Our team at
Heathlands House

When I was looking for a new challenge, I heard amazing things about Care UK, so I investigated more, and here I am! Heathlands House is a stunning care home and we’ve got an amazing team here. I’m so pleased to be part of this team, which really feels like one big family.

I enjoy all aspects of my role as Deputy Manager at Heathlands House. Highlights include my walkarounds when I can find out how my colleagues and wonderful residents are. I also enjoy liaising with relatives and building relationships with the loved ones of new residents who join us.

Looking ahead, I’m excited about working alongside our fantastic Heathlands House team to continue to deliver outstanding care to residents and their loved ones. 

Away from work, I enjoy fishing, walking, and getting stuck into DIY projects!

I started working at Care UK in 2019, the values of the organisation really drew me in.

To be a successful in this role you need to be a great listener and have empathy. It’s important to be able to support families, as often putting a loved one into care is an exceedingly challenging time. I also feel that being aware that everyone is quite unique and being able to promote a bespoke care package is fundamental.

My favourite part of my role is meeting a new enquiry and getting to know them. I enjoy being able to offer them my experience and support so they can rest easy, knowing their loved one will receive the best of care and will be safe. Most importantly, I love seeing the smiles on the residents faces every day at Heathlands House.

Outside of work I love cooking, spending time with my six grandchildren and going to music events.

To be good at this role you need to be a good listener, team player, great communication skills and supportive. My favourite part of the day is sitting down with residents with a cuppa and listening to their amazing life stories.

My interests outside of work are a range of activities from gardening, knitting and reading. I also love to spend time with friends and family.

I decided to work at Care UK as my mother was a resident at another Care UK home and I was very impressed of the care she received.

My favourite part of the day is seeing the residents enjoying themselves and knowing that we are making a difference everyday to fulfil each residents life. I enjoy planning activities with Lois and soon to be outings in the minibus.

Outside of work, I enjoy spending time with my family especially my grandson, as well as going away in trips in my caravan.

To be successful in this role you need the ability to communicate at all levels, have an approachable persona with the ability to problem solve with tenancy.

I like that every day is different, I enjoy getting to know relatives and residents.I am excited to continue to work with a support team and getting to know the residents more.

In my spare time I like to spend it with friends, and I love animals – especially my two Jack Rusells.

I’m also pleased to be working with Sharlene Van Tonder, the Home Manager once again.

Throughout my career, I have developed my skills with City and Guilds training. So far, my biggest career highlight to date has been winning the award of chef of the year at my previous care home.

There’s no part of my working day I don’t enjoy – I especially love creating new dishes and trialling different ingredients. Working as a Head Chef you need to be passionate about what you do as well as being caring and a team player.

Away from my work, I enjoy watching football and motorsports and travel.

I really love helping people in any way I can and working at Heathlands House, I feel I can be there for the residents, family members and colleagues, this enables me to put my qualification into practice.

A successful person in this role needs to be able to communicate on all levels, approachable, organised, and have great time management. I love the feel of coming into work first thing in the morning, to the smiles on the residents faces, having a chat with them and listening to all their amazing life stories.

My biggest career highlight is being able to help residents in any way I can and seeing that I have made a difference.

Outside of work I like to spend time with my family and my other half, relaxing, watching TV and maybe play some games.

I then moved into working in a small, private care home before joining Care UK in 2022. I really wanted to join Care UK when so many people told me what a great organisation it is to work for.

In this role it’s important to be organised, have an eye for detail, to understand infection prevention and control, and to be a good communicator. I need to liaise with colleagues across all departments to ensure everything runs smoothly. Just as important is being compassionate and empathetic towards residents and their families.

I love chatting to residents, their loved ones, and supporting my colleagues. I’m committed to finding different ways to ensure that residents enjoy the best quality of life at Heathlands House. This is a wonderful home, with a fantastic team. We all help each other to do our best work for the residents.

In my spare time I like to be with family and friends. I also love getting stuck into a good book or film, or listening to music.