Support worker Review

Item: Support worker at Lifeways
Rating: 5
Author: Anonymous

at Lifeways

Level 3 Apprenticeship

Healthcare

Chesterfield, Derbyshire

Review Submitted: April 2022

Overall Rating

5 /5

The Overall Rating is the average of all the ratings given in each category. We take those individual ratings and combine them into one final score!

5/5 - Overview of Role

5/5 - Skills Development

3.4/5 - Structure and Support

Overview of Role

Please give an overview of your role and what this involves on a day-to-day basis:

5/5

My role involves supporting adults with learning disabilities, physical disabilities and brain injuries within their home as well as out in the community to become more sociable, keep their personal hygiene to a good standard and to make sure there house is kept clean and tidy as well as making sure they eat regular healthy meals. I also administer medication.

To what extent do you enjoy your programme?

5/5

I loved my programme! [This section of the comment has been removed by a member of the Higherin Team because it did not meet our site terms and conditions] (my tutor) was amazing! He was on the other end of an email or phone call whenever I needed help or to just cry because whilst doing the programme I was pregnant so was already emotionally exhausted. He was amazing and I am so thankful to him.

Skills Development

Have you learnt any new skills or developed existing skills?

5/5

I studied health and social care, fire safety, first aid, food safety, diversity, equality, discrimination at college so this course not only gave me my level 3 certificate it enhanced the skills I learnt 16 years ago! As well as brushing up on subjects I also updated my knowledge on the newer policies and procedures.

Structure and Support

How well organised/structured is your programme?

5/5

The programme I did was extremely well structured. I had a year to complete but needed an extension as I gave birth in lockdown so didn't have anyone to have my children so I could get it all done before going into hospital. [This section of the comment has been removed by a member of the Higherin Team because it did not meet our site terms and conditions] was fantastic and managed to get me an extra 2 weeks.

How much support do you receive from your employer?

1/5

My employer wasn't really interested in the staff as long as we turned up to work, all the work I completed was from either doing it all on my own or with some help from [This section of the comment has been removed by a member of the Higherin Team because it did not meet our site terms and conditions]. I have since left this employer as it was very much us against them but they were happy to take the thanks when we completed and passed.

How much support do you receive from your training provider when working towards your qualifications?

5/5

[This section of the comment has been removed by a member of the Higherin Team because it did not meet our site terms and conditions] was always at the end of the phone or available through email between 9am and 5pm. He always got back to me as soon as he could even if he was busy with something else. He also made sure to check in with me regularly to make sure I was keeping to schedule.

How well do you feel that your qualification (through your training provider) helps you to perform better in your role?

5/5

I feel my qualification has helped me update my knowledge on areas I had studied years ago so I could implement this into my role and can take with me into my new job. It has also helped me when training new staff that come into the company and kept my service user.

Are there extra-curricular activities to get involved in at your work? (For example, any social activities, sports teams, or even professional networking events.)

1/5

Unfortunately not, if staff wanted to get involved in this we had to organise and do it amongst ourselves but we were so understaffed we were on shift more often than not so it made it hard to plan things and even harder to go as we would be rung last minute to cover.

Recommendations & Advice

Would you recommend Lifeways to a friend?

Why?

The staff are expected to drop everything yo cover sickness at the last minute, management never answer their phones or emails, it's very much an us vs them company, payroll have gotten my pay wrong for over 2 years every month. There's probably 2 women in the head office that actually care and go above and beyond for us.

What tips or advice would you give to others applying to Lifeways?

Don't. There are many other companies out there that pay the same, pay you right, value your time and skills, care about the staff as well as the money they have coming in and want more for their service users! This company is going down hill fast, they had 1 team leader for the whole of each area who can't do anything in their personal time if they're on call because you HAVE to cover.

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