FirstCol Discuss What The Care Industry Means To Them For #GoodCareMonth

Milton Sakutukwa, Managing Director and CEO

1. Why did you start FirstCol? FirstCol was set up from a strong caring background. I started as a healthcare assistant when I was doing my nursing training and it was very much about recognizing what more we could do for others and seeing how we could make a difference by providing a service that could extend beyond a standard caring role.”
2. What does it mean to be in the care sector? “To be a carer you need to be caring and compassionate. It takes a lot to care for someone because most of the people we support rely on us as they can’t do a number of the things we do for them themselves. You are likely to derive good satisfaction from helping others.
3. How do you ensure the standards of care always remain high? “From the onset we want our clients to receive the best care and attention and this starts with how we recruit and how we look for people who are caring, compassionate, and flexible. Care is delivered by people and if we hire the right people we can ensure we do that. To support ourselves, we have put in place a range of governance structures to ensure the quality of care stays at the centre of everything we do. For example, we have subjected ourselves to a quality management system which is independently inspected by British Standards Institute, assessing our service to be compliant to international standards.”
4. What qualities do you look for in a carer? “I would have to say the key attributes are: care, compassion and flexibility. I also think carers need to empathise with someone’s circumstances and not be judgemental. It’s always good to have a level of patience.”

Jane, Home Carer/Support Work

1. What’s your role at Firstcol? “I am a home carer/support worker and I’ve been working for FirstCol for five years, but I’ve been working in the care industry for my whole life since I was seventeen.”
2. What does #GoodCareMonth mean to you? “Every day and every month is a good care month. I do the best that I can and always give 100% to the role. Overall, I want to ensure people are comfortable and happy in their own homes.”
3. Why is FirstCol different from other agencies? “It’s like being one of the family and I know that they care about us and more importantly the clients. They are always at the end of the phone if we need them!

Zara, Support Worker for HomeCare

1. What’s your role at Firstcol? “I am a support worker for HomeCare and I’ve been working at FirstCol for just over two years and I love every minute of it.”
2. What does #GoodCareMonth mean to you? “Being a good carer to everyone and doing the best you can. In my life and in my religion, I believe that you get what you give, later in life you might get it back and this is where my dream job to be a carer started.”
3. How do you ensure standards always remain high? “I will try my best! Everyone makes mistakes, but I try to give 100% at all times to ensure people are happy and comfortable. It’s nice to not only be a support worker but a friend.”

Cara, Co-Ordinator

1. What’s your role at Firstcol? “I am currently a care coordinator and I’ve been with FirstCol for over five years now. I started as a normal carer and I’ve worked my way up, so I was a supervisor and now a care coordinator.”
2. What does #GoodCareMonth mean to you? “To be honest, to me, I don’t really believe in a good care month, as I think every month is a good care month. It’s a good job to go into, it’s rewarding, you get to meet new people and look after people. I just put everything into the role.
3. Why is FirstCol different from other agencies? “To me, as a care coordinator, especially with our close-knit team, we really value our carers. We appreciate all the hard work they do and all the effort they put in. They are constantly giving a high standard of care, so we know our clients are well looked after. We really value them and appreciate everything they do!”