Claudia was already a very well-known face here at Willows
before her promotion to home manager. She has worked in the care sector for a
number of years and has built up a great deal of valuable experience, beginning
as a care assistant and progressing through various other roles before becoming
manager.
She is very excited about her new role. One of her main aims
is to take Willows to a CQC Outstanding
rating and she has many ideas for how to achieve this, starting with involving
residents in everything from the home’s décor to activities and interviews.
She’s keen, too, to develop available support for residents with dementia,
creating greater opportunities for intergenerational activities and bringing
animal therapies into the home.
“I’m
passionate about helping residents with dementia to achieve their best quality
of life. Part of this is around ensuring that staff are sufficiently well
trained in dementia care,” she says. “We’ve also made some adjustments to our
dementia unit, in recognition of the fact that residents with dementia don’t
observe night and day in the same way that we do. And we’re buying a working
phone box, improving the sensory garden and, later in the year, introducing a
community tea room.”
Romanian by
birth, Claudia grew up in the town of Buzău, 100km north east of the capital
Bucharest. Having completed a year of her university studies in tourism, she
left Romania to come to the UK. The plan was to stay for six months and earn
enough money here to finish her studies, but she never went back! Instead, she
met and married husband Barlen and the couple have a daughter, Maria. The
lively four-year-old is a great favourite with the residents, many of whom
remember her as a tiny baby.
As well as managing the care home (with mentoring support
from operations manager Caron Sanders-Crook), Claudia is currently studying for
her Level 5 qualification in Health and Social Care and undertaking the Skills
for Care for Managers Development Pack. When not working or studying, she loves spending time with her family. Maria
is a keen dancer and every evening she and Claudia enjoy dedicated dance time!
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