Jackie

"I joined Dimensions many years ago when it was known as West Berkshire Housing Consortium – back in 1993! Having an NHS background and being used to the associated constraints of this type of provision, I found Dimensions' philosophies and values a breath of fresh air.

"The first post I held with Dimensions was Deputy Home Manager, shortly followed by Acting Manager. After this I was seconded back to the NHS to project manage the closure of a local hospital and the opening of a seven residential care homes. I learnt so much from this experience, working with so many different stakeholders (all with very different agendas): people with learning disabilities, staff, families, builders, the NHS, architects and so the list goes on…

"Next I went on to manage a residential care home for 6 adults. By now it was 1997 - time to slow down? No way! In 1998 I opened a local service for 5 young adults, another quick learning curve - residential services for children are very different to residential services for adults.

"Then, after managing projects within the Finance department and with our Marketing and Business Development team, I became a Regional Director in East Berkshire for five years and saw many changes throughout this time.

"At the end of last year I was successful in my application for Director of Continuous Improvement. What attracted me to this post? Well, I'm sure you can tell from this story that I enjoy change and challenges. Social care is going through probably one of the most radical transformations we have ever known. The personalisation agenda holds many challenges for everyone, those who receive services and those who provide services. The role attracted me because it is about making sure that we get better at what we do and that we are all prepared for the forthcoming changes."

Last updated: 27th June 2008 at 11:06:47