Daily Life with a C4/C5 Spinal Cord Injury

Finding the right care team is not easy. The first two years we used agency care – it was hit and miss. Always grateful for the care but the preference is for consistent, reliable and well trained care.

September 2022, Natasha stepped up and became the Personal Health Budget Manager. She was now the boss! It means we could advertise and employ our own Personal Care Assistants (PA’s) and decide on who, when and what.

Natasha: It’s not easy, it’s like having a second full time job! I am everything: HR, compliance, training, welfare, facilities, accounts, care plan. Everything about employment falls to me.

Having the right team is key, people who can work together, who can be open and honest, and who are reliable and willing to learn. Dad’s complex medical needs, mean that we are all learning all the time. New things crop up most weeks, and with only around 100,000 people in the UK with a SCI, medical practitioners with the required expertise are not always available. We as a team have to become the experts!

Rota planning is probably the hardest thing to manage. The team need to take leave, sickness happens, Dad takes holidays too. I need to blend everything together so it appears seamless!

Ensuring everyone stays on top of training and providing suitable training packages is another hurdle. I use Flourish Learning: Click Learning – Flourish for online training and Southwest Training Solutions for in person First Aid and Manual Handling: Expert Home Health Care Training | Southwest Training Solutions

Everyday is a learning day but with managing our own team, we have greater control over everything and dad can live his best life because we have the best team ever!