40 Faces of Brendoncare – Montana Pusey

“I started as a care assistant eight years ago when I was 19. I had worked as a sales assistant in an Alton pet shop which was closed down. As I did social care at Alton College, joining Brendoncare was a natural step for me.

“I was a carer then became a senior carer, but I left to follow nursing. However, I suffered a personal tragedy, so I came back as a senior carer. Then, about two and a half years ago, I became practice educator.

“Basically, I organise all the care home’s training. I make sure we are compliant with the CQC and that everyone has done their mandatory training. I look at any areas where we can develop expertise. For example, if we have had some falls, I will book some falls training.

“I run Moving and Positioning courses about twice a month, together with fire or falls awareness. There are face to face courses including ones for our nurses on how to draw blood, which I organise with outside suppliers who come on site to deliver.

“We also have the dementia bus here so that carers and team members can experience what it could be like to live with dementia.

“We also run dysphagia (swallowing difficulties) training, so our colleagues have an in-depth knowledge of how to support residents with their meals, have a clear understanding of modified diets and know the signs and symptoms of aspiration.

“There is also First Aid training – it’s all about adapting as the needs of our residents are always changing. As a care provider, this is important so we can continue delivering high quality care as our residents are at the heart of all that we do.

Core Values:

“We always ensure all our training has Brendoncare’s core values embedded in it. It is about equipping and enabling our carers to do the best job that they can. This in turn has the best impact on residents.

“I also go to other homes to support them when needed.

“We now run a Residents’ Committee so every other month, we get the residents together and pick a subject area to discuss. It could be how we care for them, their wellbeing or the food.

“They were a bit apprehensive to start with, but we let them share their opinions. Once they get going, they really get involved with the topic of conversation and share their thoughts.

“However, the most rewarding part of my job is knowing our carers are trained to a high standard to provide the care we need for our residents.

“I love what I do. In the grand scheme of things, I am always keen to develop and in time, I would love to be a deputy care home manager.”