"What I love about this job is that I regularly go home knowing that we did good that day, and kept a person well,” according to Ann Conlon, Healthcare Assistant, Rehab and Recovery, Longford Westmeath Mental Health Services. Reflecting on her work, Ann explains that they have approximately 58 clients “on our books here in Mullingar. We have clients with long term mental illness. That would include conditions like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. They wouldn’t always need help but they would need input to make sure they’re doing good.”

Eamon Moynihan, Interim Director of Nursing, Longford Westmeath Rehab and Recovery Services, stresses how “the Healthcare Assistants are a very important part of the team. They’re very much mental health support workers - supporting the nurse in areas including physical observations and personal care. But they also help across the board, engaging with people in meaningful activities.”

Working in her current role since 2016, Ann outlines how she assists with therapeutic and recreational groups:

“We do equine therapy and we have art classes for instance. We do make-up classes too, so it’s not all clinical.”

Eamon adds that the value that the HCAs bring is “the time they can spend with the person. They’re with them through all stages of their recovery journey. When I ask persons attending our services, or their family members, about their experiences, they all say the HCA is like having a professional friend.”

According to Dr Ciaran Corcoran, Acting Clinical Director, St Loman’s Hospital, Longford Westmeath Mental Health Services, the HCA is a “really important member of the multidisciplinary team and really important in terms of patient advocacy.”

Ann also notes how, to be a good HCA, you have to have “good communication skills – not just with the clients, but with the family members as well. You also have to be very good at communicating with your colleagues and other health professionals so that we can all work together as a good team. You need to be very open-minded - you have to have patience and you need to have empathy. The clients are laying their cards on the table – they want you to take them as they are and help.”

Acknowledging the great work done by Ann and the many other Healthcare Assistants across the country, Anne Marie Hoey, HSE Chief People Officer, notes that ‘’Healthcare Assistants working within mental health settings are an integral part of the multidisciplinary team working in accordance with the principles and values of recovery, as described in the National Framework for Recovery for Irish Mental Health Services 2018-2020. Their role in promoting and recognising the patients’ social and cultural dimensions of care, and the need for links with their local community, is valuable. I would encourage anyone interested to consider the option of becoming an HCA – becoming part of a multidisciplinary team in providing high-quality care to those who need it.”

Watch Ann Conlon, Healthcare Assistant at work on YouTube