James Sinclair has just recently joined us as our COO from the NHS where he worked in mental health and dementia research for over 10 years. “My very first job was working at a petrol station where I soon learned that having unrestricted access to chocolate and crisps was a really bad idea for me! From there I worked in a nursing home where I fell in love with working with people and continued to work across care homes and domiciliary care for the next 10 years. This included during my time as an undergraduate in Edinburgh which (as my friends never fail to remind me) took a very long time as I first did three years of a medical degree before changing to a four year degree in Psychology and Sociology. I then continued to do domiciliary care work in Birmingham while I got a research masters in Clinical Psychology. 

My first job following my masters was as a Research Assistant on a dementia project at the R&D department of North East London NHS Foundation Trust (NELFT) in 2011. I progressed to become the Research Site Coordinator for NELFT and finally the Research Delivery Manager before I left to join Care City in 2022. I’ve been very lucky in leaving a fantastic team at NELFT to join an equally incredible team at Care City where the people and passion for the work makes every day meaningful. My career path to here hasn’t always been linear (in the middle of everything I also did a PhD for a year and half before deciding it wasn’t for me!) but I’m really happy where I’ve ended up”.    

And what about Matt Skinner, our Chief Exec…?

“Since around age 16, I’ve always had an interest (and growing frustration) in politics. Whilst studying the subject at university, I did a stint as a parliamentary researcher. I caught the bug for working in the public sector and started my career in local government 15 years ago, working in adult social care. It was around this time that my mum was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and my personal journey of supporting her through the social care and health system began. My career and this journey have been interwoven ever since.

I spent 5 years in local government, joining the local government management programme and working for Lambeth Council in various roles across social care and the local strategic partnership where I supported the health and wellbeing board. I really enjoyed working with amazing people and doing co-production to help improve local services, but I became increasingly frustrated with the pace of change. I could see services failing my mum, and I wanted to make sure others didn’t have the same experiences. So, I left my job to join FutureGov, a startup agency, who wanted to deliver change in local government through better technology, design and change approaches.

For 10 years at FutureGov, I was part of a fantastic team that delivered really important work with the sector. I helped to grow the business and in the last few years led the team as Managing Director as we joined forces with other like-minded companies to become TPXimpact – a digital agency that now works across the public sector and health delivering large and complex change.

My personal mission to fix health and social care continues. My mum passed away at the start of Covid in her care home. I did much reflecting and decided it was time for a personal change. When the opportunity at Care City CIC came along, I leapt at it. Joining last November as CEO, I couldn’t be more delighted to work for a smaller organisation who are deeply rooted in its local community and who are mission focused to help improve health and social care outcomes by working with our partners”.

My interest has always been in Education. I’ve always had a love of learning, teaching, and development and knew this was the career path for me. Initially I thought to work in an Education environment I would need to train to become a teacher. Which is what I started to work towards. However during my learning and my gap year, what I wanted to do changed…

I began my journey pursuing a BA Honors degree in Education Studies, with a plan to then do a PGCE and eventually become a primary school teacher.  After I graduated, I decided I wanted to first take a gap year and work, to build up some work experience. I started my first “proper” job as I like to call it (as it was a 9-5), at the Royal College of General Practitioners. This was an amazing opportunity for me to pick up practical skills in a professional working environment such as, delivering presentations, liaising with trainee GP’s and being in a professional office environment.

I then moved on to working at the London Borough of Waltham Forest as a Business Support Officer, which once again was a great learning opportunity for me. Following that, a post at the Royal College of Occupational Therapists and following a period of time out to have children, I am now at Care City as a Project Support & Communications Officer.

So as you can see, my gap year turned into me not actually wanting to return and complete my PGCE. I had accumulated a wealth of knowledge from my working experience and decided I still wanted to be in Education but not a primary school teacher anymore. But looking to continue my career progression, I knew I needed to upskill further. So when I was presented with this amazing opportunity of an apprenticeship at Care City, which enabled me to not only gain experience as a Project Support and Communications Officer, working on a project that is focussed on East London workforce development, but also, obtain a level 4 Project management qualification, I was thrilled! This was the perfect opportunity for me to take the natural next step in my career, take a hands-on approach to learning whilst continuing to work and earn money to support my family. Plus it means when I am talking to young people in East London about the advantages of apprenticeships in health and social care, I can talk with first hand experience!

I started as CEO at Care City in November, and I’ve been meeting our partners, board and community board members over the last few weeks. Throughout these conversations, I’ve been humbled by the love for Care City, its people and the vital work we help our partners do to improve health and care for citizens.

Today, as I write this blog post, nurses up and down the country are out on the picket lines asking for fairer pay. A result of years of real-term wages falling across the NHS and public sector has brought the system to breaking point. I’m in meetings with partners who describe the crisis in emergency departments and the huge numbers of vacancies in social care and health roles – I’m left with no doubt that this is a system which is broken. 

Despite this, millions of people working in health and social care across the country show up daily, bringing empathy and compassion. Communities, the voluntary sector and organisations like Care City continue to come together to demonstrate how new models of community-powered health, new technologies and ways of working can bring about a fundamental change in how health and care could be delivered. It’s vital that we make this shift to a new model.

Care City is currently delivering an enhanced homecare project. We are training home care workers to equip them with the knowledge to spot deteriorating health in service users, use new technology to take vital signs and, where appropriate, escalate the data to clinicians through a new pathway. This work will help prevent conditions from deteriorating and reduce demand for overstretched GPs by fast-tracking support – ultimately, it will improve lives. As it evolves, we want to explore how families and communities can play a role in this.

This week, the Care City team spent an afternoon together reflecting on our Mission, what it means to us, and where we want to take the organisation in the next few years. It was projects like this, where we are delivering real change that cuts across our expertise in innovation, research and workforce development, that we want to be doing more of. 

Care City wants to help fix the health and social care crisis. This means we need to work with our partners strategically across East London. As an ‘outside-in’ partner, we will be a critical friend, bringing new approaches, new ways of working, new technology and ideas along with our empathy. We have learned, and will continue to learn, from all our projects and are committed to ensuring that what we learn is shared across our partners. This will improve the pace of innovation and reduce duplication so that solutions affect a much larger population.   

Over the last year, we’ve been privileged to work across North East London (NEL) with partners, including BHR Academy, BHR Training Hub, Care Providers Voice and a fantastic network of Careers Ambassadors from across the local health and care sector, to help support the recruitment of new skills and younger people into health and care roles. We were delighted to support NEL Health Care Partnership’s funding bid to join the Mayor’s Academies Programme, supporting 750 individuals from underrepresented groups to find good work (direct employment, apprenticeships, or self/employment/freelance) in North East London’s health and care sector.

Care City will use the learning from our careers work to help develop local career ladders of opportunity into apprenticeships and then into professional qualifications (e.g. Allied Health Professionals, Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Occupational Therapists). Working across our networks with the community, schools, colleges and universities, we will help join up pathways to bring new skills, experience and knowledge into the health and care sector in East London.

Next year we’ll move to our new permanent home in Axe Street, Barking. This will be a space where we can bring citizens, organisations and people across the health and care sector together with other partners to innovate. This will be a space that roots us in our community, a space to help further connect our partners with local people and solve problems at a place-based level.

We are a small and agile organisation but have a massive footprint and tremendous trust across East London. We also have a fantastic community board and young persons panel full of ambassadors for our work in the area. Their continued input into our work will help ensure our projects are inclusive and that equity and fairness are baked into our approach.

In addition to all of this, there is so much more that we are looking forward to working on next year, including:

• Launching our new website that will showcase our work and the stories of our communities and partners.
• Developing our long-term partnership with UCLPartners to work together on their dementia innovation programme. This partnership will also see us support cancer diagnostic innovations and help with their mental health programme.
• Amplifying the work we have done this year to test the People’s definition of Frailty – see our report
• Developing innovative solutions with the community to tackle fuel poverty.

If any of this resonates with you, we’d like to talk to you. 

As this year draws to a close, I want to thank the Care City team, our community board, the board of directors, and all of our partners. I look forward to working with all of you in 2023 to do even bigger and better things to help bring about a happier, healthier age for East Londoners. 

To celebrate National Careers Week, we asked members of the Care City team to share their journeys to joining our Community Interest Company. Today is the turn of Christine and Rachel…

Christine, Project Support Officer

Christine Sanger, one of our Project Support Officers worked in the banking industry for 41 years. In those years Christine had many different jobs, ending up as a Senior Business Analyst which she loved. “What I loved about working on a project was that I could see the customer benefits from the implemented changes I was part of.” 

When Christine was made redundant it made her think about what she really would like to do next. She had always enjoyed helping people and wanted her next job to be more altruistic. “When I saw the Care City job application I couldn’t believe my luck! A job that really helped to benefit people in my community. I put in my application and got the job! I have been enjoying my new lease of working life immensely. I can’t believe my luck that I get to work on amazing projects and with such a great team!”

Rachel, Communications Director

Rachel Fuller, our Comms Director has been in the marketing game for over 25 years, but working in the Third Sector was new for her. “My career started many moons ago on a Property Helpdesk at Barclays Bank. Sitting close to the Marketing department, my naturally nosey nature always got the better of me, and I continually made excuses to go and visit them to find out what marketing campaigns they were working on. It paid off I guess, as when a vacancy in the team arose, I grabbed it and a journey in comms and marketing began! Since then I have worked in many different industries including oil and gas, insurance, fitness (oh the irony!), but it was a role at an events agency that introduced me to Care City. Invited to manage their launch event back in 2016, I loved the people, the place and their passion…so offered to write them a marketing strategy and the rest is history…”

Energy costs have gone up and while it is an increase for some, it is a crisis for others. We’ve joined forces with BD Giving, BD Collective and ELBA to launch the ‘Fuel Up’ campaign, enabling Barking and Dagenham community members that can, to help other community members in need, by donating some or all of their monthly £67 government energy rebate that is being sent to every household.

Donations will be used to provide vouchers to those in need, through the BD Collective’s Food Network, a network that supports 20 local organisations that provide essential food and other necessities to vulnerable residents. 

The BD Collective Food Network supports many hundreds of Barking & Dagenham residents and the number of households using their services has continued to rise since the start of the energy crisis. We are hoping to raise £5000 for our community’s most vulnerable residents and whilst some may pledge to give their entire rebate, any donation no matter how small, will make a huge difference to many who are having to make difficult decisions between heating their homes, or putting food on the table.

Matt Skinner, CEO, Care City added “Care City is delighted to support this important initiative in Barking and Dagenham. Nobody should be forced to make a decision over eating or keeping warm. We are grateful to anyone who can donate even a small amount of their government fuel support to help – it could make all the difference.”

Geraud de Ville de Goyet, CEO, BD Giving said: We are thrilled to collaborate with BD_Collective, Care City, and ELBA on the Fuel Up campaign. With the increasing needs of families and individuals in our community, it is reassuring to know that our community has a long history of generosity. That’s why we invite everyone who can to join us and fuel up Barking and Dagenham.”

This video shares insights from two Foodbank volunteers as to how donations can make a difference. To pledge, please visit bdgiving.org.uk/donate

Our 2021/22 Year In Review showcases our work in research, innovation and workforce development, in collaboration with East London’s health and care system, with the aim of developing and strengthening health and social care delivery and workforce models for the future.

Care City Year in Review 2021/22

The Care City team are a diverse bunch! Although we do all have one thing in common…a desire to improve the lives of our East London community. And with different ages, skills and career backgrounds, our experiences make for great collaboration and success. But how did we all arrive at Care City? This National Careers Week, we reflect on the journeys the Care City team took, to become part of our Community Interest Company…let’s start with Rahela and Pia…

Rahela Begum, Project Lead

“I say I started my career at 30, because that’s when I found what I really wanted to do, which is helping people in my community! It didn’t start out that way though. My first job was at a market stall in Greenwich Market selling fudge, although those cobble stones were not kind to my feet and I don’t even like fudge! 

Growing up I wanted to be a journalist because I love meeting people and hearing their stories. This led me to seek out any opportunity that would get me close to people and writing. I interned at a local community newsletter in Peckham, I volunteered at a magazine company in Brixton and I completed work experience at Random House. I graduated in English and Media as the economy crashed in 2008, at a time when it was hard to find any work, so I volunteered at my local library and got a job there. I would do anything to be close to books – a perfect culmination of people and stories! So, I worked in the Library service for five years. I realised I wasn’t progressing much in my learning, so I took a risk and a pay cut and joined a literature charity – The Reading Agency. 

I moved to Barking and Dagenham at this point, onto a houseboat, and found some incredible opportunities to work in participation (Participatory City), community engagement and health (Thames Life) all in B&D. I feel so lucky I was able to work directly with my community. Care City had been on my radar since I moved to the area, anything innovative and interesting has always caught my eye, and Care City seemed to be trying new ways of doing things in Health. My stars aligned as my contract ended and Care City were recruiting for a Project Lead in the Workforce Team. I joined the team in May 2022 and I have been loving it ever since. Collaboration is at the heart of what I do and there’s always a chance to get away from my desk and meet new people at Careers Events, and after the market stall – standing for a few hours at a careers fair is a dream.

Pia Barna, Project Lead

It was at a hotel in a small Swiss village where I started my first job during the school holidays. The place was popular for hosting international student groups and the hotel owner was in need of an additional pair of hands during dinner service. Having an opportunity to practise my language skills with young people from across the world was incredibly exciting. By the end of my hotel career they must have been solid enough because I befriended a girl from America who is now one of my dearest and closest friends!

Upon graduating from school, I felt that it wasn’t the right time for me to go to university. Luckily I knew that I was good at organising and that I loved filing (I know!) and so I applied for an office apprenticeship at my local city council. I spent a year each at the civil registry office, the office for justice and the prosecution office, where I learned valuable customer service skills and got even better at filing!

While the majority of my friends decided to move into full-time roles after our apprenticeships, I was craving some adventure and couldn’t think of anything cooler than working on a cruise ship. I took a leap and spent the next year working at the reception desk on a cruise ship. (The downside of that is knowing that no work place will ever offer you comparable views from your desk.) From Italy to Singapore, through the fjords of Norway, around Iceland and the UK, I tried my best to make our holiday guests’ vacations as memorable as possible. 

After all the travelling I knew that I wanted to settle down somewhere. It had been my biggest childhood dream to be living in the English capital one day and when a colleague from the ship was looking for someone to sublet his flat to, it felt like a surreal coincidence. A few months were enough time to find an office assistant role in an audit and consulting company where I quickly took on more responsibilities and moved up to Project Supervisor. 

It was then that I started thinking more specifically about the impact that I could have with my skills on my community. I first ventured into the direction of sustainability and food security and became a project manager in an international vertical farming company where I led an innovation and research project. It turned out to be fascinating but not my passion and I knew that a slight change of direction was needed.

And so I finally arrived at Care City – excited by the prospect of overseeing projects that would benefit local communities. In my nine or so months of having worked at Care City I have often thought to myself “I had no idea that work could be like this!”. Doing meaningful work alongside a kind, compassionate and supportive team makes me feel like I’ve won the lottery even without mind-blowing views from my desk.

260 students and families signed up to learn more about careers in London’s health sector at this year’s Skills London, the UK’s largest jobs and careers event for 14-24 year olds.

As part of the Mayors Academies Programme, a programme focused on championing London’s skills offer and supporting Londoners to gain the skills they need to enter into good work, we attended the event along with representatives from North East London, South West London and North West London Integrated Care Boards and supported by Health Careers Ambassadors, to engage and inspire young people to consider a job in the sector, promoting the 350 job roles available and the entry points and access routes through them.

Careers Ambassadors are individuals who have experience in the job they’re promoting and can talk with passion about their jobs and why healthcare careers are such worthwhile roles to consider. Event participants were introduced to Allied Health Professionals from North East London Foundation Trust (NELFT), Lecturers in Nursing from University of East London (UEL), Nurses from SW London and given guidance and support on NHS roles that may be suitable for them.

Participants also competed against each other in a “Fastest Surgeon Wins” Operation game, given an opportunity to see and experience some of the digital health technology available within the sector and play quizzes to help them determine suitable health careers based on their skills and likes and dislikes.

The majority of the visitors to the stand were aged between 16-17 and indicated that they would like to know more about work experience opportunities, with accessibility to apprenticeships and information on entry level roles also big topics of conversation.

Stewart Weller, Programme Manager, North East London Integrated Care Board commented: “The local career opportunities in health and social care are diverse, ranging from data and digital technology to patient facing services. Skills London was a great opportunity to showcase these roles to young people & offer help and advice on qualifications, apprenticeships and career pathways. With over 350 job roles in health and social care and approximately 9000 job vacancies available locally, the opportunities are there for our young people. We just need to help them find the right job for them.”

To learn more about working in health and social care, visit www.careers.eastlondonhcp.org.uk

Work around frailty and communication is not new. The People’s Description of Frailty, co-constructed through the work of the London Clinical Frailty network, is as follows:

“Frailty is a word that may be used to describe your state of health or that of someone you care for. Being described as ‘frail’, having ‘frailty’ or ‘living with frailty’ may occur

when your body loses its natural reserves. This may be due to a range of factors such as illness, disability or aspects of the ageing process”.

This definition does not work perfectly for everybody, but no definition ever could. It works well as one ‘tool in the toolbox’ for communicating about frailty. The question is, what other tools help to describe frailty and help patients to describe their own experiences of frailty?

We were commissioned by the London Clinical Frailty Network and worked in partnership with UCLPartners to help answer this question by engaging with a broad range of people beginning to experience frailty and related health services to understand their thoughts, feelings and vocabulary around frailty and to test the People’s Description of Frailty. The goal being to help clinicians have richer conversations about frailty with as diverse a range of individuals as possible. 

Read our findings and recommendations in the report here.