CRISTAL clear win for City & County staff
We’re delighted to announce that staff from Careline and Comfort Call had a successful night at the CRISTAL Care Awards ceremony on Friday 14th October, where they picked up two awards.
The CRISTAL Care Awards recognise the dedicated work that benefits people receiving care across Tameside and Glossop from an independent provider.
Vicki Kinder – Leads the way
Our first featured winner is Vicki Kinder who received the award for ‘Leading the way’. Vicki currently works as branch manager at Careline, Tameside, and has been in the role since 2021. She started off as a care worker, moving on to care coordinator and is now branch manager. Vicki currently manages three coordinators, three senior carers and 68 care staff. Vicki has been noted by colleagues for her professional attitude, and the positive way in which she leads her branch.
When asked about her win, Vicki said, “I was over the moon and so pleased to be recognised…I’m very lucky, I have an amazing team of care workers, seniors, and branch staff – all of them are brilliant. We work as a team and have good relationships with one another.”
One of the initiatives Vicki has been recognised for is the weekly social club she has started. The club runs once a week at the branch office – Poppy House. The club is open to all service users and gives them the opportunity to take part in a range of activities. It particularly benefits service users who are less mobile as it provides them with a weekly outing, away from their homes, and a chance to socialise. So far, the club has been a real success with around 18 to 22 service users attending each week. Activities include bingo, quizzes, and birthday parties and more. Recently the club has hosted pumpkin carving in preparation for Halloween and held a Queen’s Jubilee party in the summer.
Vicki was driven to work in the care sector due to her experiences of seeing her dad being cared for when he was ill. Unfortunately, her dad passed away at a young age and this made her even more determined to work in health and care. She wanted to make a difference.
Comfort Call’s inspirational team
Our second featured winner is the care team from Comfort Call, Tameside – awarded in the category for ‘Inspirational and Innovative Practice’.
Local District Nurse, Farrer Amjar, nominated the team for their enthusiastic involvement and achievements in a pilot scheme where several care workers were trained to administer insulin to service users who are living with diabetes. This was the first pilot of its kind.
The care team at Comfort Call now has three care workers who are trained in insulin administration: Mcauley Edwards, Jordan Cusak, and Debra Dodds. The training took six to eight weeks to complete and addressed the specific needs of each service user.
Mandy Hall, Branch Manager, said “Our team was absolutely delighted to win this award. The pilot shows that care workers can and are willing to take on more variety in their roles. Our trainees did a fantastic job and have demonstrated a level of responsibility not usually given to them. We hope this achievement inspires other branches to develop their care workers’ skills even further so they can make an even bigger difference to people’s lives.”
