As a specialist care home for people with complex needs, it’s important that Lilibet Manor has staff with specialist skills – such as our Therapy Team.
Two became three recently when we added Physiotherapist Harry Rajendranpillai to the team.
Harry had been working as a Care Assistant at Lilibet Manor for the past 12 months as part of the overseas sponsorship programme.
We discovered that Harry was a qualified Physiotherapist in his native India so after converting his qualifications in the UK, he has now taken up a new role proving physiotherapy for residents at Lilibet Manor.
Harry will be working alongside Jessica Reilly, our Occupational Therapist, and Jemma Bolton, our Positive Behaviouralist, who both joined us in 2022.
Recently, Jessica celebrated regaining her Health and Care Professions Council registration as an Occupational Therapist. This involved a rigorous training programme which included undertaking placements in other settings, such as a hospital.
Jessica, who has a degree in occupational therapy, works with our residents to provide therapeutic activities and to ensure there are no barriers which prevent them for making the very most of their lives.
Jemma has also been busy in her role, with her training in psychology helping her identify the reasons behind the behaviours which other people may find challenging.
Both Jessica and Jemma are qualified PROACT-SCIPr-UK Instructors, which enables them to train people in how to manage challenging behaviour in a person-centred way, and they have delivered this training to around 70 members of staff at Lilibet Manor.
Jessica says with Lilibet Manor continuing to evolve as a service, having a Therapy Team has never been more important.
“We are becoming the go-to service for people with complex needs and that also means we are seeing even more people coming to Lilibet manor with a wide range of needs.
“With positive behavioural and occupational therapy support we were already seeing a decrease in challenging behaviour, but with Harry also joining the team it means we can also offer more comfort to those with physical disabilities, or those residents affected by an acquired brain injury.
“It can take up to 20 weeks to see a physiotherapist in the community so to have someone dedicated to this at Lilibet Manor is very unique.”
Jemma says they are also making great strides in introducing residents to the local community.
“We have been taking residents to cafes, fish and chip shops, snooker halls, antique shops and even to the pantomime and this is making a very positive difference to their general health and wellbeing,” she says.
“We had a member of the local community commenting on nice it was to see the residents enjoying themselves in the local area, so that lovely feedback to receive.
“Through the service, we are also enabling people to move back to their local community so they can be nearer to their families, and all of this contributes to positive behaviour.
“This all combines to make Lilibet Manor a very special place.”
