Caremark Thanet Announce Three Appointments

Caremark Thanet: About Us

We (Caremark Thanet) were registered with the Care Quality Commission in November 2012, and provided care for our first customer in December 2012. We are very proud of the fact that we now provide care for over 100 people in Thanet – that’s not far short of 1500 hours of care every week. Delivering that care for us; we have over 80 care and support workers. To put this into some focus; Caremark Thanet provides over 45 full time equivalent jobs in Thanet. And we are also very proud of that.

We are equally proud of the fact that we have extra-ordinarily high standards; our customers deserve no less. However, we are acutely aware that we are only as good as the people who deliver our care. We have the highest expectations of our care and support workers and quite rightly they should have high expectations of us. Therefore, no-one working for us should be disappointed by our ambition.

And we are ambitious. Our business ethos and our vision say a great deal about the type of company that we are. In achieving our vision of being Thanet's first choice private domiciliary care provider for customers and carers we believe that we will transform domiciliary care. To do this we are making working in care a career. It will not happen overnight; but it will happen; it is happening now. 

In the new year we will have some incredibly exciting news about opportunities for careers with Caremark Thanet; opportunities for our existing carers and for new carers. When you work for us, you are never "just a carer".  With us, caring is not just a job; it is a vocation; caring is not the last resort for the aimless; it is the first choice for the ambitious; it is not a job without prospects; it is a position with opportunities; a chance to develop, not a place to rest.

To bring about this transformation we need highly talented people. We believe that in our three recent appointments, Xana Welch as care manager, Kerry Hill as Operations and Compliance Manager and Gemma Haffenden as supervisor we have appointed people who fit the bill perfectly.

Introducing Our New Appointments

Xana and Kerry are both internal appointments. Xana was initially appointed as a supervisor just over a year ago. Kerry was appointed in March 2017 as a care co-ordinator. Both Xana and Kerry have made significant contributions to the work that we do. Gemma came to us in July as a care and support worker and was appointed as a supervisor in November. Although Gemma's time with us has been brief, she has made a marked impact.

Xana Welch: Care Manager

Xana comes to us with quite a varied CV. She was a fostercarer for six years - 2 years with Kent County Council and 4 years privately; she has worked in care for eleven years and has also worked as a bar manager. 

Xana likes music - particularly anything she can dance to - and reading - particularly horror novels. Dancing may not always be a good idea because when we asked her to tell us something interesting about herself she told us that she once managed to break both arms at the same time. She never said whether she was dancing at the time.

Xana has made a monumental impact since she arrived at Caremark Thanet. In particular, she has taken the lead in the training that we provide to our care and support workers. She has undertaken training herself and is now qualified to teach moving and handling and first aid. 

At Caremark Thanet, we believe that working in care is a career, and first class training is fundamental to this. Xana will play an integral role in our ambition to transform domiciliary care. Xana will be liaising closely with East Kent College with which we are teaming up to provide a training programme that will make Caremark Thanet a centre of excellence for domiciliary care training.

We know Xana will continue to make a very positive impact on what we do. We wish her well for what  we are sure will be a long career at Caremark Thanet.

Kerry Hill: Operations Manager and Compliance Manager

Kerry brings vast care experience with her to her now role. She has worked in both residential and domiciliary care for over 15 years as a care and support worker, supervisor and care co-ordinator. When Kerry first joined us she did so as a care co-ordinator. Kerry has also spent short periods working in retail and hospitality.

There is little doubt that Kerry's organizational and communication skills are more than a little impressive. She has imposed a sense of order on what can at times be a very unpredictable working environment. What Kerry has achieved in six months has brought about nothing less than a transformation - an enormously positive one -  in the way Caremark Thanet operates.

Kerry's new role marries up well with her ambition to be at the forefront of leading Caremark Thanet to a position where it is the first choice provider for those who wish to work in care and for those who require a little help at home.

We asked Kerry to tell us a little about herself. She told us that she was a bit of  a swot at school and left with seven GCSEs at grades A-C, and that she is currently studying amazingly hard for her level 5 award in leadership and management. Outside work she is kept busy with her three young daughters.

Everyone at Caremark Thanet wishes Kerry well in her new post and for her very well deserved promotion. We're pretty sure that Kerry will be with us for some considerable time.

Gemma Haffenden: Field Care Supervisor

Gemma is still relatively new to Caremark Thanet; however, she has settled in very well and following her appointment to supervisor she has proved herself to be a perfect fit for our management team. Gemma's approach to working sits well with Caremark Thanet's business ethos of putting customers and carers at the heart of what it does.

Gemma has worked in care for about four years, one of those years was spent working in residential care. She has also run her own business selling Avon products.

We asked Gemma what she likes to do outside of work. She told us that spare time is at a premium as she works full time and has four children. However, when she gets a chance she does enjoy a game of bingo.

Gemma is very keen to progress in her career with Caremark Thanet and is looking forward to studying for further care qualifications.

We know Gemma is going to be a great success and we all wish her well. Gemma has a fantastic future with Caremark Thanet and we are quietly confident that this is not the last that you will here about her.

A Final Word

There is no business in no industry in no country that is successful by luck alone. A little bit of luck here and there is very welcome, but when you get down to it there are no ifs, no buts, no maybes, no doubts: without good people; talented people; industrious people - people for whom going the extra mile is just a normal day - no business will be successful. At Caremark Thanet, these are the type of people we look for: in the appointments above; these are the type of people we have got.

Garry Costain is the Managing Director of Caremark Thanet, a domiciliary care provider with offices in Margate, Kent. Caremark Thanet provides home care services throughout the Isle of Thanet. Garry can be contacted on 01843 235910 or email garry.costain@caremark.co.uk. You can also visit Caremark Thanet's website at www.caremark.co.uk/thanet.