Home Instead (West Lothian)

I grew up in Livingston and decided to establish a Home Instead office in my local area after experiencing first-hand the difficulty of trying to find high-quality, personalised, care at home while looking for care and companionship for my grandmother.

During a successful career in the medical device sector, I regularly had discussions with healthcare professionals about the difficulties of finding the right support for older people in the community, and this reinforced my desire to do something to help change the way that care is delivered.

My goal is to ensure that the highest quality of care is available for our clients locally - and to help them to continue living in their own homes independently for as long as possible.

At Home Instead West Lothian our focus is providing non-medical companionship, home help and personal care services to older people across our local area. We are committed to the ongoing training and development of our Care Professionals, empowering and enabling them to provide the best possible service. All of our employees share in our belief – that only care that would be good enough for our own loved ones is good enough for our clients.

Home Instead West Lothian is constantly evolving and, in addition to overseeing daily operations, I can often be found out in the local community – looking for new ways to support older people and talking about what we can do to help.

I joined Home Instead as a Care Professional during the pandemic in November 2020. I had worked in call centres for most of my working life and, when I was made redundant, I decided that it was the perfect opportunity to pursue a more rewarding career. I had always been interested in caring, and during the lockdown, I would see news articles about the impact this was having on seniors and wanted to do something to help make a difference.

I applied to Home Instead as their values and approach to care matched the way that I believed care should be delivered. I wasn’t disappointed, and working as a Care Professional was incredibly rewarding - with no two days being the same.

When the position of Administrator became available, I applied as I knew that I would enjoy working behind the scenes at Home Instead. It didn't take long until I was then promoted to the role of Support Coordinator within the office team. I still love going out and visiting clients, but now I’ve also been able to see and become a part of all of the additional work and commitment that goes into making sure our clients and Care Professionals always receive the best possible experience.

After spending a long time in South Africa and a very fulfilling career in Human Resources, Karen returned home to Scotland in 2020 and began working in the employability sector where she was able to use her transferable skills to assist clients with getting back into employment after the pandemic.

Karen joined Home Instead West Lothian in 2023 as the ethos and mission of the organisation resonated with her. She is responsible for ensuring that we continue to recruit the best possible staff to become Care Professionals, that represent the standards, quality, and values that we look for. She then supports these staff as they embark upon and continues their employment journey with Home Instead.

I began my career with Home Instead in October 2022 as a Care Professional, quickly taking opportunities to progress within my role to join the office team as our Support Coordinator.

I am passionate about ensuring our clients and Care Pros have the best possible experience with us and coordinate our quality assurance activities to ensure that we deliver this.

I joined Home Instead as a Care Professional in January 2024, before taking the opportunity to join the office team as a Scheduler.

I ensure that we operate effective schedules that work for everyone, and provide continuity of care for both our clients and staff.