Having launched their local care business early last year, Visiting Angels co-directors Nicky and Mark Goodall focused on building a personal, approachable care team, to ensure they made a real difference to the quality of care provision in the area. Now, 16 months later, that is exactly what they’ve done. With 30 carers in their dedicated team, Nicky and Mark’s decision to focus on building those values has more than paid off, as they were recently awarded the Best International Office at this year’s prestigious Visiting Angels International Conference in San Diego with tough competition from 830 other Visiting Angels offices across five countries.
Nicky Goodall began her journey in the healthcare sector in a residential care home in 2007. After working in various roles across the industry, Nicky became determined to improve the quality of support people receive. While she worked at many companies with high standards of care, she felt that there was so much work to be done in the sector to ensure that an exceptional service became a universal standard. Through no fault of their own, carers are often unable to spend dedicated time with the people they care for outside of 15 minutes to do the most vital functions, which often leads to rushed visits, lonely clients and over-stretched caregivers. It was this which prompted Nicky and Mark to launch Visiting Angels, where all visits last at least one hour, carers are paid for travel time between visits and they are rewarded properly for their incredible work.
“Part of what I love about this industry is the social interaction and the opportunity for people to be cared for in their own safe, comfortable space,” explained Nicky. “I just knew that we could be doing better, and to be recognised for our commitment to high-quality care by receiving such a prestigious award means so much to us. We’re incredibly proud of our wonderful, dedicated team for the amazing work that they do.”
While Nicky’s background lies in the care sector, it’s a relatively new venture for co-director Mark Goodall, whose experience in logistics and management has helped Visiting Angels to deliver consistent, high-quality care to a community which means so much to him. Oswestry-born, Mark’s family ties to the area means he feels a real connection with the people he has chosen to help and to employ.
“It’s wonderful to be commended for our commitment to improving in-home care for our community here,” said Mark. “Whilst it’s important to us that everyone has access to high-quality in-home care, what’s clear is the way to achieve that is by ensuring caregivers feel valued, respected and are properly rewarded for the amazing work they do.”
Visiting Angels’ ‘carer-centric’ approach sets it apart from other companies in the in-home care sector. Carers working for Visiting Angels feel valued and respected for their commitment to the industry. Through both financial rewards and opportunities for career development, Mark, Nicky and the Visiting Angels team are determined to address issues surrounding the industry, which often leaves carers feeling little to no appreciation.
When asked about what the future holds for their company, Nicky said, ‘’We’re really looking forward to what comes next for care in our community. Having this award wing its way from across the pond is exciting, but what’s really important to us is that our community is cared for close to home.”
For more information, visit our website.
