Please sign up and help the vulnerable
Caring Isabel makes special plea
26.01.2017 Devoted care worker Isabel McCluskey is calling on other compassionate people to join a service that helps look after folk in their own homes.
Renfrewshire Health and Social Care Partnership’s Care at Home service is looking for new staff and Isabel, 59, highly recommends it.
Isabel, from Renfrew, has worked for the service for 24 years and said: “It’s a really good service to work for. There are a lot of great benefits and the fact that we help people makes a big difference to my life, as well as theirs.”
She is a team leader for Reablement, which is a Care at Home service that helps people regain their independence following a stay in hospital or an illness.
According to Isabel, the work of the service is crucial to supporting the needs of vulnerable people by helping them to live safely in their homes for as long as they can.
She added: “We’re working with people who are quite ill at the beginning and we can get them back to being independent again, which makes a huge difference in their lives.”
Isabel started working for the service as she wanted to find a job which that fit around the needs of her young family.
She now believes the rewarding nature of the job has helped shape her as a person, adding: “I started working for the team in 1992 and have been doing this job for 24 years – caring mostly for older people over 65.
“Working for the service has helped me progress in my career. It’s given me more confidence and I’m not shy any more.
“The job has changed a lot since I joined the service. We do more personal care now and you get to know people a lot because you are closer to them.
“Working in Reablement, you see someone come out of hospital and they’re quite frail, but when you’re leaving after your visit they are thanking you for everything you’ve done for them. It’s really rewarding.”
The Reablement team is just one branch of the service. Care at Home also supports the needs of Renfrewshire citizens by helping to provide personal, social and emotional support to service users and their families.
This includes helping with all aspects of personal care, such as washing, dressing and support with medication.
And now RHSCP is looking to recruit 50 new carers as part of its commitment to helping vulnerable people.
Isabel says the most gratifying aspect of her job is the variety of people you meet and the enlightening stories they tell.
She told us: “The best part of my job is meeting different people, from different walks of life and hearing the stories they tell you. It’s amazing the lives they’ve led.
“I wouldn’t be here 24 years later if I didn’t believe it was a good service.”
The starting hourly salary is £ 8.33 and you will have guaranteed working hours, a pension and training.
Successful applicants will be trained to SVQ2 Level standard in Health and Social Care, with permanent and temporary posts available.
You can apply to join Care at Home team by going online to www.myjobscotland.gov.uk/ councils/renfrewshire-council or by calling 0300 300 0330 for an application pack.