Our Assistive Technology Officer, Andrew

Andrew Maguire is an Assistive Technology Officer at Longhurst Group.

Here, we spend a day with Andrew to see what his job entails…

8.45am – I get into my office in Uppingham and log on to check my emails and diary for the day ahead. I’ve got a private lifeline installation at 10am in Higham Ferrers, so I get all the necessary paperwork ready and, more importantly, the equipment that I’ll need for the installation before setting off.

10am – I arrive at the customer’s home and put on my PPE and introduce myself. The customer’s expecting me. Although he knows the basics of the lifeline service, I carefully go through all aspects of the equipment, costs and the service he can expect us to deliver to him, especially in an emergency situation. The customer feels vulnerable at times. He believes our lifeline service will give him the reassurance that help can easily be summoned in an emergency and gives me permission to install the equipment. After completing the necessary admin, I install the lifeline and complete a test call to ensure everything is working. I let him know that we’ll call him in six weeks to make sure he’s happy with our service.

11.30am – I arrive back in the office and complete all the follow-up admin work and check my emails.

12pm – It’s time for a bite to eat.

1pm ­– I quickly check my emails again and then get ready for my next appointment, in Ryhall. I read through the referral to the Assistive Technology Team to help with this.

1.50pm – I arrive at the customer’s home and again put on my PPE before introducing myself. The customer’s a little anxious about my visit, so I spend a little time reassuring him that I’m here to help where I can and from what was highlighted on his referral form I feel there could be several avenues we can explore. Once all relaxed, I explain to him and his wife that I’ve received the referral to our service from the Rutland Community Wellbeing Service and then proceed, with their permission, to complete a comprehensive assessment with the aim to establish areas of their life where we can assist them with the aid of assistive technology. The main concern identified is that as he suffers from epilepsy and at times will be at home by himself, he needs a way of raising the alarm. I’ve a few options to explore and advise that a temporary measure would be to have a fall detector installed until we identify and supply the appropriate epilepsy sensor. This is agreed and a lifeline and fall detector are installed.

3.30pm – I arrive back in the office and again complete the follow-up admin work from my visit. I then start to research suitable epilepsy sensors and email them to the customer for him to decide which is best for him.

4pm – Time for a final check of the emails and returning calls. I also work through the new referrals that’ve come into the team before finishing at about 5pm.