The Art of Worrying

It feels like we only opened up our office yesterday, but with God’s grace, the help of our fantastic staff, our ever-supporting clients and the great community we have in Leeds, we have already grown out of our present offices and we are looking forward to moving into a new office before Christmas.

We found some super cool new landlords, and a great refurbished building, not to mention that the building manager, Adrian is a real, proper, bona fide gentleman. In fact, I sometimes think we are moving there only because he is there.

The other advantage of the new office is that we will finally have the room, and the bandwidth not only to spread out a bit more, but even more importantly we will be able to make full use of Right at Home’s specially developed in-house operational system.

As you can see from the photo above, live-up-to-the-minute information was paramount to my life for 30 years, and now I and our office staff will be able to have that again with our new system set-up.

We’re not trying to emulate a London trading floor, or NASA’s control room, but we do like to be in control and having live-time information allows us to know what’s going on, where, with whom, is there is anything we can do from the office and as always - is there anything we can do better.

When Bobby McFerrin wrote the song “Don’t Worry, Be Happy?” He wasn’t thinking about us. As a firm, we tend to be professional worriers.

We have to be. We are looking after society's most vulnerable people and being trusted to do so.

About us: Tahira & Farooq, Owners & Managing Directors

Being professional worriers isn’t something new to the management team. Throughout our varied careers, we have always been. It might not have been as important as it is now, but usually, millions of pounds were at stake.

Before we took a tangent in our lives, I was an Investment Banker, and my wife, and Managing Director Tahira, was a Senior Solicitor working for one of the top law firms in Leeds.

We were both becoming disillusioned with our jobs and decided we wanted to do something where, not only would we give something back to our more elderly and vulnerable community, but also provide jobs, all while still allowing us to have beans on toast for dinner! Also, so we when we do finally decide to hang up our PPE, we will leave a legacy, and be proud of what we were able to accomplish.

Both Tahira and I had experienced the Care industry from different perspectives. I, after a serious illness a few years ago, as a client. She from having Carers look after family members.

Our experiences varied from both very good to not good at all. We decided we wanted to give families the chance to experience care that we would be happy with for ourselves or our own family members.

Tahira wanted to learn the business from the perspective of CareGivers. She wanted to work her way through the business. She wanted to understand every aspect, how best to provide Clients and their loved ones with the best possible experience. Her timing, however, couldn’t have been worse. COVID-19 was just about to roar through the world and change our lives forever.

Back in 2019, Tahira and I had only just got married and we found ourselves in a long-distance relationship. Tahira lived in Leeds so she could appear in Court, and I lived a stone’s throw from the City of London. However, when COVID-19 struck and the world went into its first lockdown, we decided the time for long-distance relationships was over, and Tahira moved down to London.

During those early days, Tahira was appearing before Judges on Zoom during the day, and then in the evenings and weekends, she was covered head to toe in PPE and went out to deliver personal care to the elderly and vulnerable adults.

I was used to working long hours, but I had it easy compared to Tahira. I spent most of my days sitting behind a desk, but what Tahira did during those days was mentally and physically exhausting, I was amazed by her strength, determination, and work ethic.

Our Values & Vision

Before we started the business we did hours, days and weeks of pain-staking research. We met multiple care providers, from the great ideas we came across and the not-so-great ideas we came across we started to formulate our own vision of how we wanted to look after our clients and just as importantly, our CareGivers.

For us, Clients and CareGivers aren’t ever going to be numbers on a spreadsheet, no one was going to be seen as a cost or a profit. They are all individuals who have their own families, goals and dreams, and we want to recognise that every day.

First, though we needed to find a partner who would be right for us, who had similar visions as us, and people who were honest, supportive and actually cared. It was in the end a surprisingly easy choice. We opted to partner with one of the UK’s most successful homecare businesses – Right at Home.

That done, we needed to decide where we would set up the business. The obvious places were either London or Leeds, we researched meticulously and, in the end, we decided to leave the City of Kings and Queens and swap it for God’s Own Country – Yorkshire! Leeds to be exact.

Personally, other than family and friends, and a few favourite restaurants, I haven’t missed London one tiny bit! I’ve enjoyed building a new home, a new business, and making new friends and connections in this wonderful city.

Down to work, with all of our research and our own personal morals and beliefs, we wanted to put the ‘care’ back into ’caring’. Yes, yes. I know it sounds like a cliché, but clichés are clichés for a reason.    

We decided to start with our CareGivers. Only through hiring the best CareGivers can we ensure the highest standards of care for our Clients.   

We try to look after our CarerGivers as much as we can. That starts with their rates of pay and benefits package. We don’t believe in the Minimum Wage, or even the Living Wage, as such we are one of the highest payers in and around our territory. This allows us to attract CareGivers, but more importantly, it allows us to keep them.

We are very selective in our recruitment process: we are looking for people who are naturally empathetic, kind, and considerate, and who regard CareGiving as their vocation.

To truly ensure they can perform their duties to the best of their abilities, we invest in our team members by providing on-going training throughout their careers with us. Where possible, we always try to promote from within.  

We believe hiring the right CareGiver means your loved ones should expect and receive a service encompassing:

• Respect
• Dignity
• Courtesy
• Safe and Appropriate Care
• Privacy and being
• Treated as Equals

Care is provided usually on a one-to-one basis, or a two-to-one basis, and is highly personalised reflecting not just an individual’s care needs, but their choices, wishes and social preferences. This means our Clients are able to maintain as much independence as possible and live a healthy and happy life.

For those living with conditions that may require specialist care, such as Dementia, Parkinson’s, or Multiple Sclerosis or for those requiring Stroke Care, Cancer Care or Palliative Care, our live-in carers are trained to provide care and support which enhances the quality of life, enabling people to live well in their own homes.

Whether your family members have mobility and fragility issues, are recovering from an operation and need respite care, or simply require companionship; our home care services ensure they can live a fulfilled and meaningful life for as long as possible - Right at Home!

You’re choosing us to look after your loved ones, which means you have chosen to trust us.      

Worrying has become an art form for us. We identify potential risks and possibilities way before they arrive, and with our expertise, can ensure everything runs smoothly for our CareGivers, Clients and their loved ones.      

For our Clients' families, the management team is always available for a chat. To truly provide you with peace of mind, we can provide access to an app that allows you to see notes of the CareGiver after each visit.           

As I said in the beginning, we worry, so you don’t have to.    

If you would like to speak more about caring for your loved one please get in touch with our friendly team.    

leedseast@rightathome.co.uk