Member Article

Leading North East dementia support specialist appoints new training coordinator

A leading provider of specialist care for people living with dementia in the North East has appointed a new dedicated training coordinator to its growing team.

Stuart McBean from Walker, Newcastle, has joined Dementia Matters to help develop and enhance the not-for-profit organisation’s internal training programmes for both new recruits and existing members of staff.

With over 18 years’ experience working in the care sector, Stuart started his career as a training manager with Executive Care. After being made redundant, Stuart retrained as an occupational health technician before moving back into adult social care as a care training manager for a residential care provider, responsible for 12 nursing homes and sheltered accommodation complexes across Scotland, where he has spent the last four years of his working life.

Moving home to his native North East, Stuart has already hit the ground running in his new role at Dementia Matters, helping to implement a software programme that he co-developed which monitors the validity of staff’s training through a colour-coded traffic light system. Against each training module, the system records if an employee is up to date with their training in green, needs to refresh their training within two months in yellow, or requires training immediately in red.

The implementation of this new system is actively helping to modernise Dementia Matters’ current e-learning system and will enable the charity to tailor classroom-based training sessions to employee’s unique requirements.

“I am delighted to have joined the team at Dementia Matters,” Stuart said.

“It’s a really exciting time for the charity having just gone through a full rebrand, a lot of change is taking place and we want this to be reflected within our internal processes too.

“In the healthcare industry, there is always something new to learn as standards are updated and new research is conducted. In my new role, I will be responsible for ensuring that all staff, from new recruits through to experienced carers have received the most up to date training to enable them to carry out their duties safely and effectively.”

In his spare time, Stuart volunteers for the Army Cadet Force. As the senior sergeant major for all of the battalions across Scotland, Stuart is responsible for all first aid and medical support and managing the safe training of over 8,000 young cadets and 3,000 adult volunteers in first aid.

Through his role with the Army Cadet Force and supported by Dementia Matters, Stuart is also currently studying towards a postgraduate degree-equivalent qualification in leadership management.

“We are thrilled to have Stuart on board,” Dr Fraser Quin, chief executive at Dementia Matters added.

“His years of experience as a training manager within the care industry will be invaluable as we work towards streamlining our current operations and further establishing our Dementia Matters Academy provision for people looking to start a career in adult social care.”

Dementia Matters provides a range of services from its purpose-built centre in Newcastle including residential, respite and 24-hour home care to people living with dementia, as well as practical support for carers and family members.

Launched in 2018, the Dementia Matters Academy provides four-week long intense training courses covering all of the fundamentals of basic care as well as some specialist skills relevant to Dementia Matters’ field of expertise, such as bed bathing, skin integrity, catheter management and how to communicate effectively with people living with dementia.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Fusion PR .