A Day in the Life #4 – Amar’s story
In the fourth of our ‘A Day in the Life’ series of Blogs, I talk to Director of the Bayswood Care Group, Amarveer Singh. The fact Amarveer prefers to be called Amar by everyone is indicative of his approach. He is deliberately accessible and in touch with his team, understanding life ‘on the shop floor’.
Amar was thrust into the family business by his father. ‘From a young age my siblings and I were involved, doing shifts at the Alexandra. We did everything. Care work, cleaning rooms, assisting in the kitchen, and doing the laundry. It worked well because my school and then University holidays meant I could cover shifts when most people wanted time off, like at Christmas and during the summer holidays.’
Amar does not say so, but the impression I get is that there is nothing Amar could ask a colleague to do that he hasn’t done himself – although he concedes that he found delivering personal care difficult. ‘My brother was a natural, but I was more hesitant, so I have huge respect for our team of carers. Sometimes I think they might not realise what a big impact they have on our residents’ lives. That daily chat before breakfast, that patience and skill at mealtimes, and spending quality time getting to know residents well.’ That honesty, and his understanding of what’s important to residents is a refreshingly humble trait from a care home business owner.
After University, Amar went on to work for the Bank of America in Chester. The corporate world was challenging but helped equip him for his future in the care industry. His father, Tara Singh, had opened the Brooklands Specialist Care Home in Blackpool, dealing with acquired brain injuries (ABIs). ‘My father asked me to get involved in October 2012, and I was thrown straight into the deep end at 23 years old, becoming the youngest person in management. My first two years was about learning. The industry was changing quickly and becoming more accountable to increasingly powerful regulators. I needed to make the company more professional from a business perspective; to build on the operational expertise we already had in management.’
Amar recalls, ‘My father had modernised and refurbished the Alexandra in sympathy with its stunning fabric and historic interior. We then added the Brambles EMI unit. We managed to do that without taking outside space.’ The Brambles building is something Amar is very proud of. The Alexandra sits in extensive grounds and ‘maintaining open space for the benefit of residents’ is one of Amar’s mantras. The new Brambles unit was designed with wood paneling and grass roofs to fit seamlessly into its local environment.
In 2016, Dane View was the next home to come online. There was no deliberate acquisition strategy – ‘Growth happened organically’, Amar says. Dane View, Leicester, also sits in extensive grounds and had an interior that could easily be adapted to care, having once been a rest home for retired clergy and then a conference centre. Amar’s cousin, Jatinder, whose CV includes time as a British diplomat in Iraq, was brought in to run Dane View.
Amar explains, ‘We looked at a few homes over the years, but it was important to find the right ones that fitted our vision of what a great care home should be.’
Hot on the heels of Dane View, a home called BLESMA became available. It needed lots of modernisation to bring it to the high standard we see today. While there are still a few improvements planned, the home has been renamed Park View (It overlooks a lovely park on Lytham Road, South Shore, Blackpool) and now fits with the vision Amar, Tara and Jatinder had when the business bought it.
There are elements of a building that Amar believes lend themselves to be great care homes. For example, he likes open kitchens that can be seen from the dining room. ‘The aroma of food prompts hunger,’ he points out. That is an important point covered in previous Bayswood Blogs. Amar also likes his Home Managers and Deputies to have their offices on busy corridors ‘right in the thick of the action’, as he puts it.
Speaking to Amar, it is clear he is not a micro-manager. He allows people to get on with their jobs and is a firm believer in providing them with the tools they need to succeed. ‘It’s not in my interest to see people fail,’ he says. ‘I like to give managers the breathing space to improve and become strong leaders. That can require patience and time as people learn.’
Amar and Jatinder have introduced new equipment such as hoists and hi-tech baths to help staff care more easily for residents and create the environment for residents with capacity to live as independently as possible. ‘Even buying specialist cutlery for dementia suffers can make a difference,’ he says. Amar and Jatinder have also introduced new software for carers and nurses to record actions ‘on the go’. Notes can be keyed into phones, so when visitors see staff on their phones, it is because they are making notes – a must for the CQC regulators to inspect.
‘There needs to be a balance between accountability and experience,’ Amar believes. ‘I think the regulators are seeing this now and the emphasis is swinging back towards the “User Experience” of our residents.’
Digging a little bit deeper, I can see Amar’s ‘one size does not fit all’ flexible approach hails from his Punjabi, Sikh culture. ‘There is a massive respect for our parents and elders in the Punjabi culture. We must have the same respect for other people’s elders and loved ones.’ It is clear, Amar’s respect for the welfare and dignity of residents is paramount in his thinking.
‘During Covid Lockdown the team were incredible. The pressure was incessant with no release, as staff dedicated themselves to the welfare and protection of the most vulnerable in society – those residents under our care! I don’t think the outside world realises how prohibitive it is working with masks on, but carers and nurses are dedicated to performing their duties within a strict government framework.’
‘I’m just very proud of the people working for the homes during Covid, and it is a privilege to look after residents entrusted into our care by their loved ones,’ Amar says.
Interview by Kelly Farrington