Rachel is a regional winner in the Great British Care Awards
There were celebrations once again for Consensus as our colleague Rachel collected the Home Care Frontline Leaders Award at the North West regional final of the Great British Care Awards 2021.
Each year, these awards pay tribute to those individuals who have demonstrated outstanding excellence within their field of work in the care sector.
Rachel is a Team Leader at Kingarth, Greater Manchester – a nursing-led residential service supporting males with learning disabilities, autism and complex needs, including mental health issues. In choosing her to win the Frontline Leaders Award, the opinion of the judges was: “Rachel has shown real leadership, through taking the initiative and promoting the care of her team so they can provide consistent care. Rachel encourages her team to promote their ideas and helps them push those through so they can provide better quality outcomes for their residents.”
Over the course of a decade of working at Kingarth, Rachel’s experience and expertise has become invaluable to colleagues. She has trained to be a Positive Behaviour Support Coach, helping them to care for people who display behaviours which others might find challenging, and often represents Kingarth in multidisciplinary team meetings. She shares her extensive knowledge and best practice with the team, other Consensus services, and the organisation’s Positive Behaviour Intervention and Operations teams.
Above all, Rachel has an exceptional relationship with all the supported individuals living at this service, so she knows what to do to calm anxieties and de-escalate any situation. She always puts supported individuals first and consistently goes the extra mile.
Just one recent example is how she supported a 29-year-old individual who has very complex needs to attend a live music festival. This was one of his lifetime goals as he loves music but had never seen a live band. This young man has sensory issues as well as autistic traits and dyspraxia. Seeing his determination to do something that other people his age take for granted, Rachel set about making his dream come true. He loved the experience of being at the festival and, as a result, has gained in confidence and in his ability to cope in new situations.
Congratulations to Rachel for her well-deserved Great British Care Award, and to her Consensus colleagues who were also shortlisted as finalists in the North West region:
- Adam Beswick of Pendle Gardens in Lancashire for The Care Home Registered Manager Award
- Margaret Matthews, Support Worker at Kingarth, for The Care Home Worker Award
- Michelle Murphy, Team Coordinator and Learning Disability Nurse at Royal House in Bolton, for The Social Care Nurse Award.