Rural care and Radfield Harrogate, Wetherby & North Yorkshire

So, I have told this story many times to people face to face but never put it down on paper. Essentially, it’s a short story of how Radfield Harrogate, Wetherby & North Yorkshire came to be. 

Back in 2017, I was the Clinical Locality Manager of the Ripon Community Care Team (made up of nurses and therapists). They were and still are an incredible team of people who were very kind in allowing me to think that I was their manager. 

My office was at the end of a long corridor and on the 1st floor of Ripon Hospital building. From my window, I could see Ripon and faintly between the rooftops, the countryside. 

One of the challenges that I became acutely aware of, was the shortage of home care services for the rural communities which put additional pressure on my team. Many times during team meetings or over hurried lunches I would chat with the team and someone would say “we should just set up a care agency”. 

This got me thinking…

Never one to shy away from a risk and an adventure, I decided that I would be that person who took a leap of faith and set up a home care company that could support our rural communities. 

So off I went. Leaving behind a clear career path and progression ladder with a manager’s salary and pension, and set off to initially (in my head) help the rural community patients receive care!

Quickly I discovered that the issue of providing care in rural communities was fairly complex, but in my head had one simple answer. Look after your staff. It sounds easy and really simple, but in an industry where travel time, at that point, was not commonly paid and mileage rates were low, where would I start?

First of all, I needed to decide whether I could set up independently and although setting up Nutting Health Service sounded fun (I have no idea what acronym I would use). I happened to discover Radfield Home Care. Not only did they have a manual and guidance I could use, but they also had the same ideas and beliefs that I did.

I then turned to the bank of Dad to look for investment and a finance director/joint owner. After a few other fiddly bits, Radfield Home Care Harrogate, Wetherby and North Yorkshire was born. 

We realised that if we paid Care Professionals whilst they were driving between clients, offered them guaranteed hours, training and a fair and competitive mileage rate, then they would come and work for us! We also discovered that if we are nice to them, kind and supportive, then not only will they come and work for us, they will stay!

So with our first few staff and some overzealous confidence, we set off into the wilderness known as Nidderdale. Five years later, with a slightly larger waist, a little less hair and a few more wrinkles, we are still here, doing our thing. Looking after staff and caring for the rural communities (plus a few others nowadays).

Discover award-winning home care in Harrogate, Wetherby & North Yorkshire

If you’d like to find out more about the award-winning home care services on offer, you can see more on our services page. Alternatively, if you’d like to join the Radfield family and make a difference to the lives of others, you can see all vacancies on our careers page.