Debbie

Caregiver

Role at Right at Home GF – I’m a CareGiver which involves a wide variety of caring activities such as shopping, personal care, making appointments and going to the doctors with clients.

 

When did you join? – I’ve been with Right at Home since Managing Director Alastair Shanks first set up the Guildford and Farnham office in 2012.

I saw the advert for caregivers and decided to apply as I wanted to do something for myself. At the interview, Alastair started to ask me all these interview questions and I could feel myself getting flustered (it had been a long time since I’d had an interview) so I asked him to stop the questions. He looked a bit puzzled, but I decided to be brave and ask him if I could just talk. He agreed and so I told him about how I had looked after a friend’s parents and how this friend had said I was a natural at the job and had the patience of a saint and that I should take up caregiving.

After sharing my story, Alastair said he’d never interviewed anybody in this way before but that I was hired! That was 10 years ago, and I am now approaching retirement.

 

What do you enjoy most about your job? The clients. I’ve been able to work with such a wide variety of people which makes for a diverse range of tasks. There was one man who used to ask me to chop wood for his log burner and to get coal from the bunker for the boiler which heated his water. He was 104!

I like to sing and make my clients laugh. I enjoy homecare visits. There’s no need to rush – I just do what makes my clients comfortable and I am happy to do it.

 

What has been your proudest moment at Right at Home GF? Achieving my health and social care diplomas. I was 52 when I started studying. I passed my Level 2 in 2013 and my Level 3 in 2015.

I decided not to take my studying any further because I enjoy hands on caring and Level 4 would have taken me into management which would have been more office based.

 

What would you say to somebody thinking about applying for a job at Right at Home?

Go in with an open mind. Don’t say you are not going to do something; just try it and be yourself. People always ask me how I deal with personal care and the honest answer is that I don’t think about it – it’s just a job that needs doing.

My advice is to chat to the clients and be natural and remember to relax and smile.