TRAINING & EDUCATION


from feeding, washing, dressing and maintaining a patient’s hygiene, to helping them with shopping or administrative tasks. This contrasts with a complex carer’s role, which is much more clinical and aims to help patients better manage a range of complex health conditions and enjoy a better quality of life. The complex carer’s role includes the delivery of care to clients with high dependency needs, such as spinal injuries and locked in syndrome. These can include any number of duties from airway management, including tracheostomy and ventilation, to management of bowel and catheter care.


such as in the case of an emergency tracheostomy change.


Strong communication skills are also vital particularly with patients. Carers need to be able to quickly build up a rapport with them, which will help them to maintain high-quality care as their ongoing needs evolve.


Complex carers also need to be open- minded, as they will be regularly helping patients with personal duties. When working in a patient’s home, they must be mindful of personal space, be respectful of any house rules and non-judgemental of any interactions the patient may have with any other people in the house.


clinical training facility where they can learn critical procedures and enhance their skills. Following their training, complex carers can commence the work on their care package in the community, closely observed by a clinical nurse who will monitor how they are performing and ensures they always administer exactly the right support, as and when it is required.


OPPORTUNITIES


In contrast to domestic caring roles where duties typically stay the same, fresh opportunities for complex carers are never too far away.


“With the life of a patient in their


hands, complex carers can face some extremely stressful and challenging


situations, so equipping them with the right skills is vital.”


The detailed nature of this particular caring role is also highlighted by the complexity of the Care Plan that is drawn up for individual patients following their initial assessment. This is an evolving document that is continually updated.


Compared to the working environment of a domestic carer, the complex carer’s day can be a lot more unpredictable, due to the complexity of a patient’s health, which is oſten compounded by more than one condition. Subsequently, a complex carer must be flexible and responsive, as they never know how quickly a patient’s health could alter over the course of their shiſt.


Good team working abilities are essential as carers regularly need to liaise with other colleagues during a shiſt handover to accurately assess a patient’s need. And while they could be working alone one minute, rapidly changing circumstances oſten require carers to call on extra support,


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With the life of a patient in their hands, complex carers can face some extremely stressful and challenging situations, so equipping them with the right skills is vital. To help them manage this, every new complex carer is enrolled onto an intensive clinical induction course, to introduce them to every possible scenario they may face, from caring for a patient with dementia to another who may be on a ventilator machine. Not only does this training equip new recruits with the theory knowledge into the complex needs of patients in the community, it also gives them a taste of the real-life situations, helping to filter out those who don’t feel comfortable with the duties, while highlighting those with the strongest personal attributes for the role.


At TPG Complex Care, who work with patients in their own homes, the clinical induction course lasts for one week. New recruits have access to a bespoke


At TPG Complex Care, fresh recruits are taken on to cover new patient packages, as every individual has specific care issues that need to be tailored to their requirements. However, given the wide range of patient healthcare needs that have to be managed companywide, there are always opportunities to learn new skills when moving forward to care for individuals on new patient packages.


Working in such an environment provides healthy opportunities for career progression. At TPG Complex Care, recruits are encouraged to learn new skills and advance to a team leader or a management position. There are also Rapid Response Care Teams for every region of the country, who can provide urgent care cover as and when it is required.


EXPERIENCE


From daytime to night-time shiſts, a complex carer can quickly become involved in supporting every facet of a patient’s life. While this can oſten be challenging, it can also be extremely rewarding, especially when a carer can see the significant improvement they are making to a patient’s quality of life. With so many hours spent caring for a patient, many of them can also go on to become lifelong friends.


With no time to waste, as the UK’s ageing population continues to grow unabated. These are the attributes we will need to communicate more effectively, if we are to recruit the number of complex care assistants required to meet future healthcare needs.


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