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Job description

Are you a positive, pragmatic person, who wants to work 1:1 with a severely disabled female creative and nationally recognised arts leader, supporting me in every element of my life?

I'm looking for people to join my care team, working a 24.5 hour shift one day per week, and on call the subsequent day, in case of absence.

You don't need care experience, you do need to love dogs, have a driving license, and be happy to work as my arms and legs, carrying out all the daily activities I struggle with.

This is a 'care job' with a difference. I am looking for people who can assist me on my direction - not people who want to 'look after' someone. I don't need people to have experience in care. I'm a charity CEO, run a leading arts organisation, and am an award-winning creative. The dynamic I strive for is a friendly one, where my team are supporting me at my direction, rather than one in which they're 'looking after' me from above.

This means that when I hire, I'm seeking assistants who can follow my guidance and support me as I live my life. People working with me facilitate my life and I'm responsible for the decisions I take. I call my team "Personal Assistants" or "PAs", and usually employ 7 regular people - one per day, plus a few people who do cover.

These people help me across every aspect of my life, filling in where my body doesn't work. I'm in a wheelchair, and I usually get hoisted between bed and my chair. I use a machine for breathing at night and when needed during the day. I have a gastric stoma, a feeding tube, and a catheter. My condition means I'm effectively paralysed waist-down and my upper body (especially my core) is very weak.

Your role would be to do the things (and help do the things) I can't. If you think about all the things you do over a 24 hour period - from turning in bed or getting out of bed to going to the shops, doing the cleaning, or walking the dog - you're filling in for, and supporting, me where my body can't do it. You're also managing everything from stock levels to my medication timings, preparing and giving me them as required, and learning to monitor for what I might need, and when.

I am recruiting drivers who can work for one day per week, and be on-call the next day. You would take on a regular day each week, but I may be able to be flexible about which day.

You earn about £298/week, with up to about £243 extra if you're called in on your on-call day. There is lots of overtime available.

You do not need care experience - this is both an advantage and a disadvantage. I'm more interested in your personality and your approach than the relevance of your employment background. Previous excellent PAs have been trainee psychologists, nursery nurses, chefs, deep sea diving instructors, actors, and translators, as well as former carers.

Character traits I look for in PAs are:

• Pragmatism and an ability to see a situation and just get stuck in and get on with it
• Enthusiasm for doing the things that need doing
• A sense of pride in completing a job well
• A logical sense of organisation which helps ensure my stock is neat and my space tidy
• A calm head even if I'm stressed or there's a crisis
• A friendly nature
• An understanding that this job takes place in my (and my wife's) home, and life, requiring discretion

In a practical sense, I'm looking for people who are unfazed by the personal, physical, and medical care aspects of the role. These include giving regular and emergency injections, hoisting and manual transfers between bed and wheelchair (which everyone of average fitness I've employed has been very able to do), and personal and intimate care, including transanal irrigation for bowel management, using the Qufora bed system. I'm very used to training people in all these tasks, as long as they're willing to learn.

I train everyone directly, myself and the current members of my team. The training is very 'paper-heavy', and it relies on you being confident reading, synthesising, and following written instructions.

Day to day, there's a common routine, with medications at least 8 times across the day, and a schedule of washing, dressing, and physiotherapy. Overnight, once I'm asleep, you're monitoring my ventilator for alarms, turning me in bed every 2 hours to prevent bed-sores, and monitoring very closely if I'm ill, but able to nap between turning me if I'm not.

I like to think that PAs have the opportunity to get involved with the fun bits of my life as well as the boring ones - with the chance to travel around the UK and Europe with me, and following my creative and theatre work as it grows and develops.

If this interests you, I look forward to hearing more...

Job Types: Part-time, Permanent
Part-time hours: 28.5 per week

Salary: £250.00 per day

Benefits:

• Free flu jabs

Schedule:

• Day shift
• Night shift
• Overtime

COVID-19 considerations:
You are required to be up to date on all COVID and flu jabs (or willing to get jabs) and to wear a FFP3 mask at all times

Application question(s):

• What interested you about this job?
• Are you vaccinated against COVID-19?
• Are you willing to get future COVID, flu, and other vaccinations as requested?
• Are you happy around dogs?
• Are you happy to learn how to give intimate personal care to somebody female (training provided)?
• Are you happy to learn how to give injections (training provided)?
• Are you physically fit and strong enough to undertake a role which includes 'manual handling' and supporting me to change position in my bed, chair, and be hoisted between them (training provided)?
• Are you currently based in the UK with the right and ability to work in the UK for more than 25 hours per week?
• Are you comfortable learning from heavily text-based materials?
• If you do not have a valid UK driving license, are you currently learning, and do you have a driving test booked?
• Are you able to work a regular 24.5 hour shift (from 07:00-07:30am the next day) followed by being on-call for the next 24 hours if the person following you does not come in?
• Are you able to commute to near Lewisham station for an 07:00 start time?

Licence/Certification:

• Driving Licence (preferred)

Work Location: In person

Expected start date: 01/05/2023