Connected Health GB is planning major expansion across North West England over the next 12 months with career care professional Phil Tattersall at the helm as Operations Manager.
Phil is well known in Liverpool for his explosive energy, dogged determination and organisational skills on the rugby field with St Mary’s RFC in Crosby – and those attributes are already showing in his leadership of the fast-growing domiciliary care company.
Having joined the team in July, Phil has set about expanding the management team, as he lays the foundations for strong and sustainable growth throughout Great Britain.
“My role is to manage, grow and develop the Connected Health Group across Great Britain. Connected Health has really good practice in Ireland and we are now replicating that here. As it stands, we are focussed on very clear short-term and long-term goals. In the short term, it’s about restructuring the business, which has grown quite quickly here but needs fine tuning to recreate the successes in Ireland that have resulted from the tremendous work of Lorrain Corr [Director of Care] and the team there.
“In the longer term, we will scale up the operation to cover a much wider area – firstly here in the North West and then by making our way through the country.”
Phil is currently bolstering the team at Connected Health by bringing in highly experienced operators with vast experience in leading care teams.
“Some great work has been done up until now, but much remains to be done as we continue to grow the business. Now we’re making sure we create a real solid infrastructure on which we can build steadily in the coming months and years.
“In the last number of weeks, we’ve been delighted to welcome several new management team members such as the vastly experienced Nicola Ikin, who we are delighted to have on board.”
Since Phil’s arrival at the helm, 22 new staff have joined the tight-knit care teams covering Sefton, Liverpool, St Helens and Southport.
“Currently we have 55 staff delivering 1700 hours of care. We plan to take on another 20 care workers in the North West before the end of the year, increasing hours from 1700 to 2000. We aim to add another 1000 hours in 2021 while moving operations into other areas including The Wirral, Cheshire West, Cheshire East and further afield.
Phil, who whose career in care and care management spans 14 years, has described the approach of Connected Health as “unique and refreshing”.
“I believe that anyone can achieve anything they want if they put their mind to it. Most of our clients are in their later years, but that doesn’t mean they can’t learn new skills, enjoy new things – we like to encourage them to live life to the full and on their terms. It’s our job to be creative with the hours of care we deliver in order to help give our client the most improved quality of life we possibly can. Our care teams are there to give clients these options and to think outside the box in their roles – to tailor the service to the needs of those we care for.
“That encouragement to think outside the box is what I love about the ethos at Connected Health, and it runs throughout the organisation. The professionalism in the organisation is on a different level and the constant drive to innovate is really impressive. Comments from our CEO really struck home with me when he said: ‘We used to be a care company that delivered technology, we are now a technology company that delivers care.”
“We are disrupting the health and social care sector in a number of ways. We have really impressive technology and innovative ideas and it is very exciting for the sector. We’re also opening shop fronts in shopping centres to ensure we are embedded in local communities. People can come in and enquire about services and have the peace of mind that support is always there in the heart of the community when they need it.”
When he’s not driving Connected Health GB forward, Phil can be found playing rugby and enjoying life with his wife Jodie and daughter Grace in his hometown of Formby.
Classically trained as a chef when he was teenager, he also like to whip up some culinary delights in the kitchen when he gets a chance.
Having become fed up “smelling of fish and onions” working as a chef and later as a golf club restaurant manager (at just 17), Phil flirted with the idea of joining the Royal Marines before, almost accidently, finding his true calling in care.
“I had decided to sign up with the Royal Marines when my friend’s dad asked me to join them as a care worker at Trimar Care in Liverpool. It was something I knew nothing about, but I accepted the opportunity and never looked back. I started working with complex clients very early on and found the role enjoyable and very rewarding, although far from easy. I quickly moved into a senior care role and then into management.
Trimar Care was then bought out by Aspirations Care in 2011 and within 4 years Phil had moved steadily up the senior management ranks to Operations Manager.
He remained in a senior management role with Aspirations Care before joining Connected Health GB in 2020.