Emma Dennis from Palmerstown named as Care Coordinator of the Year at inaugural HCCI Home Care Awards

Emma Dennis, a 31 year old Care Coordinator from Palmerstown, has been named as Care Coordinator of the Year at the inaugural Home and Community Care Ireland (HCCI) Home Care awards.

Emma, who works as a care coordinator with Bluebird Care, Dublin South-East and Wicklow, was announced as the winner at an awards event in the Shelbourne hotel,  yesterday.

A panel of independent judges – TV presenter & designer, Brendan Courtney; Professor Thomas Kearns, Executive Director, Faculty of Nursing & Midwifery, RCSI; Katie Sloan, CEO Leading Age, USA and Sandra Tuohy, Assistant National Director, Operations and Services for Older People HSE – chose Emma as the winner.

According to the judges Emma went way beyond what would be expected of anybody, moving across the country to help out in other offices. “There is nothing Emma wouldn’t do to make sure there is a carer in the right place. She is such a worthy winner.”

Dermot Clancy, CEO, OneTouch said, “We are delighted to be sponsoring the inaugural Care Coordinator award. Care Coordinators play a vital role in the delivery of care and it’s great to see them being honoured through these awards. The team at OneTouch would like to congratulate Emma on being selected by the judges as this year’s worthy winner.”

Keith Gill, Director of Health Care Insurance, First Ireland said, “We are delighted to support the inaugural HCCI Home Care awards. HCCI members and their teams of carers, coordinators, managers and nurses have been on the frontline during the pandemic and have given so much to their clients and communities. They wholeheartedly deserve this recognition. Congratulations to all nominees and award winners and thank you for all you have done. We wish HCCI members and their teams all the best in the coming months.”

Joseph Musgrave, CEO, HCCI which is the representative body for home care providers and advocates for home care services to be made available to all on a statutory basis, said, “Heartfelt congratulations to Emma Dennis of Bluebird Care on winning Care Coordinator of the Year. We are very lucky to have people like Emma working in homecare. Her dedication and commitment makes a real difference to care clients and her colleagues and she should be very proud of her achievement.”

“2021 is a fitting year for HCCI to launch the inaugural Home Care Awards, a time when homecare providers and carers should be recognised and commended for their inspiring response to Covid-19. Homecare has been a vital resource for our most vulnerable in society, particularly since the onset of the pandemic.  Our members and their teams have demonstrated outstanding commitment, care excellence and exceptional service to their clients. The HCCI Home Care awards celebrate and highlight this wonderful and vital work that enables the most vulnerable to stay in the safety and comfort of home.  This safety and resilience is demonstrated by the fact that covid infections never rose above 1% among our members’ 20,000 clients.”

“I would like to sincerely thank our event sponsor First Ireland whose support made this ceremony possible, as well as HaloCare, OneTouch and RCSI Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery for their sponsorship of individual awards. We are also very grateful to our independent judges – Sandra Tuohy, Katie Sloan, Brendan Courtney and Professor Thomas Kearns for their time and expertise. And thank you to all our members who nominated team members for these inaugural awards.”

Other award winners announced during the event were sisters Lauren and Chloe Kelly, Connected Health, Derry, Carers of the Year (award sponsor HaloCare); Geraldine Tabb, Right at Home, Dublin, Kildare and Wicklow, Nurse of the Year (award sponsor RCSI Faculty of Nursing & Midwifery) and Christina Mooney of InisCare, Dublin, Care Manager of the Year. HCCI also recognised its late member Geraldine Casserly of Westcare Homecare who tragically died from Covid earlier this year with the Lifetime Achievement award (sponsored by First Ireland Insurance Brokers). Joseph said that Geraldine made a commitment to care through becoming a nurse and then through her commitment to homecare as well as to her local community through her business Westcare homecare. “There is no one more worthy of this inaugural Lifetime Achievement award,” he concluded.

Her husband Seamus accepted the award along with his son Conor and daughter Samantha saying that Geraldine was “a beacon of care, a shining light. She had the natural ability to treat all clients with compassion, respect and dignity and offered comfort and solace to all her clients and their families during their darkest times. Geraldine was dedicated to giving the highest standard of care and was truly at her happiest when helping others.”