Friday 1 November 2013

Suzan Collins.

Interview with Suzan Collins


My guest this evening is a multi-talented lady who balances her day job of running SPC Consultancy, a health and social care advisory company, with being the writer of a number of related books. Her latest book Beyond My Control: Why The Health And Social Care System Need Not Have Failed My Mother, is published on Nov 1st.


Suzan, you’ve worked in the four main care sectors for more than 30 years now. What convinced you to make it your career and start SPC nearly 10 years ago?

Gosh, has it been that long?
Throughout my career I have had some great posts from being an Officer with Social Services to being a Manager of care homes for adults with learning disabilities and behaviours that challenged the service. These were homes in the NHS, Voluntary and Private sectors.
After managing various services and meeting the government standards 100% compliance I went to other homes to trouble shoot and raise standards and after this I delivered some training across the country. There were many things with each post that I thoroughly enjoyed and took these to start SPC Consultancy.



Your experience in the various care sectors is fascinating. Which did you find the more challenging, and which one was most in need of your consulting services?

Helping you at the Crossroads of Elder CareI have enjoyed working for the four sectors and continue to do so. They all have their merits.



Which do you prefer, actually being involved in hands-on care, or advising and helping others ensure care is provided appropriately and correctly?

Both! I like the hands-on and I also like delivering training to staff to provide best practice. I also enjoy going into care homes and carrying out audits to see if the homes meet the requirements of the essential standards of quality and safety. If they don’t then I suggest ways of meeting them or work with them to meet them.



Local Authority care and to some extent that provided by the NHS has had some unfortunate press of late. In your experience is this warranted?

There are a great number of staff who do a fantastic job, despite working under a lot of pressure. Unfortunately there are some staff, for various reasons, who do not or who are unable to do a good job. I believe training and support is vital for all staff. ….



Can you tell me about your upcoming book Beyond My Control, Suzan, and what made you decide to write it?

Beyond My Control is a book about my late mum having an accident in the nursing home and being admitted to hospital with two fractures, one on one leg and one on the other side. I was astounded to see the poor care my late mother experienced. My mother developed a grade 4 pressure sore whilst in the hospital. She was admitted with two fractures and died from blood poisoning. I wrote the book to tell the story but also to inform readers on what they can do if they have a relative receiving care that is poor.
I share my story from my personal and professional perspectives and looks ahead to how we can all contribute to keeping vulnerable people in health and social care system safe from harm.


Many thanks for joining me tonight, Suzan. I’m really looking forward to reading your book after it’s released on 1st November.

Thank you, Richard, I have enjoyed it.



Where you can find Suzan’s books:


You can find out much more about Suzan and her excellent work on the following: www.spcconsultancy.com


Twitter: @suzancollins


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