The owner of Pelham House, Roger Waluube, was a judge at one of the most prestigious care industry awards schemes in the UK recently.
The judging for the Great British Care Awards was held at the impressive International Convention Centre in Birmingham, to decide the national winners of more than 20 individual categories from each of the nation’s 11 regions.
Roger was one of 85 independent judges whose role was to recognise the very best achievements of individuals and teams in the care industry.
“It was a really useful experience to mix with other influential members of the care sector nationally,” said Roger, who judged the ‘Newcomer of the Year’ finalists. “There are always things we can do better to help people maintain their independence, as we continue to discover more about all the issues associated with ageing. Our understanding has developed immensely over the last 20 years, and we will need to continue adjusting to an increasingly older population.”
The judging came in the week that the care industry expressed fears that new immigration rules announced by the UK government could impact on the sector, which is currently short of an estimated 120,000 workers.
“We are fortunate at Pelham to have our own team of dedicated staff, so we don’t rely on freelance or agency staff to cover shifts,” said Roger, “We certainly don’t regard our staff as ‘low-skilled’ as they undertake continual training to hone their skills in what can be a challenging job both physically and mentally.”
At the South East regional finals of the Great British Care Awards in Brighton in November, Pelham House had a finalist in the form of Janet Deveson, in the ‘Ancillary Worker of the Year’, while Jayne Chadwick, Manager of sister business, Aspire Home Carers, was also a finalist among the ‘Registered Managers of the Year’.