5 mins with Emily Whitehurst, chief operating officer for Constantia Healthcare

Emily Whitehurst recently joined Constantia Healthcare as its chief operating officer. She is responsible for the operational direction of the group, which has four care homes, two in the North-East of England and two in the North-West.

She joined Constantia from The Hennessey Partnership where she was a director and chief operating officer and prior to this, she was national head of learning disability services at Bondcare, and also worked for The National Autistic Society for 11 years.

Can you tell us about your organisation and what you do?

Constantia Healthcare is a family-owned care group providing high quality, person-centred residential and nursing care homes in Middlesbrough, Blackburn and Rossendale. Our homes provide long-term, short-term and respite care, as well as specialist care for people with complex needs such as alzheimers, dementia and physical disabilities.

Can you tell us about the path you took to get to where you are today?

I started my career by chance when I went for a role aged 17 with the National Autistic Society as a School Teaching Assistant. Whilst at the interview they realised I would be better suited to working with the young people who were residing at a residential service.

Knowing I was turning 18 shortly and that a DBS check would be required, they offered me the position and the rest is history! I have then moved far and wide around the country to develop my skills and knowledge in the sector, often relocating to not miss a single opportunity that presented itself.

My career has gone from strength to strength and I have always been a curious person, not deterred by difficult situations, which has instilled the ‘can do’ attitude in me, no matter what presents itself. I am an incredibly ambitious person who has always put my career and the people we are so very fortunate enough to care and advocate for at the centre of everything I do.

Who inspires you the most and why?

Carly Fleischmann. Carly was born with Autism and is nonverbal, living in America. She had a breakthrough at the age of 10 she went up to her therapist’s laptop during a session and typed ‘HELP TEETH HURT’. After this she has learned to express herself and communicate with others by typing.

This has opened up a whole new world for herself and everyone around her. Imagine being a person who cannot speak and everyone around you then talks about you, in front if you, and all the while you are able to understand and articulate language but just not verbalise it.

She now has a voice and is the voice for many others with autism. I often use Carly’s story on sessions I deliver from time to time about Autism and how we can better support people. On more occasions than not, there is not a dry eye in the room once that clip comes to an end when the breakthrough occurs!

Truly amazing. Carly, and people who share the same experiences as Carly, inspire me. They inspire me to do a good job. To listen to people not just through that they are verbally trying to tell me but from what they are not saying too.

What is your biggest achievement in your career and in your personal life?

My biggest achievement was the turnaround of a number of residential services that had been closed, due to some significant allegations of abuse. The CQC had commenced their enforcement powers and were taking steps to remove registration. I had one service that had been completely emptied of people by the local authority and two others where people remained living but likely until a time whereby new homes were found. I turned them around and made them a place to be proud of.

Giving everything but my soul to make sure that whatever had gone on in those service before would never happen again. Creating a new framework which to work from that underpinned TRUE values-based support for people. Creating environments that offered things outside of the box to enable people to be themselves and explore the things that made them feel unsafe in order to learn better ways.

The work hit the news and before I knew it, I was leading an inspection with the CQC, that I had arranged on a synthetic basis, whilst on a flight to New York! Needless to say, the people remained in their homes, the homes were then taken from Inadequate to Good with the larger one re opening, all legal proceedings were dropped and it now has an outstanding area. I don’t often reflect on things where I’ve made a difference and give myself a pat on the back, but this very interview has made me realise, wow – what a difference I did make.

As for my personal life. My biggest achievement has to be my amazing partner, Clare and our fantastic families that we have surrounding us. We have heaps of support and we are now embarking on a shared lives scheme caring for fostered children who have Down Syndrome.

What do you think is the biggest threat facing your organisation?

The social care industry, like others, has taken a knock both during the pandemic and as we navigate out of it. The usual statement in our industry you hear is: “You are not going to become a millionaire doing care work so you only do it because you love it and you want to make a difference to people” and it is true.

We MUST have people who join our organisation, any organisation, with the right values and passion to provide good, solid care and support to societies most vulnerable. At Constantia Healthcare Group we are developing an organisation that not only works for the people we care for but that works for our teams too. We want to pay people the national living wage and we do. Where we can uplift, we will and we will always, above everything else, recognise the fantastic work our essential colleagues do in a tough economic climate.

What do you think the government should do to improve life in your care homes?

They need to listen. I think the government think they are listening but the true reality of it is that the touch is only a light one. Our key workers worked, like the NHS, and put themselves and their families at risk during the Covid-19 pandemic just like the supermarket workers, refuge workers, warehouse workers, homeless shelter volunteers and workers.

Yet we are still in a period of time where the funding for our sector is not where it needs to be. The government needs to listen, take on board the views of care providers and the users of services and act. We need to make our industry one that is acknowledged as a professional career choice with the reward to show for it.

What is the biggest opportunity for your organisation currently?

Our growth strategy is an exciting one and we are ready to work with our stakeholders to offer the Constantia Healthcare model of support to even more people across the North East, North West and Lancashire. New acquisitions are coming onboard in 2023 and we cannot wait to welcome them to the Constantia family.

What do you hope to introduce in your organisation in the next five years and what are you most excited about implementing?

We are in the process of making our organisation more aware of our carbon footprint and as such as rolling our digital systems to support this and make our homes, paper free as well as reducing the amount of plastic used in our services, favouring the trial of refillable solutions.

When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

A Lawyer! Or an Inspector. I’ve always liked detail, even from a young age it seems.

What is your favourite book and why?

I enjoy the crime thriller author Martina Cole and my favourite is The Jump.

What is the best present you have received?

My partner, Clare recently bought me tickets to see Celine Dion! There were a lot of happy tears when I opened the card. Sadly, Celine wasn’t well and cancelled however it has been rescheduled for April 2023, so something to definitely look forward to.

How do you like to spend your free time?

Apart from seeing family and having our nieces and nephews, DIY! I am obsessed with DIY and am very proud to say I can turn my hand to just about anything, which comes in very handy in an all-female household!