Explore Itais personal story to help you explore your options
Setting: Domiciliary care organisation providing care in people’s homes.
Overview of current role
My registered manager job role involves ensuring the care our organisation provides is of the highest possible quality and meets the regulatory requirements of our service. This means conducting:
- home visits
- risk assessments
- care planning
- managing and leading a team
- completing staff appraisals
- oversight of teaching and evaluating the care we give
- develop and review the annual audits and analysing the data as it is available
- looking for opportunities to add to our continuous improvement plans.
I am also involved with looking at 'I statements' from families and services users. Every morning at 10:30 we have a 'dash meeting' with all the staff to update care plans and highlight any issues, where needed we will then liaise with the District Nursing team to escalate concerns or review care planning.
I am also an owner and director of the organisation, so part of my role is looking for business development opportunities. I network with other registered managers in domiciliary care to share our experiences and learn from each other.
How did I get here
I grew up in Zimbabwe and when I finished school I applied and was enrolled into the school of nursing, my mother was a nurse so it was an opportunity to follow in her footsteps.
When I finished my programme I decided to come to England and study to become a mental health nurse. Once completed I went back to Zimbabwe and worked whilst having my family and as the years I progressed I reached director level at a mental health organisation.
As a family we then decided to come back to the UK so my children could study and luckily, I was offered a job with the organisation I worked for many years before whilst doing my mental health nursing.
After a year I moved to the community mental health team and became a team leader for the assertive outreach team. I was keen to continue my development, so I completed a master’s degree in health and social care management. I then applied for a service manager role for integrated services and was successful and after a while I moved over to manage children's services.
My first experience as a registered manager was in a residential care home with nursing for people with dementia and physical health needs where I worked for a couple of years before being headhunted back into the NHS.
I came to a point where I knew I wanted to have my own service to support people to live the life they choose as independently as possible and in their own homes, so I set up my current business as a homecare agency where my current role resides.
What brings me joy
Getting good feedback from our families and the wider healthcare system is always a highlight and helps us be responsive to peoples hopes for their care.
Qualifications and education
- Registered Nurse - Mental Health.
- BSc in Psycho-Social interventions for severe mental illness.
- Master’s in Health and Social care Management.
- Registered Manager.
Training, knowledge and skills
- Working across different sectors.
- Leadership programme for black, minority ethnic staff in the NHS.
- Knowledge of the regulatory system.
- Knowledge of commissioning and complex care in peoples own homes.
- A passion for connecting and developing people.
- Experience of managing service.
- Teaching.