There is no question the global pandemic has affected businesses in so many different ways. Here at Cavell Healthcare we recognise how fortunate we are that it has not negatively impacted the service we deliver, or threatened jobs. Quite the contrary, we have found that the national lockdowns and restrictions on travel have meant that many families have been unable to support their loved ones as they usually would, meaning that they have looked to us to fulfil this role. As a result, since March we have taken on 17 new carers and 2 new office staff.
However, that doesn’t mean we haven’t faced other challenges within the business. Simply asking staff to carry on as normal, delivering the usual high standards of care on which we pride ourselves, has been a daunting prospect, especially at the start of the pandemic when so little was known about Covid. With a highly contagious, deadly virus sweeping the nation we were expecting our team to join the thousands of key workers across the country, overcome their concerns and get out into the community, when most of the rest of the country was staying at home. We supported them with this by closely following all government guidelines, investing heavily in PPE and introducing new procedures and training for all our carers. We also conducted weekly calls into each of our on the road team to ensure they were coping with the mental pressures and we sent out goodie bags as a token of our gratitude.
Whilst it was essential for our carers to be out in the community, we were able to offer our administrative team the option of working from home. However, we all knew that the support and management role they fulfil is far better delivered from our head office and they also felt that if the carers were out visiting clients, then they should lend their support by being in the office to offer business as usual to the on-the-road team. As a result, none of our team worked from home or were furloughed and it was, quite literally, business as usual.
That said, we did not want this commitment and dedication to go unnoticed or unrewarded. It has been important throughout this year, more than any other, to maintain a strong sense of teamwork and community and we have worked hard to continue to encourage this. So, we have created a special commemorative book called ‘Cavell Care Heroes’ which features images and memories of the first lockdown. We also had a special visitor over the summer – George the Piper. We had the privilege of caring for George’s wife Gillian, and he wanted to show his appreciation to the team, so he visited us at our offices on VE day to play for us, and the staff gave him a guard of honour this was filmed and had over 15,000 views on social media. We even had a video from a celebrity (well sort of!) in the form of a message of goodwill from David Brent look-a-like, Tim Oliver delivered in true Office style!
Gordon Anderson, our Managing Director, also wanted to say a special thank you to the team who worked through the hardest times during the pandemic and has been sending each of them to enjoy either a sumptuous afternoon tea or a night of luxury in a local country hotel, spa and golf retreat. Plus, we will shortly be taking delivery of 75 Christmas hampers, for distribution to each of the team members.
Looking to the future, Gordon aims to continue to grow the team. He says:
“There are individuals and families across Norfolk requiring care and support in their homes and here at Cavell Healthcare, we would like to be in a position to respond positively to each and every enquiry. So we will continue to recruit to ensure that we have the staff to deliver the care that is required throughout the county and beyond. We are also extremely pleased that we are now conducting Covid tests on-site, so we will be able to carry out an even more efficient service, assuring our clients of their safety at all times.”
