Banker swaps his career for home care after seeing his mum receive 'appalling' care

A banker has left his career in finance and set up a home care company after seeing his mother who had dementia receive ‘appalling’ care.

Mark Collier launched Heritage Healthcare at Trinity House in Sale along with his son Michael.

The pair are determined to raise the standards in home care and believe one way of doing this is by paying staff the Living Wage.

“The care my mum and dad received was appalling,” said Mr Collier. “Carers didn’t turn up on time and the standard was very low.

“I just thought: ‘you know what; I can do this better’. Live-in care is going to become more popular.

“People don’t want to go into residential homes. My mother ended up in one. I’d visit and she would be wearing odd socks. You walk in and it breaks your heart.

“Our ethos is very much a real tailored service. If it’s Mrs Smith’s birthday, for instance, then on her birthday we will get her a cake.”

One of his employees, Sandra Owen, is also passionate about improving the care people receive.

She said: “I was working for an agency and I was disgusted with the care people were getting. You had care workers cutting corners and not doing half of the tasks.

“I took the job with Heritage because they seemed to be so passionate and so honest about wanting to get care done properly.”

Heritage plans to use live data to respond immediately to people’s concerns.

Mr Collier also wants to ensure people get on with their home care workers and that they are compatible.

“There’s no point in a service user not having continuity, especially if they have dementia. You need the service user and the care worker to develop a good relationship. Care workers will be matched to a suitable user to ensure friendship flourishes.”

He added: “It’s a privilege for us to go into people’s homes. We’re not selling care; we’re selling trust, first and foremost.”

click here for more details or to contact Beloved Homecare