Local caregiver Eddie Stoker has been named as Care Professional of the Year 2019 in recognition of his outstanding services to the home care sector.

Having worked for Home Instead for only 18 months, Eddie was singled out as a fantastic Care Professional by an inspector from the Care Quality Commission, the care sector’s independent regulatory body. While visiting Home Instead South East Northumberland, the inspector remarked to company director Guy Kirk, “We need more Eddies!”

This sentiment is echoed by Eddie’s clients, for whom he routinely goes above and beyond

Eddie spent his first Christmas at Home Instead supporting a father, aged just 42, who was paralysed in an accident whilst on holiday. The client desperately wanted to spend Christmas day with his family, and so Eddie attended specialist training to support the man to be with his wife and two boys. Supported by Eddie’s positivity, this client is now re-establishing some mobility and is almost walking again.

On the same day, Eddie also prepared a full Christmas dinner for another client who he knew would have otherwise received no visitors.

From completing dementia training, teaching clients to play drafts, helping clients to set up gardens to learning reflexology techniques to massage his paralysed client’s feet, Eddie lives the deeply caring, family values and ethos of the company he works for.

“Nobody could be more deserving of the Care Professional of the Year title than Eddie,” said Guy, who put Eddie forward for the award, “He is a shining example. Preparing for his appraisal he wrote ‘Every client is different with their own needs, wishes and beliefs. My purpose is to provide privacy, care and support with dignity, promote independence, be punctual, promote wellbeing, be trustworthy, build a relationship with every client, be kind and compassionate and always respect a client’s wishes’. For Eddie these are not just words, he embodies these values and he always manages to get the best out of his clients.”