From residential care to home care – a job that’s flexible, varied and fulfilling

These days, Katie Sadler can’t wait to come into work. She joined Radfield Home Care in late 2019 as a care professional and felt “instantly supported and part of the team”. It’s a marked contrast with her previous jobs in residential care where she sometimes felt that residents didn’t receive the quality of care they deserved, with many telling her they would prefer to be cared for in their own homes.

At Radfield, each day is busy and varied. Some days Katie will see just one client ­- on others, it will be five or six. Usually she spends an hour on each visit.

Katy explains, “I always have enough time to complete tasks and sit and chat with the clients, or do any little extra jobs that they need doing, like changing the bins, popping to the local shop or just posting some letters.” She finds it immensely rewarding: “I can honestly say I absolutely love every part of my job.”

That contact with clients in their own home is something that care professional Melissa Maher, who joined Radfield in December last year, also appreciates.

Melissa comments, “I love to be able to go into a client’s home and make them feel like they have somebody that cares for them, and that we are not just there to do a job.” Although she liked her previous job in a care home, it didn’t offer the same opportunity to engage individually with people: “It did sometimes feel like a conveyor belt due to the number of residents that you had to get up and get ready for the day. You never had a chance to spend quality time with them because it was always rushed as the workload was so high.”

Bev Taylor, who worked in residential care for 17 years before joining Radfield as a care professional agrees. She sees four clients a day, and her tasks include preparing meals, helping with personal care, accompanying clients on shopping trips and hospital visits.

Bev explains, “I enjoy the variety of the work and have met such lovely and interesting individuals,” she says. “Every day is different.”

One benefit that all the female care professionals appreciate, is the flexibility that domiciliary work offers, especially the ability to work around childcare.

“The job has been a real life saver for me because it means that I can work around my children and my husband’s job,” says Melissa. “The Care Coordinator does just such an amazing job working out a rota that suits your availability. In a care home setting the hours are very structured and it meant that I could never stay for the later shift because I always had the school run to do. Receiving holiday pay for the first time has also been a huge bonus,” she added.

While the variety and flexibility of the job are particularly attractive, they all agree that the greatest reward comes from the satisfaction of helping others.

As Katie says, “Seeing the clients smiling and so happy that they are able to stay in their own homes is incredible.”