30 September 2024: Poojita Patel has launched a Walfinch home care service in Eastbourne, determined to deliver the high-quality care she would have wished for her grandmother.

“As a teenager, I was helping my family care for my grandmum. We did our best but it was a struggle without professional support. It had a big impact on me,” says Poojita.

“I know what good quality care looks like – because I have seen both sides of the business as a carer myself,” she says.

After university and an MBA, she worked in hotel management, but was still drawn to care, she took a carer's job to better understand the care world. “After just three days of training and I was caring for clients on my own,” she says. “I did things the way I had seen them done but I soon realised that the training had not been enough and did not serve the clients’ needs very well.”  

Discovering high quality care

She left and joined another care company. “That's when I saw good care.  I had much longer, very thorough training with them.  It was a different world.
“There was time to build relationships with our clients. We'd cook together and laugh and I  was helping them enjoy life - and I enjoyed it too. I wished we had had care like that for my grandmum. It was then that I knew that the care sector was for me.”

Poojita chose to start her business as a franchisee in the Walfinch home care network. “Even though I have hotel management and care experience, I will get the support I need from Walfinch experts to ensure we deliver the kind of care I would want for my own family.”

Building trust

She adds: “We plan to make Walfinch Eastbourne into a respected local home care service that people know can be trusted to deliver the kind of care that they want for their loved ones.

“My experiences taught me that great care starts with properly trained carers. We want our carers to grow their careers with us, so  we will provide all the training they need to get as far as they want in their care careers.”

Walfinch Eastbourne will deliver home care services, with minimum one-hour visits, and is planning to expand locally and offer live-in care.