Our team at
Priors House

I’m trained as a Registered Mental Health Nurse. I started working at Priors House as a Nurse, and then progressed to Unit Manager before working my way up to Deputy Manager, which I have been for the last six years. I decided to work at Priors House because I wanted to gain experience working with older people, and I never left!

In this role, you need to be organised, passionate and positive. Even when you have hard days, it’s important to always try to see the good in what you do and look for a positive outcome. I enjoy spending time with the residents. Taking the time to talk and have a cup of tea or a meal with a resident makes my day!

I’ve had many highlights in my career, from working my way up to Deputy Manager, to winning Deputy Manager of the Year at the 2018 Care UK Stars Awards to being part of the team that achieved an Outstanding rating from the CQC at Priors House.

The most important part of my role is supporting the Home Manager in the day-to-day running of the home. It’s also my job to be the first point of contact for colleagues, residents and relatives. I’m proud to make a difference to residents’ lives and to be able to support families when their loved ones are poorly.

I have over 30 years’ experience in customer service, and I joined Care UK because I wanted a role where I could spend more time with clients and enjoy a more fulfilling career.

Care UK’s ethos of ‘fulfilling lives’ really shines out, and I love being a part of that. I see my role as providing residents and families with the very best support and experience as they embark on their journey in care.

Working in care is extremely rewarding. I love supporting the Priors House Lifestyle team by getting involved with fun activities, classes and events. Residents love to enjoy themselves, and are full of incredible stories. The team ensures there’s always something fun to look forward to. Every day is different!

My biggest passion is learning from the wonderful people at Priors House who are living with dementia. I have learned so much from them about their journey, the challenges they face and the activities that make their life easier and more fulfilling.

I joined Care UK because I knew it was a good care provider and I wanted to gain more experience.

It’s my job to plan a variety of activities for the residents to enjoy and to always act as a role model for my colleagues in the home. I enjoy the variety of work in this role. I love that every day presents me with different challenges. This has meant that I had an opportunity to gain an understanding of my role and develop my problem solving and organisational skills. It’s also important to bring kindness, energy, enthusiastic patience and compassion to this role.

Working in a care home can be very challenging as different residents have various medical conditions, but I have been able to develop ideas to help each resident enjoy activities in the best way possible, and I take pride in this.

When I’m not at work, I enjoy exercising, going out with friends, watching movies, singing and dancing.

I’ve not worked in the care sector before, so joining Care UK, and Priors House, in mid 2014 was a turning point for me. It’s enabled me to learn new skills and interact with people I would never have met and supported.

I love hearing feedback from the residents after lunch. They’re honest and I get lots of ideas for ways to improve and tailor menus! Outside of work I also enjoy cooking, as well as watching films and following Formula One. 

I joined the Priors House team in 2018 because I wanted to be part of a passionate team that put residents at the heart of everything it does. I used to be a hairdresser before moving to Priors House as Receptionist, so you can imagine it was quite a steep learning curve for me. It was fantastic to be promoted to my current role – genuine recognition of my commitment and passion for the home.

I think attention to detail is all-important in this role, and it’s crucial to give a good impression to families who are enquiring about care. After all, I’m often the first contact they have with Care UK.

I love that every day is different in this role – it keeps me on my toes! It’s a privilege to support families and to see residents enjoying their life here. I also really enjoy the recruitment side of my role and bringing new colleagues on board.

I joined Care UK in November 2016 because I was keen to work for one of the leading companies in the care sector. Before I joined the Priors House team I worked in the construction industry for 16 years. It was quite a steep learning curve moving from construction into care, but it was a great feeling to be making a difference to older people.

In this role, I think it’s important to have a caring, flexible and positive attitude. You need to be empathetic and understanding, and have good communication skills. I like the mornings the most at Priors House. The day stretches ahead, you never know what you’ll need to turn your hand to, but you know you’ll be making a difference by helping residents to feel safe and secure in a homely environment.

In my free time I’m a keen Coventry City FC fan. I also love getting away on holiday and enjoying days out with my family.

I’ve always been an advocate for good IPC, and I enjoy working with colleagues to ensure we maintain high standards across Priors House. Day-to-day my role includes ensuring the smooth and safe running of the shift, promoting good practice, and ensuring the best resident care. I also enjoy supporting colleagues to stretch themselves to fulfil their potential, and liaising between residents, colleagues and outside professionals to benefit residents’ health and wellbeing.

Prior to my current role I was working in management roles for ten years. However, I found I was missing hands-on nursing care. Returning to delivering care has given me huge pleasure – I’m so glad I made the move. Caring for the residents and ensuring their needs are being met is the most rewarding thing about what I do, but I get a lot of satisfaction from enabling the team to work together well. Good teamwork is the foundation to great care.

Before joining Priors House, I was a graphic designer but have also worked as a labourer for a landscape gardening company. I love being able to deliver a concept from start to finish and being creative to solve problems. In that respect, my previous role is very similar to this one.

Gardening needs lots of care and attention, it takes hard work too. It helps to have a positive outlook as well. Even more so because this is a place dedicated to care, and everyone here is friendly.

My favourite part of any day is seeing a well completed task. I also like to ensure that my work in the grounds is original and engaging for residents and colleagues.

A big career highlight for me was when I had the opportunity to work with the team at the Imperial War Museum to commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day.

Outside of work, my interests are music, art and photography. At the moment, I also have far too much DIY!