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My name is Tania Jones, and I'm an assistant manager in Tŷ Gurnos Newydd.
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We’re a residential home for individuals over the age of 65,
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older people living with or without dementia.
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Because we’re part of the Gurnos community it’s very important
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that we are included and feel part of the community.
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So, all the areas around us, the street names are trees,
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so we've incorporated that here.
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So again, we want that neighbourhood feel, we want to feel part of the community.
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I’d done a qualification in management Level 4 ten years prior
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when I was a senior care worker.
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At the time I thought “I know it”, I didn't want to develop back then.
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I was confident and competent in the role that I was in,
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and I didn't have much of an ambition or drive to push myself forward.
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However, that changed significantly when I covered the manager for three months.
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I didn't appreciate the value of her role,
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the extent of her responsibilities, what her demands were.
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I’d only supported people and their families and healthcare professionals.
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When I had the manager’s hat on, the workload was very intense
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and there was things that I didn't know about the service.
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So by doing the qualification, I learnt so much.
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I had the opportunity to meet with the tutors.
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They provided us with a guide to say
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how many weeks the qualification would take.
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The Level 4 was a year,
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the Level 5 was a year and a half.
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They told me I'd have to be committed.
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They provided me with a timeline of when my assessments had to be in.
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And again, they were quite diligent in your commitment to the qualification.
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So, I feel doing the Level 4 qualification was challenging.
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It was time consuming,
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I had to manage my work life, my home life and my family life
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around the qualification.
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I had to meet deadlines which were very strict.
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I couldn't be late.
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I did have the health and care learning
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and City & Guilds assessment criteria, so I could refer to that
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to know what are the key fundamentals they're looking for?
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What are they going to be marking me on?
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For me, we had the dreaded referencing.
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I’d never been to university before, never done Harvard referencing,
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so it was a brand new concept to me.
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But I did overcome the hurdle, I did persevere.
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The Level 4 was very challenging,
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but it gave me the tools in my toolbox to develop for Level 5.
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So as part of the qualification, I had to do reflection.
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I need to look further at myself.
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I need to acknowledge how I'm perceived by other people, how I think I'm perceived.
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So, they ask you questions about, how do you feel?
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How would you do it differently next time?
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Do you reflect on action? Reflect in action?
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I can overthink in my own mind,
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but in my qualification, as part of my reflection, I actually had to write it down.
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And I think I understood then, everybody has those feelings.
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We had to do a business plan for a change for the home.
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So, what I decided was to promote inclusion opportunities in the community for people.
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So, again, I understood how important it was
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for somebody leaving their home environment where they had the freedom
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to come and go as they please, visit their local community
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and things are important to them, to then move into residential care,
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with not much stimulation or not much of a meaningful day.
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So, a part of the vision was, which is our statement of purpose really,
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which is enhancing the quality of people's lives.
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So I wanted to drive on that further, enabling people
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to promote their independence, their rights, their choices,
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their voice of control,
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and again, person centered care, which is all part of the Social Services
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and Well-being Act.
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Everybody was allocated a two hours slot
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throughout a four week period to go to the community.
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I think staff were a bit
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reluctant to go originally because it was out of the norm.
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And it took time and it was quite challenging to encourage and empower
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the staff to say, look, what are we doing and why are we doing it?
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And I think once I sold the vision and led the team in a positive manner,
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and they could see the positive impact it was having on the individuals
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they were supporting. The staff have been phenomenal.
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As part of the project I incorporated as well,
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every individual has got a scrapbook. And in that book is all their experiences,
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all their memories, all the things that’s important to them.
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And when the family visit then, they can sit and interact with that book.
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People go where they want.
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When they're in the community, they've got one to one quality, uninterrupted time,
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and it's made such a significant difference to their lives.
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Living well with dementia,
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they're part of their community,
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they’re spending their money on things
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that they want. It's been really successful.
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It's been really positive.
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The feedback I've had from individuals have been sensational.
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To watch people coming in and out of this door is amazing.
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To see the smile on their faces, to see them being part of the community.
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To see them doing the things they want to do, the things that's important to them.
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I learnt so much
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on how to lead a team, what direction I should be going in
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and how to get the team to follow me in that direction.
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It’s hard, it’s difficult, but it can be achieved
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as long as you're enthusiastic, you're committed,
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you're passionate, you want to develop,
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you want to learn, you want to progress.
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Go for it!
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If I can do it, anybody can do it.