"Don't say no until you try" | Meet the team
Meet the team
We employ around 170 staff across our care homes, housing schemes and support office. With so many diverse roles, we would like to introduce you to some of our team. Just click on the roles below to find out more.
Care Assistant
Care Home Administrator
I support the Care Home Manager with all the administration at the home. This includes for example completing forms for new residents and staff, collating the residents’ activity calendar, paying invoices, helping to manage the budget, completing and submitting payroll and liaising with support services in Seaford.
I’m the first point of contact for everyone who walks through the door so I welcome friends and families of residents, doctors, nurses, tradesmen and I take care of all the telephone calls. Some of my colleagues say “I’m the glue that holds the home together!”
This is a very busy role and I have the freedom to complete my work, be with the residents and interact with staff. We’re a good team here.
Jessica at Oakwood Court care home, Haywards Heath.
Maintenance
I take care of the day to day maintenance of the building making sure all the checks have been done, including fire and gas safety and electrical testing. My role also includes tasks such as unblocking shower wells, checking light bulbs and cleaning the bins. There is generally a lot of cleaning involved and ensuring everything is in working order. I also decorate rooms when they become vacant.
I enjoy spending time talking to residents when I’m working in their rooms and supporting the care team. I may have my week planned out but sometimes my work can be very reactive, you never really know what you’re going to walk into in the morning, this is why I love working here.
I have enjoy the opportunity to do activities with residents such as gardening, indoor play and dancing. Outside of work, DIY is my main hobby.
Allan Manalo at Oakwood Court care home, Haywards Heath.
Scheme Manager
I love working with older people and hearing their life’s experiences. I enjoy enriching their golden years - making them easier and more pleasurable.
I've worked in a variety of care settings for many years. Care in the Community with profoundly physically disabled people and some with brain acquired injuries, before I started at Sussex Housing & Care.
Since working here I have been a manager at Saxonwood Care Home and then moved to become a Scheme Manager.
I enjoy providing a high standard of service to residents."
Fiona, Scheme Manager for Ashleigh Glegg House and Falfield in Seaford.
"Don't say no until you try"
Bindu, our Care Home Manager at Oakwood Court tells us about her career as she approaches the end of her first year in her Care Home Manager role.
“I trained as a registered nurse in India where I grew up, and began working for Sussex Housing & Care at Oakwood Court as a bank care assistant in 2008. This gave me flexibility around my other job which worked brilliantly for me while I settled in my new country.
Senior care assistant
Soon, my manager observed my patient and compassionate attitude and my good listening skills and offered me a permanent role as a Senior Care Assistant. I give 100% to everything I do and life is a big learning curve, I grab any opportunity and always try it before I say no. This is how I’ve managed to progress to where I am today.
As a senior care assistant I enjoyed spending time with residents, hearing their life stories and supporting them with daily living. In the background I spent around three hours a week studying for my NVQ Level 3 in Health and Social Care. I particularly enjoyed the responsibility in this senior role of liaising with other health professionals such as GPs, nurses and mental health teams and building a collaborative working relationship with them.
Being trained and trusted to manage the medication round also gave me valuable experience. When administering the medication to residents I took the opportunity to have a friendly one to one conversation with them and I’d often find they’d be looking forward to my arrival! If I’d been off for a few days, my medication round took longer because of all the chit-chat and catching up with them!
Deputy Manager
After five years as a senior care assistant, in 2020 I applied for the Deputy Manager role and was successful. I began studying for my NVQ Level 5 Leadership and Management in Health and Social Care and have enjoyed putting the theory into practice, and being supported by Sussex Housing & Care to continue my professional development.
Care Home Manager
Since March 2021 I have had an exciting time as the Care Home Manager at Oakwood Court. I now lead a team of 37 people and it’s my responsibility to make sure our residents are safe and create a positive relationship with their families. Of course there have been daunting moments taking on this role, but every day I get to boost my confidence and put my experience into practice. I’ve learnt to believe in myself more and with the support of senior managers here, I have a fantastic team around me.
It’s hard to believe sometimes that I’m now the manager! Everything I do I take the experience and learn from it. I will always try to go above and beyond and with this attitude, I believe there’s a career in care for many people.”
If you would like to talk to our team to find out more about our current opportunities please contact us at jobs@sussexhousing.org.uk or visit our vacancies page.
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