THE owner and manager of a home health care service has said it would be 'something special' if she was to win a Worcestershire Health and Social Care Award after receiving a nomination.

Norah Chiutare is the owner of the Social Care Academy, an Evesham-based domiciliary care provider providing care to people in their own homes across Worcestershire.

Norah has been nominated for the the Domiciliary Care Worker award by Samantha Scarpellini. Samantha said: "During the pandemic, Norah worked hard, going above ad beyond what was expected of her. She ensured everyone had the care they needed and developed a strategy and contingency plan to prevent people going without care when her staffing levels were low due to Covid.

Norah also took on new clients when other care agencies struggled to provide care in emergency situations.

"Norah is resilient and tough as well as caring and kind and she deserves to be awarded the Domiciliary Care Worker award."

42-year-old Norah, who lives in Coventry, founded the Social Care Academy in 2016, after gaining years of experience working in the care industry.

Norah thanked Samantha for the nomination and explained how her company adapted during the pandemic: "It’s unbelievable to be nominated,"she said.

"We've started building bubble teams in our different areas for our different clients and these teams consists of carers and a team leader, and these teams were established so they don’t cross over to the other teams in case there was an outbreak, and we also have many Covid monitoring systems in place.

"The staff have all been amazing and I have exceptional team leaders and we all work well in partnership and care for amazing clients as well. The staff are at the centre of it all ensuring that all clients are safe and cared for.

"Without the staff, there is no Social Care Academy.

On getting into care, Norah said:"I've always been a caring person and I wanted to help people and vulnerable people in the community, and also make that contribution to someone's quality of life.

"It would really be something special to win, and special for our organisation and my colleagues and also the people we support as well."

Voting closes on April 2 and our panel of judges will choose the finalists, who will be featured in our titles.

Winners will be announced at a virtual awards ceremony on May 27.

To nominate someone or a team for the awards, fill out a nomination form.