One of our fantastic Care Practitioners who works at Hamble Heights in Fareham is highlighting the progression opportunities of a career in care and is encouraging people to join our team.
Developing a career in care
Tina Hughes, who has worked at Hamble Heights in Fareham for seven years, set her sights on progressing within the company and applied to become a permanent team member after working with us as an agency carer. She started work as a Healthcare Assistant (HCA) and after studying hard, she became a Senior Healthcare Assistant (HCA). We funded Tina to attend college and gain extra qualifications in care, as well as financially supporting Tina to undertake a shadow shift every week at a local hospice to provide her with more training in end-of-life care.
Tina went on to complete her BTEC Level 3 in Health and Social Care, with the backing of our senior team, and now works as a Care Practioner which involves the administration of medication and dressings alongside a Registered Nurse, as well as mentoring the HCAs and Senior HCAs. Tina has worked in the care sector for 30 years, having started work as a children’s nanny to three children, before moving into adult social care.
Start your career in care
We are recruiting for permanent Healthcare Assistants to support the work of the team by providing practical, physical, social, and emotional wellbeing support to the residents in the care homes. The Encore family includes Fairmile Grange in Christchurch, Oakdale in Poole, Great Oaks in Bournemouth, and Hamble Heights in Fareham.
Transferable caring experience is required to become a Healthcare Assistant to demonstrate a caring disposition, such as caring for a relative, childcare, or working in a school. Alternatively, candidates could be in a people-focused role with a customer service background in retail or hospitality, but they must have a compassionate nature and transferable caring skills.
Full training provided to start working in care
We will provide the training needed for the role, including in infection prevention measures and the use of personal protective equipment (PPE), and new starters will be included in the rollout of vaccines in line with the team’s key worker status.
Speaking about her job, Tina said: “If somebody was considering a career in care, I’d say to go for it. It’s not about qualifications if you want to work in care; it’s about your personality and your caring nature. It’s not just a job as you have to care about the residents. They are my second family and my colleagues are my friends. I love every minute of my job and the senior team have been so supportive with the training that they have provided to me to help me to progress.”
All care home residents are tested for Covid-19 on a weekly basis, with staff accessing twice-weekly Lateral Flow rapid testing. All staff and residents have been offered their first dose of the Covid vaccine and will have their second dose in the coming weeks to provide greater protection against catching the virus and becoming seriously ill, as well as reducing the transmission of the virus.
To apply for a Healthcare Assistant role at Encore, go to our Careers page.
