What will you be doing in your new role?
As part of the quality team, I will be working in collaboration with different services across the country, providing leadership, guidance, and oversight to support them in meeting the regulatory requirements of the Health and Social Care Act. My role also includes leading on projects to help improve the quality of services and developing our quality assurance processes, policies, and ways of working.
What is your career history and how long have you been at Achieve together?
I have grown up with my family owning and managing a residential care service for adults with learning disabilities, and I have seen from a young age the positive impact the right care and support can have. After university, I wanted to see as much of the world as I could, and I found myself in different countries including China, Morocco, and the Philippines working with community projects promoting independence skills for adults with learning disabilities.
A few years later, I went on to work for the local authority in quality assurance, working with the safeguarding and commissioning teams for adult social care. My role there was to help provide bespoke support in improving care quality, and to provide the tools and knowledge to prevent safeguarding issues recurring. My career progressed to working as a CQC Inspector, where I got to see such a wide range of care settings and care quality, and I still work on their bank inspection team now to help my regulatory knowledge stay up to date. At CQC I inspected four Achieve together services, and it was through doing this that I felt, this is a company I can see myself working for. I joined Achieve together in January 2021, and have held three roles in that time, including my most recent appointment as Head of Regulatory Excellence.
What are you most looking forward to in the new role?
My new role excites me; I am in a position where I can use my background and experience to help teams across the country evidence the good work they are doing, and to feel confident in recognising the positive impact their have on the people they support. It is a new role for the company, and one I am looking forward to help develop and use to support others.
Who/what is your greatest inspiration at Achieve together?
I have been fortunate enough to work with a lot of inspirational colleagues at Achieve together. I love hearing about their backgrounds, motivations, and what lead them to be in the role they are in today. Working alongside each of them has helped me to develop how I work, brought about new ideas, and I believe there is something to be learned from everyone you meet. As a collective though, my inspiration has been seeing the resilience, bravery, teamwork, and commitment shown by my colleagues, especially when supporting vulnerable people through mental health struggles to get the help they need.
What would you say to anyone thinking of joining Achieve together?
I’ve had jobs in the past which don’t challenge me, which don’t give me job satisfaction, and where in all honesty I have been so bored. While working in care can be a rollercoaster of emotions, working for Achieve together has also been the most rewarding experience in my career to date. Every day is different, the pace of change is fast, and those days when everyone pulls together, works through whatever challenges come their way, and you still get to help put a smile on someone’s face, are the days when I feel most proud. Achieve together have some amazing team members, there is a wealth of skill and knowledge around you, and the opportunities for development are beyond what I expected.
