NEW ADDITIONS TO SAFEGUARDING TEAM

The Safeguarding Directorate recently welcomed two new local staff members to its team – Social Care Officers Anna Crowie and Patra Duncan (photo attached).

Both Anna and Patra work with vulnerable people aged between 18 and 65 years, with Anna’s work focused on home support and Patra working more with disabled clients and helping them to better access the community.

Anna said:

“We often think of who needs care rather than who is providing the care and my role is to bring the two together and assess what carers are there for people who might need them – and also to support those providing the care.

“In line with the newly established Better Life Allowance I will be looking at the vulnerable people in our community, assessing their level of need and ensuring they are correctly entered into our system and receiving the benefit they are entitled to.”

Patra added:

“My work focuses more on working with our disabled clients from Ebony View and Barn View and encouraging them to get out into the community, access the services on offer and even to just have a conversation with someone. So I am working on educational plans to develop clients’ communication skills, using sign language and communication aids to enable them to become more confident in communicating with others.”

Anna and Patra have very important roles in protecting the Island’s vulnerable and both bring a wealth of previous work experience into their new Safeguarding roles. Anna has been a nurse for over 29 years and despite now being in a different role finds her previous nursing skills very useful when dealing with vulnerable people. Patra comes from an education background and her previous role in a Special Needs School in the UK is of great benefit to her Safeguarding role.

Anna and Patra are also currently undergoing an on-the-job training programme and studying to complete their vocational courses online.

Anna commented:

“We have a good team in Safeguarding and a lot of support. The role is a challenge for me but I feel that I have a lot to offer from my previous working background. Every day I’m experiencing something new and building new relationships with clients.”

Patra concluded:

“Working with the clients, learning what they’re capable of and how we can work towards helping them is rewarding in itself. I’m really happy with how the job is going so far, looking forward to the challenges ahead but even more so getting the clients out into the community and helping them to communicate confidently.”

SHG

8 December 2015