'Coronavirus Warrior' heading up red-alert battle plan across eight North Wales care homes

Julie Wood has been hailed as “Coronavirus Warrior” by Mario Kreft, the owner of Pendine Park which has eight care homes in Wrexham and Caernarfon, after she hit the ground running following her appointment.

In a matter of days she drew up a stringent blueprint to deal with every potential scenario as the company joins the rest of the country in facing up to the coronavirus emergency.

Immediately her strategy was agreed she went into action implementing a raft of new measures designed to give residents and staff extra protection in these exceptional circumstances.

The measures include an all-encompassing anti-infection control masterplan with deep cleans of all care homes, isolation zones in place and a doubling up of sanitisation routines for the protection of residents and carers.

Non-essential visits to Pendine Park premises are suspended and all visitors including staff returning from leave undertake health assessments.

Julie Wood

She is underpinning procurement processes to ensure there are back up procedures and alternative providers in place should the usual supply chain break down.

In the catering department a programme of steam cleans has been introduced of all food trolleys used to transport meals from the kitchens to residents’ dining rooms.

Julie said: “Every single time a food trolley goes out of the kitchen it will be steam cleaned at an isolated site before it goes back in the kitchen.

“We’re also taking all steps to be ready for any possible future food delivery shortages or potential shortfalls of other vital resources.

“We have bought new freezers, again steam cleaned before entering our kitchens, and chefs have agreed to a 24 hour work rota for as long as it takes to fill the freezers with food which will be ready to go should there be an unexpected lack of fresh ingredients.

“None of our residents will go without the essential nutrition, personal care and hygiene routines they need to stay healthy.”

The measures cover all Pendine Park sites, from its administrative and training HQ at Wrexham Technology Park to its combination of special needs and dementia residential care homes.

Mr Kreft and fellow directors have been “hugely impressed” by Julie’s dynamism and determination to get the company into the best possible position to fight the pandemic.

Business high-flyer, Julie, 55, was enticed out of retirement to join the senior management team at Pendine Park.

She was originally taken on as facilities manager, but her role was transformed overnight as the speed of the epidemic progressed and the nation’s overriding priority became to halt the spread of coronavirus. Julie consequently took on the mantle of emergency health and safety tsar.

Mr Kreft said: “Julie only joined us a few weeks ago but she has been a true inspiration, with exactly the experience and leadership qualities which organisations like ours need to get us through this unprecedented emergency.

“She is a reassuringly calm manager who does not panic but rigorously assesses all the official guidance and acts swiftly to deal with every new situation as it emerges.

“Staff have quickly realised they can turn to her for advice and clear direction in what are undoubtedly extremely worrying times for everyone within the care sector and beyond. She is a real Coronavirus Warrior.”

Julie previously helped shape the workplace environments of two of Britain’s most successful companies – HSBC and M&S Money.

At HSBC she was in major incident management, once leading a complex training exercise based on dealing with the aftermath of a chemical weapons scenario.

She joined Pendine Park after meeting Mario who immediately recognised that her breadth of experience and people management skills were "second to none".

A former top executive with M&S Money, Julie took early retirement last year, deciding to vacate the corporate world to be closer to home and family.

She said: “I loved my job, I thrived on the challenges but it involved a lot of travelling all around the UK.”

She added: “I still have lots of energy and ideas. I always hoped I’d find a way to put my vast experience and the key skills I learned in the financial sector to good use in a rewarding more community orientated role.

“But I truly never envisaged coming back and finding myself on the front-line of a crisis like this.

“Over the years I’ve learned to keep my head in an emergency. I believe you have to lead from the front, prevent panic and rally staff to work together to confront whatever they are facing head on.

“One of my tactics here has been to hold daily team talks to make sure everyone knows what the new measures are all about. I want the processes to be learned parrot fashion, to become automatic so people are not constantly looking for a piece of paper to tell them what to do next. Staff need to as soon as possible know how the situation is evolving and exactly what further steps they have to do to protect all our residents and themselves.

“It’s hugely important to be clear and decisive in our instructions and inform them of all the latest advice we are given as soon as we get it. There’s no point dithering about implementing measures. We have to act quickly and unhesitatingly.”

She also believes in a hands-on leadership approach: “If a department needs me to get stuck in with my gloves on and help clean an area then I’ll do it. There is no room for holding back in these situations and it’s important that I demonstrate to everyone that I am not just here to hand out orders but I’m also prepared to do myself everything that I tell them is necessary.”

She has been ‘bowled over’ by the selflessness of staff, their community minded approach and willingness to get on with new processes, heads down and uncomplaining.

She said: “What I have found in the short time since I joined Pendine Park is the extraordinary family ethos which stretches across the whole organisation. The loyalty of the staff to this company is unparalleled and something which has left me hugely impressed.”

Julie’s early career started in a very different field working as a holiday rep with Princess Cruises, Thompson Holidays and First Choice.

She says travelling the world helping holidaymakers with various issues they encounter on vacation honed her people management and communication skills.

She said: “You definitely had to think on your feet and have a head for crisis management. It was a busy time but gave me a solid grounding. I learned to stay calm while dealing with virtually any unexpected customer query that was thrown at me.

"Reflecting on it the ‘be ready for anything’ mentality I learned at my career outset has certainly come in useful now.”