In this Premier Community Careers blog post, we caught up with Assistant Trainer and LCC Sally Sheldon to learn more about her and her journey with Premier Community.
When did you start working for Premier Community?
March 2020
Tell us about your Premier Community Career
I started out 21 years ago working for Derbyshire County Council in Domiciliary care. I enjoyed every minute of it until things started to change, and I became unhappy in my role. I knew I had to leave and started looking at reviews from other companies, but what drew me to Premier Community was the fact that it was a family-run business and there was the opportunity to progress if I wanted to.
Can you explain what an LCC does?
I’ve been a Lead Community Carer (LCC) for two years, and the difference between a carer to an LCC is that we have more responsibilities. This includes reviews with service users and care package set-ups and being on hand to help carers out when needed for advice and support. We also perform spot-checks on carers to ensure that everyone is working according to Premier Community’s policies and procedures.
What about your progression to becoming a trainer?
In 2023, I took on the role of assistant trainer, which I absolutely love and cannot thank Premier enough for giving me the opportunity.
I’ve always enjoyed meeting people and caring for people, and I feel the importance of experiencing in-house training shouldn’t be underestimated. For example, enabling the carers to gain practical experience in lifting and handling equipment really helps them to understand what is happening from a service user’s point of view and helps to reinforce our online training modules.
When it comes to Medication administration, we can more easily highlight where and when mistakes may occur, whether from the pharmacy side or during documentation, demonstrating the importance of following the 6Rs of Medication Administration and how this can help ensure any issues are addressed early.
Of course, there are many other areas of training that we cover in-house, such as Catheter Care, to make sure the carers feel confident enough to change one when visiting a service user in the community, and a full explanation and demonstration of our digital care plans and the importance of keeping these up-to-date so that the Registered Branch Managers, Care Co-Ordinators, additional assigned carers, service users and/or their designated family members can access the very latest information regarding an individual’s care plan.
Everything I talk about during the training sessions is based on real-life scenarios I have experienced throughout my Premier Community career. This helps to really solidify the training and often brings great conversation within the group.
Do you hold any qualifications in Health & Social Care?
Health and Social Care, NVA Level 2/3
What do you enjoy most about working at Premier Community?
I love that when times get difficult, everyone pulls together, from the Care Administration Staff at Premier Community HQ to the carers out in the community – after all, there’s no ‘I’ in team.
Tell us a bit about yourself outside of work
Outside of work, I love spending time with my family. I love going to watch football, and I love singing.
