Meet our team - Gail Fletcher – Live-In Care Manager

Gail manages our live in care service

Gail Fletcher – Live-In Care Manager

Gail manages our live in care service. We asked her to describe her work.

“When someone is interested in live-in-care, or respite care, I go to meet them and discuss their needs. I get to know them and from that I put together a care plan and organise care for them.

When I meet a client, I try to look at the person as a whole and support them to live in the way they want. I look at their circumstances with them and from that, I can identify how best to support them.

Live-in-care is a relatively new service and its an area where we have a growing clientele. It’s an area of our work that growing fast and set to keep on growing quickly. There is definitely a need for live-in-care and much of the growth in this form of care has been recent. This is a shift caused, perhaps, because care homes are full and relatively expensive. Live-in-care is an excellent alternative for some people.

I’ve worked in home care, live-in-care and in residential care. It’s true that you sometimes see a faster decline in residential care. With live-in-care particularly, we can provide a client with company and continued access to their familiar community, friends and family in their own home.

Again, with clients with dementia, live-in-care in their own home is generally better than residential care. The familiar environment of a person’s own home is often preferable where dementia is involved.”

We then asked Gail about the specific skills she brings to her role:

I think my experience of working in a range of care environments means I’m better able to look at the full picture of a person’s circumstances and use that to help improve their care. It’s spotting things like the mobility aids they might need and making their home environment better for them. It also allows me to best support their families and friends who are probably in the dark, when it comes to what care is available. In some ways, they benefit as much as the client. Families can be in real distress and we can reassure them and help to guide them.

What’s Gail’s favourite part of the job?

The office-based bit is nice, especially working with passionate and inspiring people. But I get a lot of satisfaction from making a difference with our clients. Sometimes it’s the small things that make the difference. It’s pinpointing the things that really matter and focusing on them and making the most of the positives. It’s about asking the right questions and finding out what is really important to them. In this job, anything can happen and you can get almost anything thrown at you. Helping in these situations is very satisfying and the best bit is when we can go in, provide reassurance and make the family and person happy.

Gail at home:

Home: Copley Village, near Halifax

Favourite Food: Chicken Fajitas. I also love chocolate.

Favourite way to relax: I like getting out in nature, down by the river or in the woods with my dog, Seth, a border collie. He keeps us fit and active.