03/04/2024
A few months ago the Sutherland Home Care board took the very difficult decision to close our service.
When we started out our aim was to try bringing back home care the way it used to be, with local people supporting those within their own community. No long-distance travel for staff, no 15-minute shifts, just valuable care tailored to the client's needs.
To a degree this worked well. We built up a wonderful staff team who provided the best care to everyone they visited. Their commitment was fantastic.
Sadly we faced a number of ongoing struggles. Firstly the service never managed to financially sustain itself. Keen to keep costs as low as we possibly could for paying clients, it became clear that the service would never be in a position to cover its own outgoings. On top of this, recruitment was a problem and we were never able to recruit enough staff to grow as much as we needed to.
As a result, Sutherland Home Care ceased the home care service and ended the contract with NHS Highland on 31st March. This has been a very difficult decision, particularly no longer being able to offer care to our clients or work to our dedicated staff.
However, we are so proud of what we achieved in the time we were operating. We are massively grateful to Krystle, Kareen and the whole team of Support Workers who were our biggest asset. We'd particularly like to thank Amy and Becky for going above and beyond during the final weeks of Sutherland Home Care. We couldn't have continued without you both.
We're also thankful to the wonderful clients and families we worked with. It was an absolute pleasure. Thanks too to our partners at NHS Highland, Social Work and everyone else who played a part along the way.
It may be the end of the road for Sutherland Home Care, but we are now handing the baton over to our parent company, Connecting Communities who will continue to provide support for carers in the area (see poster in the comments). If you look after someone and would like some support or a break then do contact them to find out how they can help. Please note: this service doesn't include personal (hands on) care.
Thank you all for following us.
With best wishes,
The Sutherland Home Care team
