Senior Consultant – North West Office
I started my role with Apollo Home Healthcare 3 years ago. I had previously worked within the management team in another organisation and then moved on to a national healthcare provider in healthcare recruitment. I was keen to return to complex healthcare and support people in the community.
I had the opportunity to develop in my role as Office Consultant and have been recently promoted to Senior Consultant. Whilst many of the main duties remain the same, I now work closely with the Deputy and Operations Manager to support the day-to-day management of the office and support other consultants with their packages of care.
I currently manage seven packages of care in the North West including four of our largest packages which all offer 2:1 care. This means that our service user will have two Healthcare Assistants with them 24 hours a day. These packages of care include large care teams and require a lot of hands-on management. I liaise with each service user and their family members on a regular basis, ensuring that the service is being delivered to a high standard. I also speak to other health professionals that are involved in the care of our service users. These can include Social Workers, Consultants, Integrated Care Boards (ICBs), GPs and District Nurses.
I work closely with our Healthcare Assistants to ensure the day-to-day rotas are managed. In addition to this I work alongside our office-based Nurses to ensure that all training, care plans and clinical records are up to date. I manage the existing staff supervision, training, and appraisal. Part of my role is to introduce new staff to the packages of care and arrange training, including arranging any specialised training where required. As a senior consultant, I liaise regularly with my deputy and my manager and support other consultants with managing their packages of care.
A typical day for Lauren…
A typical day is always busy in North West, it always starts with a handover meeting in the morning to ensure that everyone understands what the priorities are and then we delegate the tasks. It doesn’t always go to plan and often a phone call or an incident may change the direction of the day and our priorities too. It is challenging, but that is why we love our jobs and what we do best! My day involves attending meetings with other health professionals about our service users ensuring a joined-up approach to their care, completing rotas, covering shifts, problem solving with colleagues to ensure all clients are cared for safely and ensuring all my care staff are happy with their work. We often hold staff training days for new care staff which could include me speaking to the staff, looking at training plans and getting them inducted into their new role.
What makes my role is the service users themselves. I know that what I am doing is making a real difference to their life and that is important to me. I also do enjoy the daily challenges and working as a team to resolve them for our service users. I couldn’t do it without my amazing colleagues around me!
I would describe my role as rewarding, challenging, and no two days are ever the same!
