24 November 2006

‘With patient care, it’s the little things that go a long way to improve wellbeing,’ says Emmanuel Idowu. ‘That might mean installing someone’s doorbell or just checking that their hospital appointment has been booked.’

As Community Matron at Barking and Dagenham NHS Trust, Emmanuel coordinates the care packages for adults with long-term conditions living at home. ‘I’m the first point of contact if a patient has a problem or query,’ he says. ‘The aim is to keep people out of hospital and get them back into the community to improve their health.’

As well as liaising with patients, Emmanuel’s job involves coordinating nurses and health care workers to visit patients at home. He describes his management style as democratic and likes to involve people in decision making.

‘There’s a case conference to bring together all the staff involved with that patient,’ he says. ‘Those staff deliver 90% of their care, so they know what’s best for them. I let them decide if the patient is fit to go home, or what specialist medical equipment they need, then I back their decision.’

Emmanuel has been in the job since October 2005. The role itself is new, created nationally just two years ago. Not surprisingly then, the kinks are still being ironed out, and he feels that the way his department works with Social Services could be improved.

‘At the moment, they’re too disjointed,’ he says ‘and ultimately it’s the patient who suffers.’
Emmanuel joined ILM in 2003 as part of his continuous improvement, and has attended some invaluable member events. ‘One in particular was on asset management,’ he says. ‘It helped me realise that if a manager doesn’t pay attention to the various needs of his staff there’s an increase in absenteeism.
‘Before the event, I didn’t usually find out why people were absent. Now, I look into it to see if it’s systemic, or if I need to address it.’ The member event also helped him develop a one-to-one approach to discovering staff needs.

‘I’m proud to tell colleagues I’m an ILM member - it shows an extra level of commitment’, he says. ‘I’d like my next move to be as Director of Nursing or Director of Operations of an NHS Trust. It’s a question of looking for the right opportunity. No doubt ILM will help me achieve my aim.’