Leadership County First for Walnut Care

A member of staff from Walnut Care, one of Lincolnshire’s lead providers of home care, has been the first person in independent care to attain a qualification aimed specifically at the health and care sector.

Laura Kent, who works as Workforce Development Manager at the domiciliary care company, has become the first candidate in independent care in Lincolnshire to pass the Mary Seacole Programme.

All other candidates taking the course, run by the NHS Leadership Academy, were from the health sector, while Laura was the only candidate from and independent adult social care provider.

The qualification has been running for some time as a health-geared course, but Laura took on the course, adapting her approach to make it Walnut Care’s unique situation of being an independent provider of social care. It teaches those taking the training to look at which leadership style most suits them and how to get the best out of themselves and staff. It also underlines how to effectively implement changes that can benefit each attendees’ individual organisation.

Laura said: “I am very proud of what I have achieved. This course teaches you to talk to people and therefore manage them in a more effective way. Often engaging with individuals is difficult, especially in a busy environment like adult social care. What the course has left me with is skills to be able to assess and then act on that to make sure people are motivated and engaged.

“I’ve already started to apply methods that I’ve learned during appraisals, supervisions and planning ahead. It was a real challenge, but I’m so glad to have taken part.”

Director of Walnut Care David Weatherley said: “We are immensely proud of Laura. Being the first independent provider of social care from the county to take part and pass, we hope it will have an immediate impact for our staff, and ultimately, our service users.

“We absolutely believe in developing staff and courses like this are a great way of enabling that. Leadership is important when people’s lives and health are involved. Laura is therefore going to be able to mentor her staff more effectively and make a difference.”

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