The Career of a Nursing Home Manager

David Livingstone, Fidra House Manager, was a top 3 finalist for an Emerging Talent Scottish Care Home award. This award recognises individuals that have grown in their role to become a shining example of the care home workforce.

David was nominated for his outstanding achievement as the first registered social care worker promoted, in March 2023, to a Home Manager role in a Randolph Hill Nursing Home. This pioneering appointment marked a shift from traditional nurse-led management roles, and reflects David leveraging his strengths and his ability to step beyond conventional boundaries and embrace new challenges, opening possible future opportunities for others.

David’s commitment to personal and professional growth is evident by impressive qualifications and dedication to enhancing care for older people. From care assistant to Home Manager, his journey reflects adaptability and a drive to learn. He achieved his SVQ3 with Shining Star recognition, a Professional Development Award in Supervision, a First-Class Honours degree in Health and Social Care, and SVQ4.

The CI report highlights feedback that “management are good at listening and feeding back”, “they’ve been brilliant” and “I’m delighted with the care, they’ve transformed my life”.  Through effective listening and feedback, David ensures person-centred care is central, managing monthly staff and resident meetings, implementing resident feedback.

David has achieved strong levels of training where staff compliance in the Strategic Thinking online platform is at a high level at Fidra House. David also ensured that staff are qualified for professional registration by securing places at West Lothian College for SVQ courses. He leads by example by completing Open University learning modules himself.  David has achieved high levels of staff morale, training, and retention. With his own willingness to learn, staff feel too that they have clear training pathways and expectations for their job. Staff members feel listened to, stimulated, and valued.

David’s emerging talent and leadership has made a demonstrable difference at Fidra House, leading a team with exceptional resident, family, and staff engagement. His unique empathy, warmth, dedication, and proactive approach have all contributed to this success.