Meet Linda, a Lead IQA (Internal Quality Assurance) working within our end-point assessment team. In this article, Linda tells us about her extensive background in the Health and Social Care sector, what motivates her to get up in the morning and why she absolutely loves her job.
Can you tell me a little bit about how you got into your role?
My background is in Health and Social Care. I’ve spent my entire career in the sector, starting out at 19 as a cleaner before becoming a carer and then a manager. I’ve predominantly worked in Elderly Care, but have also worked within the NHS in operating theatres as a nursing auxiliary. I have a lot of experience working within mental health as well as dementia.
When I decided it was time to leave the NHS and do something different, I went to work at a local college as a learning support worker, supporting people with learning difficulties. I decided to do a teaching qualification, which included an assessor award, and from there began working for training providers, assessing learners within Health and Social Care doing what were then known as MVQs and apprenticeships. I did my IQA (Internal Quality Assurance) qualification and worked my way up to Lead IQA. During the Covid-19 lockdown I applied for the Lead IQA role within the EPA team here, and joined the team in October 2021.
Honestly, I haven’t looked back – I absolutely love it! Now I’m the lead IQA for the Level 4 Lead Practitioner in Adult Care and Level 5 Leader in Adult Care standards.
What do you love most about your job?
I absolutely love my job! I love to coach and mentor our assessors, and provide them with really hands-on support. It’s a massive part of my role. I always want to make sure our assessors feel supported and enable them to do a fantastic job.
I also work very closely with our training partners, providing dedicated customer service to support them and resolve any issues they’re facing. Our team really prides ourselves on that, and we have great relationships with our clients.
What motivates you to do a great job everyday?
Five years ago, my mum and dad were both diagnosed with dementia just a few weeks apart. Dementia and Alzheimer’s has always been very close to my heart, because I’ve worked with individuals, but also because I’ve had to go through a very difficult journey with both my parents too.
The standard of care can differ greatly from one care home to another, and I’ve seen that first hand. That’s why training is so important.
And that’s why I’m so passionate about the Health and Social Care sector, and so quality-driven. Cut me in half and I’d have quality going through like a stick of rock! Everyone wants and deserves to receive the best quality of care possible, and they want their loved ones to get that too.
As an end-point assessment organisation, we’re giving carers a licence to practise for the rest of their career and to care for somebody’s loved one with compassion, care and empathy. I’ve always tried to instil that in the assessors I’ve worked with – we have such an important role to play and it’s a massive responsibility.
What brings you joy at work?
I love to see our learners coming through, achieving their qualifications, and progressing in their careers. At the end of the day, these people are our future – we’re all getting older and we’re going to need them at some point.
I just love everything about what I do.
What excites you most about the future of FuturU?
The vision, the values and the long term plan for where we’re going. What FuturU provides is absolutely fantastic. Staff should be updating their knowledge and skills constantly, but it’s not right that they’re having to foot the bill.
Aside from my apprenticeship, I’ve had to pay for all my qualifications. I’d have bitten your hand off if you’d have come to me and said you can give me all this training for free. It’s like a dream come true. I had tears in my eyes hearing about one of our learners’ stories and the sacrifices they had to make to get their training before they found FuturU. What we’re offering already is amazing, and there’s so much more come.
