Join our team at our new brain injury service in Staffordshire
We have some exciting news! Voyage Care has now opened a brand-new brain injury rehabilitation service, Rugeley Road, in Staffordshire and are looking for new team members. Here, we support up to seven people with brain injuries, mental health needs and challenging behaviour.
Want to find more? Read on for our Q&A with Service Manager, Leanne Topliss. We talk about what it’s like working in a brain injury service and the different types of roles available.
Q: Tell us about Rugeley Road and the type of support we offer there!
Rugeley Road is a newly refurbished home, so it’s a really nice and modern place to be. It’s been transformed into residential space for adults with brain injuries, mental health needs and challenging behaviour. The service has seven self-contained flats, each with their own wet room and kitchen facilities. Having their own flat supports the resident to develop their independent living skills, such as cooking their own dinner or putting a wash on. The aim is to help them to feel prepared and empowered for life after rehabilitation.
When we talk about support, it’s unique to the person and depends on what they need. We work with them, their families and professionals to create person centred care plan. This is our guide to understanding how we can support them, for example with money management or personal care. It also is a plan of what their goals are and how we help them to get there, such as doing their own weekly shop or maintaining a relationship with somebody they care about.
Q: What are the different job roles within the support team at Rugeley Road?
Rugeley Road has a large support team with six managers, around 40 support workers and a therapy coordinator. As a support worker, you’d be there to deliver the day-to-day care, providing a key role in a person’s rehabilitation journey. Each support worker has a dedicated line manager who is there to provide support, guidance and make sure it’s a good place to work.
We wouldn’t have all 40+ of the team working at once but having such a large team is because there are different shift patterns for a healthy work-life balance.
Q: How does the role of a support worker at a brain injury service differ to other support worker roles?
There are lots of similarities, for example you’re there to make a positive difference to someone’s day, which is a great feeling! One of the main differences though is the type of training and knowledge required. Training is specific to the needs of the people we support, and you’ll learn more about the brain in particular. For example, you’ll learn about how damage to certain parts of the brain can affect people and present in different ways. Support workers play such a key role in a rehabilitation journey. They help the people we support to improve their independent living skills, but also focus on supporting individuals to build back skills that have been affected by a brain injury.
Q: How would you describe working at Rugeley Road?
Honestly, it is challenging, but fun and rewarding! At the end of my working day, I feel like I’ve done something good with my time.
That’s not to say it’s always fun, of course it can sometimes be hard to support people with challenging behaviour. You have to be patient, understanding and respectful of the person you’re supporting.
One great thing is the supportive environment that we’ve built for and with our team. For example, we have time at the end of each shift for reflection and de-briefing, so once you go home you don’t keep thinking about work. This time is also an opportunity to catch up with their manager and have that one to one support that they may need. I hope I speak for the whole team when I say we’re there for each other for advice, laughing and everything else you expect from a colleague.
If you’re looking for a new challenge, where you can make a difference, then we want to hear from you! We’re still recruiting for exciting roles at Rugeley Road – Apply today!