Blue Crystal Care Agency

A Message from Lord Pickles and Lord Blunkett, followed by Blue Crystal Care Agency's best practice article

The ability to listen and learn from one another has always been vital in parliament, in business and in most aspects of daily life. But at this particular moment in time, as national and global events continue to reiterate, it is uncommonly crucial that we forge new channels of communication and reinforce existing ones. The following article from Blue Crystal Care Agency is an attempt to do just that. We would welcome your thoughts on this or any other Parliamentary Review article.

Rt Hon The Lord David Blunkett, MP

Rt Hon The Lord Eric Pickles, MP

bluecrystalcare.com

THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW

Highlighting best practice

42 | BLUE CRYSTAL CARE AGENCY

Director Latha

Kathirkamathamby

Personal and friendly

approach

Blue Crystal Care Agency are a specialised care provider

based in Harrow, north west London. Blue Crystal provide

a range of services including a residential home in Harrow

for adults with learning disabilities, as well as external care at

the homes of clients, hospitals and hospices. They also offer to

accompany clients to their appointments and other engagements.

Founder and Director Latha Kathirkamathamby explains how their

all-encompassing offerings help build their clients’ confidence,

while enabling them to be happier andhealthier.

My background is completely separate from care, having spent the previous 25

years in IT prior to setting up Blue Crystal Care. My last permanent IT Job was with

MTV as their European IT manager; however, my passion for helping people led me

to start a new phase in my career. I had experience in care, helping my parents and

siblings take care of my brother who had learning disabilities.

Helping my brother and his friends at his workplace gave me a fulfilling sense of

purpose, and it soon became clear that it was something I wanted to do later on in

life. I feel I have a lot of patience and I am able to understand people with different

needs, so it was a path that made sense.

Blue Crystal’s origins

The thought of starting a care agency came about when my neighbour began

having carers come to their house. We found the service they provided to be

FACTS ABOUT

BLUE CRYSTAL CARE AGENCY

»Director: Latha

Kathirkamathamby

»Founded in 2014

»Based in North Harrow

»No. of employees: 80

»Services: Residential and home

care agency

»bluecrystalcare.com

Blue Crystal Care

Agency

43BLUE CRYSTAL CARE AGENCY |

BEST PRACTICE REPRESENTATIVE 2019

highly unsatisfactory, as there was no

empathy shown towards my elderly

neighbour. As a result of the lack of

care being provided by the agency, I

stepped in and began looking after

my neighbour. Soon after, Blue Crystal

Care Agency was formed.

We provide 24-hour, 12-hour, six-

hour, live-in and emergency care for

our clients, and I personally spend a

number of hours with new clients so

that I can fully understand their needs.

In all circumstances, the care package

will be provided in accordance with the

client’s requirements.

I felt my team and I could make a

change in people’s lives by providing a

service whereby staff treat clients like

their own family members. Regardless

of their health challenges, by providing

them with love, care, dignity and

quality of life we help them to live

longer in their own environment. In

addition, we support the families and

friends of our clients to ensure they

are both happy with our service and

are able to cope with the condition

of their lovedones, especially those in

palliativecare.

Our services

We deal with a variety of clients who

have different care requirements. The

clients we provide care and support to

include those suffering with dementia

or challenging behaviour, those with

mental health issues, the terminally

ill and adults and children with

learningdisabilities.

We provide a complete range of care

services to ensure that we can work

around all our clients’ individual needs.

We provide care for clients who wish

to remain at home, while we also have

Rose Quartz Residential Home. Rose

Quartz is set up for supported living

for people with learning disabilities.

We teach them life skills so they can

manage some form of independence

and we often take on residents whose

parents have grown too old to care for

them at home.

Individuals with learning disabilities can

often feel like they are not part of the

community and can become isolated

as a result, while the public can also

find it difficult to engage with them.

Our aim is to help teach our clients life

skills that will allow them to become

more integrated into society and

become used to meeting other people.

To achieve this, our staff organise

external trips to leisure centres and

cafés so that they can engage with

the public while receiving the support

they require. We also provide all our

clients with the living accommodation

that suits their needs, while our staff

will teach them to cook, clean and

manage their finances. This increases

their levels of independence and

confidence and allows them to build

the skills that are needed to live alone

in the future.

Personalised approach

A key aspect of our philosophy is

providing a personal service to all our

clients. To ensure this, I take a very

Perfect match

We provide a

complete

range of care

services to

ensure that

we can work

around all our

clients’

individual

needs

“

THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW

Highlighting best practice

44 | BLUE CRYSTAL CARE AGENCY

hands-on approach. Through building

a personal relationship with each

client, I am able to gain an in-depth

understanding of their needs, while

a number of our clients come from

referrals, so it is vital they receive

the standard of care they expect.

My hands-on approach also allows

me to teach my staff how to deal

withclients.

We have very strong relationships with

hospitals, GPs, mental health services,

adult services and other health-related

organisations, and all our work comes

from referrals from existing clients and

health professionals.

We build relationships with clients

through attending appointments

with them, which helps us to reduce

their stress and ensure they are being

treated with dignity and respect.

Because of the approach of our care,

we get requests from other agencies

to help them lift their profile in

social care. Not only do we provide

care to clients, we also provide

consultancy service to other agencies

and individuals who want to set up a

careorganisation.

Looking forward

Blue Crystal Care Agency has a bright

future. We will continue to provide

the high-quality care that currently

exists, while remaining innovative in

our approach to both our external

and residential care. As our ethos

says: We care for your loved ones like

ourfamily.

Unlike other agencies we do not have

high turnover of staff, as we all work

as one unit. Providing clients with a

high standard of care, which gives

them dignity and fulfilment, remains

central to our ethos. Because of the

considerate and thoughtful staff we

have working with us, while continuing

to build our reputation.

We care for

your loved

ones like our

family

“

Three carers and

qualified caregivers

The Parliamentary Review Publication, in which this article originally appeared, contained the following foreword from the prime minister.

The Rt Hon Theresa May MP's Foreword For The Parliamentary Review

By The Rt Hon Theresa May MP

British politics provides ample material for analysis in the pages of The Parliamentary Review. For Her Majesty’s Government, our task in the year ahead is clear: to achieve the best Brexit deal for Britain and to carry on our work to build a more prosperous and united country – one that truly works for everyone.

The right Brexit deal will not be sufficient on its own to secure a more prosperous future for Britain. We also need to ensure that our economy is ready for what tomorrow will bring. Our Modern Industrial Strategy is our plan to do that. It means Government stepping up to secure the foundations of our productivity: providing an education system that delivers the skills our economy needs, improving school standards and transforming technical education; delivering infrastructure for growth; ensuring people have the homes they need in the places they want to live. It is all about taking action for the long-term that will pay dividends in the future.

But it also goes beyond that. Government, the private sector and academia working together as strategic partners achieve far more than we could separately. That is why we have set an ambitious goal of lifting UK public and private research and development investment to 2.4 per cent of GDP by 2027. It is why we are developing four Grand Challenges, the big drivers of social and economic change in the world today: harnessing artificial intelligence and the data revolution; leading in changes to the future of mobility; meeting the challenges of our ageing society; and driving ahead the revolution in clean growth. By focusing our efforts on making the most of these areas of enormous potential, we can develop new exports, grow new industries and create more good jobs in every part of our country.

Years of hard work and sacrifice from the British people have got our deficit down by over three quarters. We are building on this success by taking a balanced approach to public spending. We are continuing to deal with our debts, so that our economy can remain strong and we can protect people’s jobs, and at the same time we are investing in vital public services, like our NHS. We have set out plans to increase NHS funding annually by an average by 3.4 percent in real terms: that is £394 million a week more. In return, the NHS will produce a ten-year plan, led by doctors and nurses, to eliminate waste and improve patient care.

I believe that Britain can look to the future with confidence. We are leaving the EU and setting a new course for prosperity as a global trading nation. We have a Modern Industrial Strategy that is strengthening the foundations of our economy and helping us to seize the opportunities of the future. We are investing in the public services we all rely on and helping them to grow and improve. Building on our country’s great strengths – our world-class universities and researchers, our excellent services sector, our cutting edge manufacturers, our vibrant creative industries, our dedicated public servants – we can look towards a new decade that is ripe with possibility. The government I lead is doing all it can to make that brighter future a reality for everyone in our country.

British politics provides ample material for analysis in the pages of The Parliamentary Review

The Rt Hon Theresa May MP
Prime Minister