A North East care home boss has spoken of the pain of losing staff and residents to Covid-19 during the pandemic - and said that the lack of time to grieve hit hard.
Steve Massey took over as operations manager at the Popular Care and Solehawk group which runs care homes in Newcastle and in the wider North East. Steve, who was in the RAF nearly two decades before embarking on a career in care, is up for an award at the regional round of this year's British Care Awards and has also been invited to discuss the impact of Covid-19 in the House of Lords.
He told ChronicleLive how difficult the early stages of the pandemic were - not least as he only started his job on March 4 2020, days before the first national lockdown. He said: "I joined the company in 2020 on March 4, about a week before Covid hit. I came into the job and that was the situation.
"My initial response was to bring everyone together. My role was to make sure that they had everything they needed - protective equipment that kind of thing. I was the one constantly monitoring the regulations, which changed almost every day. It was making sure everyone, staff but more importantly residents and their families, had all the information they needed too..
"It was particularly challenging right at the beginning of the pandemic. Every single one of our homes was hit by Covid-19, we also lost staff. And the staff in our homes were absolutely fantastic. The work they did was incredible."
He said that the deaths he and his team had experienced were painful, even though death is a common occurrence in the care sector.
He said: "In any care home, unfortunately deaths are common, but we have to go on. We have deaths almost every day and we have to go on as normal - but it hurt us awfully during Covid-19. The problem we had was that we had no chance to grieve."
Steve is a finalist in the Social Care Covid Hero category of the Great British Care Awards and will be hosted at an afternoon tea reception by Lord Palmer of Childs Hill in the House of Lords. He said he had been overwhelmed by the recognition, adding: "I just wish I could take every single member of our care home teams. They carried out tireless work caring for our residents during what was a very worrying time.
“None of us had any idea what was in front of us and I am grateful for the support I received from the company, and from colleagues. Now that life is returning to normal it’s fantastic to see our homes open up again, family and friends visiting and lots of activities happening once again."
Steve's colleagues put him forward for the awards, and in their nomination they wrote: "Steve is ever present for all of the managers no matter what time of day or night, working tirelessly to ensure that each has the right level of support." They also paid tribute to the way he helped to ensure technology was available to keep families in contact with their loved ones during the tightest lockdown restrictions.
Richard Adams, HR director, said: “Steve has been the rock for our care homes throughout the pandemic, which was an incredibly challenging time for everyone involved in the care sector. He is always there to support everyone in the team no matter their position, and is always prepared to go the extra mile to help.
"Steve is very modest, and I don’t think he always realises just how valued he is by everyone at Solehawk and Popular Care. I am delighted that he has been invited to the House of Lords in recognition of his contribution to care. It’s well deserved."
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