The importance of compassion in home care – Yanique’s story

Pictured: Yanique – Care coordinator – Radfield Home Care Havering and Brentwood

We would like to introduce you to Yanique, care coordinator for Radfield Home Care Havering and Brentwood.

Tell us about your previous care work/career background.

I started in care when I was 18 and I’ve now been doing this just under ten years – working at a variety of domiciliary care agencies and also care homes. Like many, I fell into care accidently and I didn’t really know what it entailed and had a bit of a shock as one of my first clients had severe dementia. This turned out to be a real eye opener for myself. At the beginning, I didn’t know if I could cope but you soon develop relationships with people and I fell in love with the work.

What has inspired you to want to be involved in the adult social care sector?

For me, it’s about making sure the older generation have the care they deserve. We’ve recently taken on a client who had an awful experience of rehab care with another care agency and his daughter said that this had led to him stopping eating and he was very low. We provided a couple of emergency calls for him and received a lovely call from his daughter to say they wanted to find a way for Radfield to continue to care for him. This feedback means you are making such a difference and adding to the quality of their lives.

I know what I am doing is really worthwhile and that often our clients see me more than their own family – sometimes they won’t have anyone else looking out for their best interest. Making them part of society again and bringing them back into the community, that’s what’s important – they are not invisible. This is what inspires me.

Why Radfield Home Care Agency?

When I started at the Radfield Havering and Brentwood office they had only been going a few months. It was the idea of joining something new, something fresh and they really cared. It wasn’t an established company that had lost that quality over time and had become just financially motivated and not providing good care. It was really obvious it wasn’t like that here, and even three years later the clients still come first – I can honestly say in all of my experience Radfield cares wholeheartedly for their clients. The answer to client requests will always be yes, unless it is deemed unsafe or impracticable. The care of the clients and also the welfare of the staff comes first. They are really good at making the care staff happy.

How did you get to hear about the job opportunity?

It was via one of my colleagues Kelly who told me about a new position at Radfield. We had known each other for a while and had both started our careers. She said that Radfield had a vacancy and they are really good. Researching into it more it was Radfield’s values that attracted me and that they really do care and go above and beyond.

I cannot fault the directors of Radfield Home Care Havering and Brentwood, Jennie Bardrick and Lisa Cable, who have both been incredibly supportive to me since I joined. I genuinely believe it is a great company to work.

What are your career aspirations?

I currently have the opportunity to explore working more with care compliance based tasks which is showing me a different side of the business. So far, I have started as a carer and then moved to help out with an on-call and senior supervisor role – around the time I was at university and found it hard to do care calls. It really worked out for me and they went above and beyond to ensure I could balance everything and still fully contribute to Radfield. I genuinely don’t think I could have done it without Jennie and Lisa’s support.

Any special moments with clients you would like to share?

The first client I had at Radfield was such a special experience. She recently passed away and I carried out her last overnight call and stayed with her before she went into a hospice. It was sad in many ways, but it will also be something that I was so privileged to help her with. Those moments are special. She said that she just wanted to thank us for everything we did for her – this meant such a lot.

What do you love most about your job and working for Radfield Home Care?

Working somewhere that really believes in the things that constitute excellence in care is one of the best things about being part of the Radfield family. I’d really like to emphasise that the care that we give to any client is also the same level of care that we give to a family member, or our fellow care professionals. Personally, my time here has been invaluable to my career development and my future goals. I believe it is a career you can have for life and there is great value to be held in having worked in the care sector.

For me, it’s all about the fact that our clients are real people and sometimes you need to tease the person back out. When you see that flicker and you can see the person beyond dementia, that’s what it’s about. Helping them live their lives in the most respectful, dignified and wholesome way as possible – when you see this come to fruition and when you get the outburst of laughter it reminds you of why I’m proud to be a care professional.