Assessment and Support Coordinator, Home First Team, Adult Services
I joined Dorset Council in the middle of the pandemic! A strange time to start a new job; with no actual office to go to and being introduced to your team via a screen. Luckily, I was very used to Teams as I had been using it in my previous job with St John Ambulance (who I still volunteer with). I had to learn about Dorset Council and my new job though. Transferrable skills are indeed transportable.
One of the pluses of ‘working from home’ in the beginning was my disability didn’t impinge on my work too much. I already had a great office set up at home with an appropriate loo, a parking space and fibre Wi-Fi. Of course, a big negative was not getting the benefit of all those water cooler conversations or hearing other people’s challenges/successes and learning from them. I’m employed to do Care Act Assessments on those that request them.
I started working with people who had just left hospital that were identified to need a long-term package of care. I would give them a ring or go to visit them in their home if they couldn’t hear or understand me on the phone. I’m employed to encapsulate them in a few sheets of paper - namely, a Strength and Needs Assessment and then to create a Care and Support Plan that meets their needs and wants.
Now however, I generally work in DCH, Bridport Community Hospital and Westhaven Community Hospital. I can, nonetheless, be asked to attend any hospital in Dorset. I meet my clients on their wards. I do their Care Act Assessments there and start the search for care for them so they can go home.
My disability can be a bit restrictive here as I can’t walk long distances and hospitals have very long corridors! But, I can plan my days and I have ‘Squeaker’ (my mobility scooter) in the wings in case it’s required. I explain to people I have about 400 steps in me per day. I can ‘spend’ them where I want but if I go over these, I tend to suffer in the next few days.
I still get to see people in the community because I visit them after a couple of weeks at home to see if everything is going ok. If it’s not, I work to adjust things as required before handing them on to their Locality Team.
This is a very rewarding job and I have a very supportive team to lean on with the difficult cases. Dorset Council are very accepting of my disability and the tweaks I need to apply to do my job. I enjoy a blend of working from home and being in the Dorchester Local Office. Flexi time means I can take a longer lunch and work later. I love getting to know the people of Dorset and supporting them so they can live their best lives following a spell in hospital. Plus, I feel privileged to be able to travel across this beautiful county and call it work.