Discovery takes centre stage at the Great British Care Awards South West ceremony!
Discovery colleagues’ hard work shone brightly at the Great British Care Awards, winning categories in putting people first and being a homecare frontline leader.
Lead Support Workers Molly Northcott and Mike Bruce both won plaudits at a wonderful ceremony in Bristol last week, as they took home The Putting People First Award.
Locality Manager Jon Robinson took home The Frontline Leader Award.
Other colleagues from Discovery also featured in the award categories, coming ‘highly commended’ in the Home Care Newcomer Award, The 3 Rs (Recruitment, Retention and Recognition) Award, and The Workforce Development Award.
Celebrated winners
Molly and Mike
In a nomination brimming with their level of commitment in putting the people they support first, Molly and Mike showed at a recently attended Discovery Senior Team meeting the positive outcomes they are guaranteeing.
This has been thanks to them revisiting intensive interaction (tuning in) training with the people they support, and working closely with colleagues as practice leaders, to apply their learning consistently into practice.
Everyone involved were ‘overwhelmed’ by the positive changes Molly and Mike have made happen. They’ve also been impressed at the creativity and thoughtfulness of the learning both are instilling into the home.
Helen Orford, Managing Director for Discovery, said: “It’s evident that the people we support are living a more fulfilled life, where they’re able to express their choices and preferences more as a direct result of Molly and Mike’s commitment.
“This hard work is seeing new possibilities open for the people we support, after many years of restrictions and risk focus. They’re now having many more opportunities and choices.”
After recently visiting the home, Lorna Wilson, Better Practice Manager, said of the changes:
“I felt privileged not only to have some of your precious time but also to enter people’s lives for a brief moment and see how much has changed for people.
“I have to admit feeling very moved when I got back to the car – seeing how you had built such amazing relationships with the people who live there. Molly was inspiring. The difference there is palpable!”
Jon
“Jon is simply the finest of leaders…”
As the registered manager of a supported home location in Chard, which has been tagged as a ‘complex location’, Jon has been a breath of fresh air since taking up the position as Locality Manager around 18 months ago.
He’s pushed every barrier whilst setting the tone and expectation for his team that every moment has potential. The results have been seismic – leading to a great majority of the restrictions being removed and the people we support there are achieving super quality of life outcomes.
Jodie Williams, Operations Director, said of Jon that “he’s the most modest man I know”, rarely accepting a compliment or credit where it’s clearly due.
He’s greatly improve team morale and culture within the home, as is reflected in the very low sickness records among staff. There’s a feeling among his staff that they’re positive about improving the lives of the people they support to.
He’s passionate about his work and the wellbeing of his staff, always willing to make time for them. He encourages personal development in a way suiting the individual.
He leads by example, not being afraid to challenge the norm.
Helen Orford said: “Since Jon has been in post, the lives of the people we support has been greatly enhanced. This has been achieved by Jon and the team, focusing on the way that each person communicates (all of the people we support express themselves in their own unique ways, with no or few words spoken) and then tuning in with them to better establish their choices and preferences.
“Jon has created an environment in the home where ambition with and for the people we support underpins everything the team stands for, facilitating more opportunities for them to live an ordinary life. They’ve introduced more options and found creative ways to seek their opinions, whilst providing a progressive rota based on the choices of the people we support.
“Jon’s team reference that he has made the home a fun and rewarding place to work. And through his passion, it is notable that Jon has a brother who has a learning disability and therefore the quality of support he requires for his brother is clear in driving his conviction to make a difference to the lives of the people in his care.”
He takes a holistic approach in his leadership, seeking the opinions and views of his team and is not afraid to challenge health care professionals or other external stakeholders if or where required.
He recognises and respects the diversity of his team and understands that each individual brings a unique set of skills to the team and he encourages a culture where staff feel confident to use them.
In short, Jon is an incredible leader.
Highly commended runners up
A number of our fine colleagues also received the ‘Highly Commended’ accolades at the ceremony. They were:
Lacey Caines, Support Worker, who was runner up in The Home Care Newcomer Award category. What’s remarkable about this achievement is that Lucy was only 17 when she started working for Discovery!
Melissa Greer and The Peripatetic Team, highly commended in The 3 Rs category, for the splendid work they are doing to support recruitment, retention and recognition.
And Trina Bright and Lorna Wilson, who were runners up in The Workforce Development Award category for their unwavering focus on supporting continuous improvement.
The organisation is immensely proud of and congratulates all our Discovery colleagues whose hard work, determination and commitment has led to such glittering recognition within the sector. Well done!