Miss M and this was attributed to the continuity of care that we provided that made her feel calmer and more valued.

Since starting to provide care for Miss M, a person centred care plan has been developed and she has achieved many things.  She has expanded her Makaton vocabulary and has begun to draw pictures of different things which she often presents to carers.

Having built up good relationships with her carers, Miss M has become a much calmer person and has some focus on achieving things that could not have been achieved before the package began. It was incredibly difficult to get Miss M to be compliant; to go to hospital and health appointments largely due to previous experiences.

However, with the right care and support in place Miss M has attended most of her appointments and has not shown any signs of anxiety or stress.  Whilst there as a result of attending these appointments Miss M has now been fitted with hearing aids and for the first time she can hear and has developed a love of music.

Working with her carers Miss M has begun to develop a better and stronger vocabulary using simple words along with gestures. Her Makaton skills have been enhanced and with some signs she is now able to vocalise.

Miss M has come a long  way since we started caring for her  she has benefitted from regular carers who have worked with her to fulfil her potential. As a result of this Miss M appears to be happier,  her  displays  of challenging behaviour are few and far between  and she has not had any  recent hospital admissions .

Julie has over 15 years experience in care having started as a support worker. Over the last 9 years Julie has not only gained invluable experince of being the Field Care Supervisor, but is an integral part of the Bluebird Care Leicester office operations. Julie makes sure that all contact and communication between customers, staff and management is clear, concise and actionable - helping keep the provision of the service we provide running smoothly.