Homecare Manager is finalist in Great British Care Awards

The manager of a homecare provider has been honoured in awards which celebrate excellence across the care sector.

Dan Stainer, the registered manager of the Lancaster and Morecambe branch of Westmorland Homecare, was a finalist in the Home Care Registered Manager category at the North West Great British Care Awards.

The awards ceremony was held at the prestigious five-star Kimpton Clocktower Hotel in Manchester and Dan was supported on the night by a team of Westmorland Homecare’s directors and staff and managers from its branches at Lancaster and Morecambe, South Lakeland, Poulton, Fylde and Wyre and Preston.

“Although I did not win, it did not dampen our spirits on the night and it was a great opportunity for a good team-building exercise,” said Dan. “It emphasised that we are a work family and not just colleagues, with people willing to give up their weekend and family life to support each other.

“It also gave us an opportunity to recognise all the excellence in the health and social care sector across the North West.”

Dan, 34, who lives in Lancaster, was born and grew up in Hest Bank and attended Ripley St Thomas’s School. After a Business Management degree at Lancaster University, he worked at Beaumont College just outside Lancaster as a human resources administrator.

He then undertook a Level 7 degree with the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development at the University of Central Lancashire. He worked for the charity Scope and became a regional human resources manager supporting 1,600 staff in different colleges, schools and care settings. He later worked for Salutem Care and Education in human resources and recruitment after it bought out the services from Scope.

During the Covid pandemic Dan started working for Westmorland Homecare at its South Lakeland branch, which has offices in Kendal and Grange-over-Sands, and became its deputy manager before moving to the Lancaster and Morecambe branch as manager.

Dan is currently studying for a Level 5 qualification and doing an apprenticeship, both in Leadership and Management in Care, at Lancaster and Morecambe College.

Dan’s nomination as a finalist in the North West Great British Care Awards comes on the back of the Lancaster and Morecambe branch winning the Professional Services category in the recent Love Lancaster Business Awards.

The Love Lancaster Business Awards, which are run by Lancaster Business Improvement District (BID) in partnership with Holdens Law, are open to all businesses in the Lancaster city centre area and attracted 1,516 nominations across 15 categories.

Last year the Lancaster and Morecambe branch of Westmorland Homecare received an overall ‘outstanding’ rating by the Care Quality Commission, the independent regulator of health and social care services in England. That rating has recently been extended for another 12 months.

The branch was also named Best Care Provider in the area in 2022 by Lancaster City Council.

Outside work, Dan and his partner are foster parents.

He said: “I also have a mini farm in Lancaster and we have three horses, nine sheep, four dogs, two cats, loads of ducks and chickens and a parrot. It’s an absolute menagerie at home!”

Westmorland Homecare provides hundreds of hours of care each week to enable vulnerable and often frail people over the age of 18 to live independently in their own home.

Its services include home care, such as help with housekeeping and meal preparation, and personal care, such as help with medication, dressing, bathing and living their life to the full.

The Lancaster and Morecambe branch employs more than 70 staff, including 60 homecare assistants. It operates in the Lancaster, Morecambe and surrounding areas, including Bolton-le-Sands and Carnforth.