Family-run care provider in Portsmouth wants to continue giving quality care and 'making an individual difference'
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Right at Home Portsmouth, based in Trafalgar House, 223 Southampton Road, provides caregivers to clients requiring at-home care and support.
The family-run business focuses on ‘person-centred care’, working on what outcomes the client wants to achieve within their physical and mental capabilities, so that clients can be as independent as possible.
Owner Joe Morgan, 60, from Whiteley, said: ‘It’s about not doing everything for the client, but helping them to maintain their independence. What we see with clients for example who go into hospital, they don’t get out of bed and they don’t walk around, they come out and they’ve lost their mobility. So it’s important that we try to maintain as much independence as we can.’
Joe became owner of the Portsmouth franchise with his wife, Madeline, 60, in 2016. They employ around 30 caregivers and eight office staff, including their daughters Niamh, 24, and Emma, 32.
Right at Home provides a vast range of care services to a range of individuals who require extra support.
Joe said: ‘We offer support for vulnerable adults in their own homes to anyone over the age of 18, it’s not just people in their 70s, 80s or 90s. We will do anything from simple companionship calls, taking clients out into the community, to the shops or hairdressers, church, right through to end of life care and everything in between, personal care, showing, bathing or general household duties.’
Joe previously worked in aerospace engineering for 30 years, and moved from Belfast 15 years ago looking for a new business opportunity. He said he never expected to work in the care sector, but by giving back to the community, helping people and creating employment, Right at Home ‘fits in with our family values, ethos and beliefs.’
Emma said that being a family-run business helps to make them stand out from other care providers.
She said: ‘It’s definitely a unique selling point that we are family run and that it isn’t like a lot of care agencies that only care about time and money, but a lot of why we do what we do is because of our values and who we are as people.’
Caregivers have a minimum contact time with clients of one hour, to ensure that they can establish a meaningful relationship with clients and provide a quality service to meet the client’s needs. They have a no-stranger policy so caregivers are always introduced to the clients before they start providing care, and they match their clients to caregivers with similar interests.
Niamh said how she loves how much Right at Home makes an individual difference to people’s lives.
She said: ‘We can actually increase independence in clients and make a genuine difference which is what we want to be known for.’
After completing a media and communication degree at the University of Portsmouth, Niamh joined the business just over a year ago and is the marketing coordinator.
As part of her work, Niamh runs the Right at Home Facebook page which shares photos and stories of clients and what they get up to. Their #MagicMoments also celebrates caregivers who go above and beyond for their clients. Additionally, she creates a monthly magazine which showcases stories about caregivers, their work and things going on in the community.
Right at Home was proud to take on its first apprentice earlier this year, Zeta Marskell from Gosport, who works as an apprentice co-ordinator. Zeta’s employment was thanks to the 100 in 100 campaign, an initiative which aimed to provide jobs to 100 young people in 100 days. Joe said he will be looking to employ more apprentices in the future.
Right at Home has won various awards, including the 2021 Home Care award for team support expertise, and has been awarded five-star employer status three years in a row. It also has a 9.9 rating on Home Care and a CQC outstanding rating, which Joe believes makes Right at Home the only domiciliary care provider in the Portsmouth area with the rating.
Right at Home Portsmouth covers the areas of Portsea Island, Portchester, Cosham, Purbrook up to Hambledon.
For more visit rightathome.co.uk/portsmouth, on Facebook and Instagram.