This article is sponsored by North Yorkshire County Council.
People of all ages and all backgrounds work as care professionals in North Yorkshire – so come and join the team and make a difference to people’s lives.
That’s the message this week as the county’s social care leaders send out an appeal for people to join a profession which offers a rewarding lifetime career.
All sorts of people across the county have made this life-changing step into the care profession, from builders and retail workers to accountants, young graduates and parents wanting flexible but rewarding work.
Flavia Nyambira, a North Yorkshire care and support worker said:
“Being a care professional is something I am so proud of. Every day in the job is different and at the end of every day I always feel I have made a difference.”
Flavia has worked for the last four years helping people who have come out of hospital or experienced a physical or mental difficulty, to get back on their own feet in their own home.
She came into the care profession after 11 years working in the British Army as a postal and courier service operator in Germany. When Flavia was posted back to North Yorkshire with her soldier husband and their three children, she started to look for work that she could fit around her family.
She added:
“I absolutely loved being a care worker from day one and in this job I am supported and given every opportunity to do the work to the best of my ability.”
Flavia was taken on under the County Council’s apprenticeship scheme and is currently working to complete her NVQ level 3, which will give her the qualification to become a team leader.
“I don’t just have a job, I have a career and I am learning while I am working.”
Flavia is given one day a week to complete her studies and is considering going on to become a social worker in the long term.
She said:
“I thought about going to university to study to be a social worker but I didn’t want to come out with a debt. With this job, I could apply to be supported to gain my social work qualification.
“The rewards of being in the care profession are huge. I support people with care and encouragement and the right equipment to regain confidence to do things for themselves again. It’s so great to see the look of happiness on their faces when they can get back their independence.
“Everybody we care for has a story to tell and it’s good to be a listening ear when they are going through a difficult situation.
“I support people of all ages. You always have that satisfaction knowing every day that you have done something worthwhile for somebody.”
Across the county, North Yorkshire has 20,000 people working in the care sector, from the 13,000 care and support workers in 500 organisations providing services in residential care and people’s homes through to social workers, project managers and administrators. On any given day, there are at least 1,000 jobs available across the county.
Join Team North Yorkshire – become a care professional and make a difference. You can find out more and apply for jobs across the care sector directly at www.makecarematter.co.uk
A woman working at a Knaresborough care home has been suspended from nursing for 12 months after lying to colleagues, police and at an inquest about the care of one of her patients.
Susan Nyakwangwa was caring for the patient at Thistle Hill Care Home in Knaresborough on February 26, 2016 when the patient’s health deteriorated, they were later admitted to hospital with pneumonia and died two days later.
Ms Nyakwngwa went before the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) last week in a fitness to practise hearing, suspected of misconduct.
The hearing was told that she had failed to manage the patient’s deterioration appropriately, particularly over the time it took to contact Beech House GP Surgery.
Ms Nyakwangwa told two colleagues she had telephoned the surgery before 1pm, but at the hearing it was found she had not.
During an investigation for criminal neglect, which the police later dropped, in September 2016 Ms Nyakwangwa told officers she had called the surgery between 11am and before lunch.
She repeated this whilst giving oral evidence under oath at the Inquest into the death of the patient.
But it was found that Ms Nyakwangwa did not call the GP surgery until later in the afternoon, the first outgoing call to the practice was made at 14:04pm.
The panel found the registered nurse, with a 42-year career, to be dishonest and said her actions “fell far below the standards expected of a registered nurse”.
The hearing report spoke of case presenter, Alastair Kennedy:
“Mr Kennedy submitted that there is nothing to suggest that you appreciate the affect your actions had on the public, colleagues and the trust placed in the nursing profession.
“Mr Kennedy invited the panel to find that your fitness to practise as a registered nurse is currently impaired.”
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Ms Nyakwangwa was represented by Briony Molyneux who argued it had been a “single act of dishonesty” and the “only blip” in a long-standing nursing career.
She added:
“No harm was caused to Patient A as a result of your dishonest conduct, your actions were not pre-meditated and there was no sophisticated attempt to cover up your dishonesty.”
A statement from Thistle Hill said:
“At Thistle Hill care home the safety and wellbeing of our residents is of the utmost importance. The case in 2016 was an isolated incident involving a temporary member of staff and we took all immediate and appropriate action. We fully respect the decision made by the NMC and offer no further comment at this time.”
Ms Nyakwangwa has not worked recently due to personal health reasons.
The suspension period comes begins this month, at the end of the 12 months another panel will review the order.