M&D Care

I’d always dreamed of having a career in care, being able to make a difference to someone’s life was something that really appealed to me. Working in a café, I always knew I was good with people and wasn’t shy of hard work. However, for a long time I didn’t have the confidence to think that I could work in care with young adults with mental health and learning disabilities. In 2014, I took a leap of faith and applied for a Support Worker role at M&D Care ltd. I was so pleased when I was offered the role, and since that day I have never looked back. Having had no prior experience of working in care, I was fully supported to build the knowledge and skills needed to work in the role. The induction process was really informative, having the support of my manager and colleagues from day one built my confidence and I got the sense very quickly that I would be encouraged to develop both personally and professionally.

Since joining Dom Care, I have been welcomed in with open arms. I have learnt so much from those around me, and I’m learning more everyday.

No two says are the same at M&D Care. Staff are very supportive and always willing to answer questions and give help where they can.

I started working for M&D Care Ltd nine years ago as a Support Worker, it was the first time I’d ever worked in care. When I applied for M&D Care I was unemployed, having worked for 25 years’ in a local factory which had gone in to liquidation and had to close. I was having lunch with my friend in a local pub, I spotted a group of people on a table close to us who looked like they were Support Workers having lunch with people they were supporting. I always remember saying to my friend ‘I can could do that job!’ I contacted M&D Care and was invited for an interview, to my delight I was offered the role and within 10 days my employment clearances and DBS check had come through and I was starting a new chapter in my career as a Support Worker.

I absolutely love being a Support Worker, I really do enjoy my job. It is such a privilege to be able to make a difference to someone’s life; watching them grow in confidence and independence. The variety of the role is fantastic and every day is different; from providing individuals to be able to cook and clean for themselves, to taking them to different activities within the community such as kickboxing and choir, to assisting them on holiday. Being able to provide support for someone to have a full and active life fills me with such pride. It is important to give the people we support encouragement to undertake tasks they didn’t think they could do, such as cooking a meal, actively supporting them promotes their independence and gives them a fantastic sense of achievement.

Having worked for M&D Care since 2010, I have seen M&D Care’s growth and development as an organisation. The company has introduced new services such as domiciliary care, as well as adding new residential homes and supported living services. M&D Care Ltd have always supported me in my role, I have achieved my QCF level 2 in Health and Social Care. The Managers are incredibly supportive and are always there to help and talk things through. During my time at M&D Care I have had the opportunity to work within all of the service areas, this has been great as it’s built upon my knowledge and experience of working with individuals with mental health and learning difficulties in a range of different settings.

Since joining M&D Care I have never looked back, my only regret is that I didn’t start working in care sooner!

I joined M&D Care Ltd in 2015 as a Support Worker. After 23 years of working in the food retail industry, I had decided to try something completely different. I worked for two well-known national supermarket chains, progressing from checkout operator to Duty Manger, to Assistant Deputy Manager. I was established in my role, knew the food retail industry inside out and had achieved a lot during my retail career, but I really felt like it was time to try something different. I felt that there was more to working life than having to worry about how to display tins of beans.

I was recommended by a friend who worked for M&D Care at the time, I was so pleased when I had the phone call to say that my interview had been successful and I was excited to start my new role in care. I felt instantly welcomed into the team and felt an immense amount of support from the very start. It was so refreshing to be able to interact with the Directors; I really felt a sense for their passion for the people we support as well as their investment in their employees.

I loved working in the Western Bay domiciliary service; it gave me exposure to so many different people within the community who needed a range of support for mental health and learning difficulties. There was a structured training program in place that supported the everyday tasks and activities I was undertaking. Completing my QCF level 3 in Health and Social Care also provided me with the background knowledge and reflective practises to undertake my role effectively.

Domiciliary care by nature can be quite complex and has its own challenges of independent working, however, I was thoroughly supported and empowered to be able to make decisions safely and provide the highest quality of care. As the company grew, I was given the opportunity to become a Senior Support Worker and ran my own team, the management skills from retail were highly transferable to this role and I quickly progressed to Regional Manager within the domiciliary service. The environment is fast paced, varied and at times pressured, but it is so enjoyable to be part of a team who help, support and learn from each other. Being able to make a difference to the lives of the people we support is such a fantastic honour. It is a great feeling facilitating independence and instilling confidence in someone. You really get to see first-hand how the support we provide can make a difference to the quality of someone’s life.

About a year ago, I was successful in obtaining the Commercial Manager role at Head Office, I love this role. It is so varied and I have exposure to multiple parts of the business as well as supporting the Finance team, I support the board of Directors. I am involved in costings, contracts, billings and analysis of rota and run support. I liaise directly with a number of external stakeholders and everyday really is different. Having a background in retail management has married well with the knowledge and experience I gained working in care to undertake the role of Commercial Manager.

However, what has always stood out to me is that M&D Care, really do care. It is such a supportive environment to work in. The Directors care about their staff and they develop their strengths, I have been given many opportunities to evolve and develop a career in a new area. I have always felt fully supported in every role I have undertaken. There is a culture of openness and transparency where talents are recognised and developed. I always work hard and give my all to what I do; it is a nice feeling to know that this is appreciated. Since starting with M&D I have never looked back – I can’t imagine being anywhere else!

I have previously worked in a ‘traditional’ domiciliary care role and I now work within Western Bay Domiciliary for M and D. In my previous role, I was caring for the elderly in their own homes; including assistance with washing, dressing, cleaning, food preparation and medication administration. It was a tough role as it was very busy and there wasn’t a lot of time during or in between the calls. Quite often I would do between 20 and 25 calls a day at around 20 minutes each average. This meant a lot of the time I had to be in and out the calls to ensure I could care for everyone. When I decided to change companies, initially I did not want to return to do domiciliary care as I had only ever known the more traditional style and to be honest, I was exhausted.

Eventually I applied to work with M and D in a home until I spoke with Sarah (Manager of Western Bay) who persuaded me to give M and D  domiciliary care a go. I have been in the department for 5 months now and it was the best decision I have ever made. There is so much time in each call to really work with the people we support, get to know them and promote as much independence as possible. There is ample time in between calls to reach the next destination which takes some of the stress away that I had in the last role. These calls can vary in what needs to be done from personal care to taking the person out into the community to assisting with their shopping. I now do around 4 to 8 calls a day and these are much longer than I was used to before, allowing ample time to get the core tasks done and quite often extras as well. I have had ample opportunity to really get to know the people we support as there is time in the calls for a chat. Another massive difference working for M and D is the life/work balance I now have is incredible. I have been able to start back in the gym and I have never seen my friends so often! This is down to actually having energy on days off and finishing by 20:30 most evenings.

My name is Matthias Mitchell  I have been working in domiciliary care for the last 10 years, at the beginning of 2022 I started working for M&D care as a senior for their supported living domiciliary care team, moving from the more traditional domiciliary care.

The differences I have experienced since working for M&D have been amazing, the first thing to note is that under M&D the shifts are only 12 hours whereas under previous care employers i was working much longer hours sometimes as many as 16 hours a day.

Each shift I do now has fewer people we support in each day and the call times allocated to them is longer than what I have been used to, and I feel this allows to  build better working relationships between us and the people we support and creates more stable and consistent care.

M&D have a fleet of company cars that we are able to use with some of the people we support giving us the opportunities to help them in ways like taking them out for the day or just supporting them to day to day appointments – this too is something I was never able to  under more traditional care companies.

Unlike most care providers M&D pay their care staff for the full day and not just for your time spent with the people we support, including any downtime you might have throughout the day between your calls. They also pay the maximum government allowance for your Mileage of 45pence per mile travelled- again not something I have ever had before.

The care sector is and has always been a difficult one to staff especially domiciliary care, and In  my experience over the years I have always found that on my days off you are constantly asked to work extra to cover sickness, however under M&D this request has been almost non-existent, this I believe to be because M&D domiciliary care has the backing of their staff in the many supported living houses, but also due to relaxed nature of the working day there are far less people calling in sick and the staff are generally more willing to pick up extra shifts.

My personal physical and mental health have both massively improved since starting work with M&D. I am passionate about the care that I provide to the people we support and under M&D care I feel like a better person and a better carer for it.

If you are thinking about working in care or feel like you want to work for a different care company I say come over to M&D, I 100% recommend them both for you and for the people we support

Coming into M&D Care through the Kickstart scheme has given me a chance to experience the care sector – and I’m really enjoying it so far!

The experience has enabled me to be part of a good team, and now I have the chance of a full time job with the hopes of becoming a Senior Support Worker.