Suria Webb, Operations Manager at Country Court Care has been involved in the Lincolnshire Care Association (LinCA) for many years and has recently been invited to join the board of Directors where she will be supporting the team with her clinical knowledge and expertise. She will formally take up her post at the next LinCA AGM. LinCA is managed by a voluntary Board of Directors appointed by its members, drawn from large and small organisations as well as individual professionals.
“As a key provider of adult residential and nursing care in Lincolnshire, Country Court Care has provided a LinCA board member for a number of years. We are delighted to welcome Suria, who brings a wealth of nursing experience and wisdom, as well as a positive, collaborative approach to challenges”. Said Melanie Weatherley, Chair of Lincolnshire Care Association.
Suria is one of Country Court Care’s longest-serving employees, having started working at Ashwood Nursing Home in 1998 as a night nurse with just one shift per week. Suria never imagined from a modest start at Country Court Care, she would one day be Home Manager and from there go on to be an Operations Manager for the care home group.
At the outset of her career, having completed her training as a theatre nurse in 1977, Suria planned to return to her family in Malaysia but found herself staying in the UK. As a top student at Colchester Hospital in Essex, she specialised in orthopedic surgery and worked for the Orsett Trust, gaining a wealth of clinical knowledge as an NHS theatre nurse. She continued to gain experience as a theatre nurse under a leading private consultant specialising in hip operations at the Nuffield Trust.
Suria met and married her husband of 34 years in 1986 and together they lived in various parts of the UK before settling in Lincolnshire. They have two children and Suria is now enjoying being a grandmother too. Suria originally came to Lincolnshire when she was pregnant with her first child and still working for the NHS. On her return to work following maternity leave she went to work at the Pilgrim Hospital in Boston and later at Grantham Hospital. She was travelling a long way to work each day and eventually, a friend suggested working in a local care home instead.
After some persuasion, Suria’s career turned to focus on nursing in care homes. She joined Ashwood Nursing Home in 1998 where Country Court Care founder, Abdul Kachra was a silent partner at the time. With support from the Kachra family, Suria was persuaded to stay at the care home and take on the Home Manager role when it became part of the Country Court Care group in 1990. In turn, Suria mentored Abdul’s son Alykhan when he joined the family business in 2005, teaching him about managing a care home and caring for residents.
“Alykhan is like a second son to me,” explains Suria “he’s been so very kind and supportive over the years, the whole family has encouraged me in my career at Country Court Care. I haven’t always felt confident about taking on more senior positions in the company, but everyone has always been there to support and encourage me”.
Now Managing Director at Country Court Care, Alykhan said “Suria is part of the family now. Her clinical background and wealth of experience has been invaluable to me personally and the company over the years. I’m delighted that such a loyal and dedicated member of our team is taking on a new challenge with LinCA and I’m very happy to support her in her new role.”
After working as a Home Manager for ten years, Suria was promoted to Area Manager in 2008, when Country Court Care began to expand and open new care homes. The company’s policy was to take on homes that were in difficulties and turn them around, for which Suria’s wealth of experience and clinical knowledge proved to be a great asset. She was tasked with developing the care teams at the new care homes and bringing them up to standard and after a period was once again promoted, this time to Operations Manager. In this role, she shares best practices and mentors Home Managers and care teams in Country Court Care Homes across Lincolnshire.
LinCA represents the interests of care and support providers within the independent and voluntary sectors in Lincolnshire. With the support of Alykhan Kachra, Suria will be leading training workshops, serving on committees and supporting the management of the affairs at the association. The intention of LinCA is to support providers to ensure that there is a sustainable choice of quality care services within Lincolnshire. LinCA does this by providing accessible information, advice, support and development opportunities to care providers to enable them to respond to changing needs through the provision of innovative quality services. It also works with other agencies and organisations as part of the whole systems improvement in Lincolnshire.
Suria’s appointment as a Director starts a new chapter in her career, one which both she and LinCA are excited to see develop over the coming years.
Want to know more about nursing in a care home? Contact recruitment@countrycourtcare.com or see our current vacancies here>
