Senior Carer Review

My role on a day to day basis changed with the day. My main tasks were to order medication, check stock, administer medication, give any first aid if required. Alongside checking and making sure everyone was following company policy alongside the regulations of the CQC and safeguarding policies and procedures.

In my position at Barchester I learned many skills some of them which but not limited to; excellent communication skills, learning how to manage a team of people effectively, I learned brilliant time management skills, learned how to delegate tasks effectively, appropriate moving and handling skills, medication skills and also skills to complete paperwork.

My program with lifetime was fairly enjoyable from what I experienced of it, I found the tutor to be really helpful and polite and was always there to talk to if I was ever stuck with any essays and if I needed help to get my words on to paper.

My program way very was structured as I chose which topics I would like to do first which I could chose which ones went alongside with what I was doing at work so my time was spent productively and also so that my time at work also helped me with my qualification.

My employer didn’t actually provide any support with the qualification they more just wanted to sign you up then leave you to it. A little more help from my employer would have been more useful as I often came across things at work that tied in with coursework and I would’ve liked to have been more educated on the subject etc.

I feel that my training providers were excellent during working towards my qualification, [This section of the comment has been removed by a member of the RateMyApprenticeship Team because it did not meet our site terms and conditions] was always on hand if I needed anything during the sessions but also on hand for any queries outside of the sessions. She made herself very easily contactable and made the sessions fit around me as my position was on nights.

My qualification helps me to perform better in my role as I now have knowledge of key subjects in my job role such as safeguarding etc. This helped a lot when discussing issues about residents and also went chatting to families about their loved ones as I meant I could go in to greater detail.

My work doesn’t hold any extra curricular activities for after or before work. We sometimes had the occasional sporty day at work but this was more for the benefit of residents. They didn’t hold any events with the exception of meet the manager which was an event for prospective tenants.

No

I wouldn’t recommend working for Barchester to a friend as the work - life balance is very poor due to shortages of staff (not just from the pandemic way before) also, there’s not enough time to socialise with residents or even other staff members. The job was mainly about getting the job done even if that meant it wasn’t always to standard.

Barchester has some great opportunities for staff to get qualified such as training to become a nurse or getting your NVQs but they don’t tell you about them - you have to go out and ask and often wait a long time and having the remind your manager very often to sign you up. The job isn’t great as you’re often rushed and not doing tasks set out in the right way as there’s little staff. The pay is also not great compared to many other care providers.