Havenmere celebrates new Care Practitioner role to enhance care

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Havenmere celebrates new Care Practitioner role to enhance care and develop Health Care Assistants

Havenmere care home in Immingham is celebrating the graduation of its first cohort of Care Practitioners.

The home introduced the new Care Practitioner role earlier this year, to tackle the shortage of Nurses in the area - research shows that only 2% of the local population are Nurses.

The Care Practitioner role bridges the gap between Health Care Assistants and Registered Nurses.

Care Practitioners work under the supervision of Nurses and take on delegated clinical tasks including:

  • administering medication

  • basic nursing care such as PEG feeds and wound management

  • supervising and training junior colleagues

  • recording vital observations.

The role adds to the expertise in the home. With the addition of the Care Practitioner role, residents are now supported by a Care Practitioner and a team of Health Care Assistants on each unit, plus at least two Registered Nurses across the home.

Congratulations to our first cohort of graduates

Earlier in August, Havenmere celebrated the graduation of its first cohort of Care Practitioners.

The graduation, the first of its kind for Exemplar Health Care, was opened by CEO, Steve Melton, with speeches from Ruth Smith, Managing Director and Lindsay Morris, Regional Director of Operations.

We’d like to say a big congratulations to our newly qualified colleagues.

  • Cara Neal

  • Carly Blease

  • Debbie Chapman

  • Emma Caroline

  • Gemma Holdsworth

  • Jordan Treadgold

  • Kerry Lawrence

Induction for Care Practitioners

The Care Practitioner role is ideal for experienced Health Care Assistants looking for the next step in their career.

The induction programme is 12 weeks long which involves face-to-face clinical training, shadowing and supervised working.

During the 12 weeks, the home’s clinical colleagues and management team assess competencies, before practitioners start in their role.

For Care Practitioners who are new to the company, they also do a four day company welcome induction and a week’s local induction in the home, as well as being supported by a buddy during their first few months.

Improving care at Havenmere

The Care Practitioner role adds another level to the expert clinical team at Havenmere.

Emma, Care Practitioner, explains: “I think it's improved care because there's more continuity for the service users. As a Health Care Assistant, we’re the first people that see them, so we have more of an input in their care.”

Carly, another graduate, adds: “We’ve taken on some of the tasks that were previously done by our Nurses, such as medication rounds and being a key worker for a number of service users.

“This means that our Nurses now have more time to deliver person-centred nursing care and get our care plans to be the best quality they can be.” 

Becky, Registered Nurse at Havenmere, supports this. She said: “It’ll definitely help the Nurses to be able to be more ‘hands on’ again and not have the time restraint of all the medications. We’ll have more time to spend with our service users.

“Introducing the role will also give us a chance to be more involved with multidisciplinary team meetings and liaising with the different health teams to improve service user care.”

Residents in the home are already seeing the benefits.

The Care Practitioners have been helping me self-administrate my own medicine, which has given me a lot more independence.

Alex, Havenmere service user

Career development for Health Care Assistants

The Care Practitioner role offers an exciting career development opportunity for experienced Health Care Assistants already working at Havenmere and in the local area.

Hannah, Home Manager at Havenmere, shares: “We felt that we had a lot of really skilled colleagues who wanted some progression. However, we didn't really offer what they needed.

“We looked at Trainee Nursing Associates, but we don't have any universities in this area, so we felt that wasn't the best path for them.

“We decided to introduce the Care Practitioner role to bridge the gap between Senior Health Care Assistant and Nurse.”

I’ve been working at Havenmere for 14 years. I started working here when I was 18 years of age. Since then, I’ve progressed in my career in the home. I’ve always been interested in nursing. However, I’ve got two children so training to be a Nurse wouldn’t be suitable for me right now. Becoming a Care Practitioner suits me better at the moment and is the best way for me to progress.

Kerry, Care Practitioner
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