CONTINUING our series focusing on healthcare heroes, we speak to Claire McKeown, Day Care Worker, Adult Learning Disability Services, Killadeas, Enniskillen.

Here, Claire talks about how much helping her service users means to her, reflects on the pressures and rewards of the role, and gives an insight into her long career, to date.

What motivated you to pursue this career?

I studied health and social care throughout high school and college, with a view to working in the caring profession.

On qualifying, I secured a job in Galliagh House Residential Home, Enniskillen, where I spent seven years working with adults with a learning disability.

Although I really enjoyed my time in Galliagh House, I had always desired a career with the Western Trust, given its standing in the local community and the opportunities for professional development that it offers.

Could you share a significant challenge you’ve faced in your role and how you overcame it to provide quality healthcare services?

Whilst working in the learning disability field brings daily rewards, it also brings ongoing challenges.

These challenges can only be met by working as a team and supporting each other.

When the Covid pandemic arrived in March, 2020, team working became very difficult, given that many staff were deployed to other areas.

Due to the nature of our service user needs and their lack of understanding of the situation, we had to provide as much support as we could to the service users and their families in the safest and most creative ways possible.

I will be forever proud and grateful of how day care services rose to this challenge.

How do you believe your role contributes to the wellbeing and recovery of patients within our community?

Our service provides ongoing care in relation to service users’ social, educational, physical and emotional wellbeing on an ongoing basis, as a learning disability is a lifelong condition.

However, all staff are committed to supporting our service users to maximise their potential in all areas of their lives, which includes as much integration and interaction with their local community, as possible.

Can you highlight a particular patient interaction or medical achievement that you are particularly proud of and why?

There are a few interactions and achievements that come to mind that I am proud of, one achievement that stands out for me was in 2016, when the Trust had the opportunity to work alongside the Rotary Club of Enniskillen.

Through various fundraising efforts we developed a site at the side of our Lackaboy 2 unit into a sensory garden.

After a lot of planning and hard work, the garden was officially opened on July 26, 2016, by HRH, The Duchess of Gloucester.

How do you ensure the delivery of compassionate and effective care in your specific healthcare discipline?

We are a regulated service, inspected regularly by RQIA, and pride ourselves in surpassing all set minimum standards, but trying to exceed each standard on a day to day basis.

Our focus is always on the individual needs and wishes of the service user.

What aspect of your work do you find most rewarding and how does it resonate with your personal values and mission?

I find direct contact with our service users the most rewarding aspect of my job.

As a Senior Day Care Worker, I have responsibility for managing two centres and I am fully aware of and committed to meeting our regulatory and statutory responsibilities and the level of paperwork involved; however, it is service user contact that makes every day a special day to work.

How do you manage the demands of your job and what strategies do you employ to ensure exceptional healthcare service delivery?

It is fair to say that the demands of my senior role are high, and have been especially so during the last two years.

Like many other health and care services, we are finding it more difficult to recruit and retain staff, so everyone is working together to ensure the service can run at required levels of attendance and continue to maintain the highest quality of care that we can.

Therefore, I believe it is very important to value and encourage your team.

Our service users are very perceptive and thrive in a relaxed atmosphere where they always come first.

Have there been any mentors or colleagues who have significantly influenced your practice and in what way?

I am now in my 17th year working for the Western Trust, and I have worked with so many colleagues over the years; however, one person in particular that has had a positive influence on my practice and my career is my line manager, Patricia Griffith.

For those of you that don’t know Patricia, she is one of those people that brings the best out of you, leading by example and giving you opportunity to grow, always pushing the boundaries and reaching for bigger and better things.

She is not competitive in any way! Always wanting the best for the service users and staff team.

What are your aspirations for the future and how do you envision the evolution of your role?

My aspirations for the future are to continue to provide the highest-quality care for our service users and to be proactive in developing new and exciting opportunities for them to reach their potential.

I will continue to promote our service as a safe, welcoming space for adults with a learning disability to attend and I will also continue to promote our service as a great place to work – never boring, sometimes exhausting, but forever rewarding!

How do you believe your efforts contribute to the overall excellence and advancement of healthcare services in our local community?

Day care is not only a great opportunity for our service users to meet their friends, receive high-quality care and engage in lots of fun activities, it is also a service that provides much needed respite for their loved ones, who play such a vital role in supporting people with a learning disability to live in their local community.