Some things run in the family – and for one Angus mother-and-daughter duo, that includes working together at Balhousie Lisden.
For Home Manager, Agnes Oliphant, it’s her third time working at the Kirriemuir care home, having first joined as a carer over twenty years ago, in 2000. She left a year later but returned in 2016 before going to university to complete her nursing degree.
Last year, however, she made her return to where it all began as Deputy Manager, before being promoted to fully manage the home soon after.
Not only has Agnes returned to the home where she took her first steps into a care career, however, she is joined at the home by her daughter, Robyn.
Like her mum, Robyn started out as a carer before leaving to complete a nursing course. She then returned, and is now the home’s Clinical Lead Nurse.
“It feels like home,” Agnes said, explaining why she was so eager to return to Lisden. “There is such a nice feeling when you walk through the door. When I came for my interview for the Deputy Manager post last year, it just felt right. When you’ve got that passion for a place, it makes a big difference.
“It’s very welcoming and homely and there’s a real family feel. It may sound cliché to call it the ‘Lisden family’ but a lot of us have known each other for a very long time. I’ve never worked anywhere where there’s the same sense of pulling together.
“I think it helps that we are literally family. Even though when I’m here, I’m here as the Home Manager, it means we’ve got something shared.”
In the past, the pair have also been joined by Agnes’ younger daughter and Robyn’s sister Anna, who is now a qualified paediatric nurse.
With Agnes keeping Lisden – which was Balhousie Care Group’s first home when it opened in 1991 – ship-shape as Home Manager and Robyn leading the clinical aspect, the pair’s skillsets dovetail perfectly.
Despite their success, a career in care wasn’t always on the cards.
“I never wanted to be a nurse,” says Robyn. “I didn’t know what I wanted to do after I finished my English degree and I came here as a carer. I think I only worked for about nine months as a carer – but I was doing six or seven shifts a week! There was a running joke that if there was ever a shift going, Robyn would do it.
“I do feel like it was meant to be,” Robyn added. “It was the first job I’d had where I wasn’t watching the clock desperate to go home. It was the first time I’d enjoyed my days at work.
“I like being a nurse, I like the clinical side and being out on the floor, whereas mum is good at the management and people-side of things. I don’t really want to be in the hotseat, but we’ve always worked well together. We don’t even need to speak – we just know what the other needs us to do.
“We both have the aim of making the home as good as it possibly can be, so we’re working together to the same goals. I can’t imagine doing this job with anyone else.”
Being local to Kirriemuir, Agnes and Robyn have known many of the residents and families for decades. Having a personal connection, Agnes believes, gives everyone extra peace of mind.
“When you’re local there’s an extra layer of passion, because we know a lot of the residents and a lot of the families,” she added. “There are people living here who I’ve known for most of my life and I believe that connection makes a big difference. It creates a lot of trust, and rightly so.”
Having built the trust of residents, families and the community, Agnes and Robyn look set to continue at the helm for years to come.
