Handford House hero Naomi is a role model

Healthcare Homes colleagues were delighted to get together at a company conference and awards last week to recognize staff and teams who work throughout our family of 48 homes and 11 homecare branches.

And whilst it was recognized that every health and social care employee is undoubtedly a hero, and every Healthcare Homes team was awarded an Inspirational Team of the Year Award, managers had also been asked to recommend individuals for the Hero Awards 2022 and Naomi Bender was one of 24 individuals to receive one.

Handford House in Ipswich experienced the company’s first positive Covid case back at the end of March 2020, having a tough time with residents and staff catching the virus.

The home had a new interim manager in post at the time, who whilst highly experienced, did not know the residents staff or families. The ‘go to’ person was consistently Naomi, our Deputy Manager.

‘Nom’ as she is fondly known helped to manage the genuine fear that invaded the home, supporting both staff and residents alike. The commitment to the home and those in her care was incredible; the compassion she demonstrated to our residents was outstanding – she took being a role model to a whole new level.

Naomi was key in the introduction of the health trackers which became so important in the coming months, allowing us to quickly identify changes in our residents. Not only an amazing nurse but a true super hero in our opinion.

Gordon Cochrane, chief executive officer, told the audience, “ I’m delighted to say that we were inundated with nominations for people that managers wanted to be recognized as absolute stars, the backbones of our homes and branches, the heroes we simply cannot do without and Naomi is one of those heroes.”

Pip Rich