“I want those who are disadvantaged to get the best care and equal opportunities.” | Bruce Maclaren, Service Manager

We caught up with Bruce Maclaren, who recently joined the Northern Healthcare team as Service Manager at Kirk House. 

What attracted you to apply to join the Northern Healthcare team?

“Northern Healthcare actually reached out to me on LinkedIn! I went along for an interview where I got a really good feel for the organisation. I then met Tracy at Glen Garth House, and the service set-up really appealed to me. The passion and values of the team really shone through. Overall, I felt a really positive atmosphere at Northern Healthcare, which led me to accept the offer of Service Manager for Kirk House without hesitation.”

What made you want to work in mental health?

“I find people fascinating, and I have always been keen to work with people, in particular making sure that those who are disadvantaged get the best care, equal opportunities and are fulfilling their roles in society. I have a background in Learning Disabilities, and I am passionate about proactively helping people to move forward and achieve their goals.”

What are the main responsibilities of your role?

“The main responsibilities of my role include overseeing the management of the service, recruiting and training staff, working with stakeholders and commissioners to build strong and positive relationships, and most importantly, supporting residents to ensure all their needs are met and they are safe and happy.”

What are you most excited to see within the service?

“I am most excited to see our residents build independence through the support and activities provided. I aim to create a community atmosphere as this is something that really stood out to me from other Northern Healthcare services, and I am excited to see how that develops over time. We also have a lot of communal space that I am excited to see come to life and develop into activity rooms that match the needs and interests of our residents.”

What activities are you looking forward to supporting residents with?

“I am looking forward to working with residents to build on the things that they enjoy, and supporting them with activities out in the community based on their interests, whether that’s walking, arts and crafts, cinema trips, museum visits etc. I am looking forward to working with my team to ensure that our residents needs are always met and seeing them flourish.”

How have you engaged with the local community?

“Currently, my team and I are visiting community centres, shops and local amenities in the area, letting them know about Kirk House and what we do, and starting to build those relationships. We hope that we will be able to work together with these services to engage residents in the local community. We are also looking for community events that are taking place based on our residents’ interests, so that we can facilitate the residents engaging in activities they enjoy.”

Photo by Katherine Hood on Unsplash.