Donnington House

Hello, my name is Sophie, and I am delighted to be the Registered Manager at Donnington House.

After having my son at the age of 40 I decided that I want to work for a business with a philosophy and standards that I truly believed in, and one that genuinely made a difference to improve the quality of life for people in my community. Donnington House, which is a non-profit charity organisation that truly puts care of the elderly at the heart of everything it delivers, was a perfect fit.
Donnington House provides its residents with a relaxed, safe, and homely environment in which their care, well-being and comfort are of paramount importance.

The staffing team strive to preserve and maintain the dignity, individuality, and privacy of all the residents within a warm and caring atmosphere and are sensitive to the resident’s changing needs.

Such needs may be medical, cultural, psychological, spiritual, emotional, and social. Residents are encouraged to participate in the development of their plan in care in which the involvement of family and friends is always valued.

I previously worked in the very profit and commercial led sector of retail for over 15 years where I held the role of Head of Retail for a market leading brand. I started working at Donnington House as the Business Manager and simply fell in love with the culture of the home. I retrained, immersed myself in the care industry and was interviewed by the Care Quality Commission and the Board of Trustees at Donnington House which led to my promotion as Registered Manager in 2022.
I aim to ensure that Donnington House is a home from home for our resident’s.

All staff within the Home are appropriately qualified to deliver the highest standards of care. A continuous training programme is implemented to ensure that standards are maintained in line with the developments in care practices and laid down in legislation, regulations, and the Care Quality Commission guidelines.

I joined Donnington House as an administrator, the moment I walked in to Donnington it felt welcoming, friendly and homely. I was promoted to Business Manager in 2022 and I love my role, I am front of house and get to meet residents families and friends and have a great rapport with them.
I feel that I am approachable for the staff to come and see me if they encounter any problems. I love seeing the residents taking part in various activities that the home offers and just having a general chat with them and listening to them talk about there lives.

I have worked within the care sector for 33 years in various settings including Bognor War Memorial Hospital and as a Field Care Supervisor in the community. I joined The Donnington House team in 2007 which provides a high standard of support and care for up to 28 elderly residents.

Donnington House has supported me with excellent training opportunities, achieving a Level 3 in Health and Social Care in October 2013. I then became a Moving and Handling advisor providing in-house training to all staff. In 2018 I was supported by the nursing team to achieve a Level 4 Diploma in Adult Social Care and became qualified to support the nursing team with administering medication.

In January 2022 I was promoted under a new manager to Senior Care Practitioner. I now lead and support the care team through an extensive training programme which includes the 15 standards of care as set out in The Care Certificate, providing the knowledge and understanding to be able to promote and provide high quality, individualised person-centred care in safe comfortable surroundings.

As part of my job role, I lead the care team to ensure every resident has their wishes, needs and preferences met in a dignified and respectful way, following all core values of Donnington House.

I have always enjoyed my job role at Donnington House and always feel well supported. I believe the care and support we provide are more personalised as it is an independent, not-for-profit charity-run home where people matter.