2 minute read
July’s Business Showcase
WE INTERVIEWED HELENA WALLIS FROM HEART OF ENGLAND MENCAP
What does your company do?
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We provide care and support to people with a learning disability or autism, empowering people to live their most fulfilling life.
What changes or challenges do you foresee for your company in the next three years?
The ongoing lack of funding for the delivery of care services to enable us to deliver the ‘best’ care and support is something we will continue to face. As a population we are living longer with more complex conditions, so we will need to attract the right skills and resources, with the right values into the care sector. We already face these challenges and I don’t see them disappearing soon.
The acceleration of digital approaches to care delivery and management is something we should embrace, as this will have positive outcomes for people as more time can be spent on the delivery of care and less on administration.
How many staff does the company have?
A team of 10 paramedics and first responders
Are you optimistic, realistic or pessimistic about 2021?
I think I hover between all three each day! I always try to find the positives though, as I feel it is so easy to spend time, energy and resources on just the challenges and negatives, we have to remember to celebrate the successes!
What is the most important task you carry out each day?
Ask myself WHY? If I can’t identify why I should do something and understand the outcome or purpose – then it’s probably not something I should be doing!
What is your company’s most important KPI?
Enabling people to live their very best life! Measuring this is difficult – but fundamentally that’s what we all want and people with a learning disability deserve the same opportunities as everyone else.
What positive effects has your company experienced during lockdowns?
Teamwork, adaptability, innovation and kindness. We continued delivering care services throughout the pandemic, whilst managing positive cases of Covid and keeping staff teams safe as much as possible. People and communities came together to support each other – I hope this continues and I’m so proud of all my team for their achievements.
What causes you the most stress in your business?
Ambiguity. We’ve had lots of this in the care sector, not just with Covid – but from a regulatory and compliance perspective. But our leadership team are great in adapting, responding and making decisions based on the best interests of the people we support.
If you could instantly change one area or thing about your business, what would it be?
Parity in the treatment of the health and social care workforce. Until this happens, healthcare will remain the Cinderella of the system – and our ability to recruit and retain the best people will remain challenging.
How would you rank the following in order of importance (1 most, 5 least)
1 - Team communication | 2 - Sales pipeline | 3 - Strong financial data | 4 - Environmental | 5 - Social media
What do you do to unwind?
Walking. I find the morning walks before work the most important, it helps me connect, reflect and prepare for the day ahead. Then the longer weekend walks, often through mud and the occasional getting lost and definitely with some liquid refreshment at the end as a celebration!
