“It’s all about making our tenants feel safe and secure in their homes”.

If you should ever get the opportunity to speak with Elaine Darling on the subject of care and support for elderly or disabled people, it will surely strike you as it did me that she is utterly committed to this worthy cause.

Having taken up the post of regional manager for Blackwood’s west region back in September 2011, Elaine has unflinchingly committed herself to providing better service and care to Blackwood’s tenants ever since.

She left her employers of 16 years, Enabled Scotland, to pursue this ambition. The key to inspiring confidence, she tells me, is to continuously work closely with the tenants and carefully take on board what suggestions they make. Elaine is quite clear that trust is a major factor when “getting closer to the customers”. And she is adamant that Blackwood always deliver on its promises to ensure that customers always have confidence.

Since she became regional manager, Elaine has worked closely with some of the employees and carers as well. Those who have been with Blackwood for a long time are able to make the most of their experience and expertise to help with Blackwood’s business continuity.  

So how does Blackwood strive to give great service? The top tip, Elaine tells me, is to ensure scrupulously that the exacting standards of Blackwood are always upheld. In other respects, Blackwood has recently put in place an out of hours on-call system for all of its tenants to ensure that they are looked after in any circumstances and at any time of the day or night, “the West have had a few emergencies over the last few years and this new structured process will be invaluable”, she informs me, but with the help-line in place they now have a structure to deal with such emergencies.

Elaine is also very enthusiastic about Self Directed Support, which allows a person who requires assistance to choose for themselves how they would like their funding spent, and what type of support they need. “It’s great that people have a choice. It offers them more independence”.

Moving on a little, I asked Elaine what she thought would be the future of care in terms of technological advances. I’d barely got my sentence out when she answered firmly “telecare”. She also mentions mechanical arms that can feed a person who needs assistance with meals (as seen at Naidex Scotland a couple of months ago). When I ask her, she concedes that these designs, although brilliant, lack the human element in care, and may not be the best solution for every single person. “Of course you would work it out with the individual to see if it’s what’s best for them. And it will free up funds for them to buy other support”.

For all of her great work and commitment, Elaine makes a point of saying that she has a fantastic team to work with and says that “Blackwood is successful thanks to the hard work and dedication of its staff”. She concludes our chat by adding jokingly “oh! And west is best”.