An interview with Genevieve Wahbe, Director
Coronavirus. The very sound of it sends shivers down everyone’s spine – it arrived in March, like an unwanted guest at Easter and blew everyone’s plans out the window. Four months on and as lockdown has eased and restrictions are lifting, we are stepping out gradually to see what the “new normal” looks like.
Like the tornado in the Wizard of Oz, it has upended business and lives indiscriminately. As businesses open their doors and try to adapt their workings to the new world that is presented, there is one sector that has been hit harder than most – the care sector.
We sat down with Genevieve Harman, Director at Care Guaranteed to find out more.
So, what has the pandemic meant for you and your organisation?
It has been all consuming, all worrying, and I’ve worked all hours on it to ensure the safety of all my clients and care workers. From the beginning, we focused on the infection protection and control and made sure that all our lines of communication were open to ensure that despite the fact that we were all isolating, no one was alone.
COVID-19 has been particularly difficult and hard on clients who suffer with dementia. Their routines and social interactions have been affected which has caused increased confusion. Our carers – who I must congratulate on their incredible dedication – were able to maintain constant, excellent levels of customer service without running the risk of infection. We kept the circles tight, ensured stability and safety for our lovely clients and checked in regularly for the well-being of all.
It’s been incredibly difficult, but I’m blessed with a remarkable team – people who have chosen caring as their vocation. They have been the backbone to our services and outstanding levels of attention have been provided.
What was the first thing you did when the signal for lockdown was given?
I immediately developed an inclusive plan and strategy to deal with the immediate risks for my clients, their families and our care workers. I wanted to ensure that everyone would know what was going on, when and why to ensure total transparency and trust in our approach.
What happened during coronavirus for your clients and their carers?
For clients, their routines changed dramatically – the most heart breaking one being the limited social interaction with their family and close friends. They were classified in the high risk vulnerable category and explaining succinctly the new procedures initially did cause confusion and distress and led to some challenging behaviours, which was distressing for everyone involved.
For our care workers, they literally were live in angels. They responded quickly by undertaking additional training, accepting the increase on their workloads – despite being scared themselves, as we all were. We spoke daily, ensuring that everyone had everything that needed and to ensure that their own well-being and mental health was heard and assessed.
You’ve touched on this here with the phone calls – did you have any other systems in place to make sure that everyone (including your carers) were catered for?
Prior to lockdown, I was already working on ways to roll procedures out to ensure that everyone was safe – that was my ultimate goal. From there, we quickly rolled out one thing after another – ensuring that everyone had PPE and guidance on the correct way to use it, setting up regular contact calls with all parties, using Zoom & WhatsApp to have face to face calls and ensuring regular updates and contacts from health professionals. The Zoom and WhatsApp calls were golden – sometimes, you can miss tiny but relevant details by not seeing the person you are chatting to. The face to face calls brought us all together and enabled me to truly ‘see’ how they were doing.
What challenges have you overcome and how have you done it?
Keeping on top of the ever changing guidelines became a full time job in itself!!
Additionally, we have clients in both England AND Wales – both of who had their own regulations and approaches to this pandemic!
However, Care Guaranteed is a member of the United Kingdom Home Care Association (UKCHA) who were brilliant at disseminating information and lobbying the Government/various bodies to help support homecare agencies.
I’m also included in a few online forums nationally, drawing from the shared wisdom and finds from other organisations like Outstanding Homecare Network and Skills for Care Registered Managers – thank goodness for technology!
What comes across is how much you genuinely value your carers – tell us what makes them so exceptional?
[Laughs] I am their number one fan, does that come across?!! I love their love for their job – they don’t see it as a job, they just love what they do. I see them treat their clients with the same love, attention and compassion that they would do for their own family and it warms my heart too. This is why we started – I wanted to provide that home from home love in the comfort, reassurance and familiar surroundings.
I love hearing and seeing their clients and their client’s families together too – seeing it all work as a unit, providing the best care possible while maintaining relationships, dignity and independence.
When I’m interviewing, it is easy to identify those who really love what they do from those who just see it was a way of earning a living, which means I probably recruit about 10% of the people I interview. I’m looking for skills and experience – sure – but the USP for me is always the attitude that they as a care worker have towards vulnerability – I’m looking for kind, caring, compassionate, encouraging, gentle and protective superheroes & heroines.
What were the benefits of having a live in carer at this time, as opposed to agency staff?
Without a question of doubt the live in care model is the safest model in these unprecedented times. Having one person, who lives with you, taking care of you, only leaving the house when it’s absolutely essential and following all social distancing steps to protect themselves and their clients is the safest, kindest, care solution. Agency staff who enter numerous homes, visiting many clients in the one day created a much greater risk for infection transmission – something we saw happen in the care sector with devastating consequences.
While you’ve touched on this subject, how did you feel when you saw the news and statistics regarding care homes?
Desperately and profoundly upset. I was deeply shocked and saddened by the significant loss of lives in these settings. So much more should have been done so much sooner, which would have had so much better outcomes for a lot of vulnerable people.
It’s not about blame but it’s critical that learning outcomes are shared, lessons are learnt, and changes implemented. This needs to be rolled out transparently, thoroughly and quickly, to prevent it happening again in the incident of a second spike.
I have to be completely honest in that I’m grateful that Care Guaranteed operate a different care model. Without a doubt, those cared for in their own homes with their own dedicated, live in care worker is the safest approach to care in general, but even more so with this pandemic.
So, what comes next?
We are still navigating our way through the situation, but it is getting a little easier. 1st August sees the end of ‘shielding’ and we will work with our carers to ensure that our clients feel safe, happy and relaxed with the ease in restrictions.
Every day, I talk to clients, families and social workers who know very little (and often, nothing), about live in care. It is so vital that everyone knows all the care options available, to be able to make the best decision for their loved ones. Our job over the next six months is to get the message out there (and although we are British, there is an affordable financial element to our kind of care too!)
While we believe that residential homes of course have their place – depending on the circumstances – we want people considering care to think about how much happier and safer your loved ones would be in their own home – and how you would feel knowing that there is someone who is trained, qualified with a 100% caring and compassionate focus on hand, 24/7 – providing the attention and love they deserve.
It’s the small details that make the biggest impact – having a cuppa in your favourite cup, being able to look out your familiar windows onto the gardens and seeing the roses, saying hello to the neighbour next door – it all adds up to the best form of attention and nursing possible, with care guaranteed.
Thanks for your time Genevieve. More soon folks!
