A care worker from Norwich who strives to make every day better for care home residents has scooped the accolade of regional carer of the year, and will go on to national finals.
Shelby Turner, who works at the city’s Woodside House Care Home, has been crowned Carer of the Year for the central division in the Barchester Care Awards 2021.
She is now through to the national round of judging.
She said: “It is the team that make Woodside so special. I am overwhelmed by their support.”
More than 2,900 nominations were received from homes and hospitals across the UK. All entries were a very high standard and Ms Turned said she is “over the moon” to have been named the winner for the central division beating hundreds of other nominees.
The Barchester Care Awards celebrate the staff who go the extra mile for the benefit of the 12,000 residents living in Barchester’s 248 care homes and private hospitals across the country. As well as Carer of the Year, categories range from Registered Nurse of the Year, Dementia Care Champion, and Activities Coordinator of the Year.
As the winner for central division, Ms Turner is through to the national finals in which the overall winner is decided.
She will join winners from across the UK at a special awards event in October to celebrate their outstanding achievements and discover if they have won a national award.
General manager, Elena Sandu, said: “This is an amazing achievement and the whole home is supporting Shelby. We are so proud of her.
“Many people can say she’s a quiet person, but when it comes to the residents, she will always demonstrate patience, dedication and the ability to make their day better.
“She can also be described as a stubborn person at times, but always in connection to her job duties, ensuring all standards of care has been followed accordingly and adhered to the home policies and procedures.
“Her ability of putting a smile on the residents' faces has been noted on several occasions and when she has any doubts, she won’t hesitate to ask her colleagues for advice.”
Ms Sandu also highlighted how she demonstrated a strong character, compassion, and kindness when the home was going through a very difficult period in January 2021.
She added: “Some of the staff were getting ill or had to self-isolate. Most of our residents got very poorly, reaching the end of their life in a very short period of time and then sadly rested in peace.
"Shelby was there for all these people, over a very critical period. She was a teacher and care co-ordinator for agency staff, was there to offer comfort to the relatives that were upset at the other end of the phone.
“Her priority was always the residents, offering to work nearly every day, making sure they receive the best care, comfort, dignity and emotional support. For her, the word ‘tiredness’ didn’t exist at that time.”
The team at Woodside House agreed that Ms Turner has “all necessary skills of being nominated the Carer of the Year” including being caring, respectful, flexible, reliable, sensitive, eager to learn, confident, and empathetic.
“She is a valued member of our team and we appreciate every day all her effort, dedication and kindness.”
Woodside House is run by Barchester Healthcare, one of the UK’s largest care providers delivering care across care homes and hospitals, including nursing care, residential care, respite care and dementia care. Barchester Healthcare support almost 12,000 residents across 236 homes for short breaks to long term stays.
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