Lynn understands first-hand the difficulties faced by families searching for care services because she has worked in residential and community care settings for more than 30 years. Her understanding of health and social care in Hampshire, Dorset, Sussex, Surrey, the Isle of Wight, and the rest of England, together with her knowledge of how to best navigate the social care system, provide relief and reassurance for those looking for care homes, care in the home, live-in care and dementia care.

Using her experience of managing a domiciliary care organisation that provided care at home, as well as providing consultancy to social care teams in Southampton & Bristol to set up reablement services, Lynn set up Clarity Care Consulting to help people understand and be aware of their choices when seeking care for elderly relatives, be it in care homes, care at home or live-in care.

Her vision is to develop a dedicated, approachable team, where staff and clients feel valued, and advice and support is readily available at the end of the phone.

Lynn is now expanding her mission to include pioneering the value of contingency planning, care monitoring and the benefit of long-term relationships with both clients and their families.

Paula has always wanted to work in social care and whilst at school and college she was able to spend time on placements working with different client groups so she could gain different experiences. Upon leaving college Paula chose to work in a residential setting with elderly residents, working as a Care Assistant and was given the opportunity to cover managerial roles within this environment from a young age.

In 1991 Paula moved to Hampshire from Stoke-on-Trent due to her husband serving in the Royal Navy. She joined Hampshire County Council as a Care Assistant working with clients living with Dementia and Alzheimers, and undertook a series of NVQs in Care and Care Management.

After having her son, she decided to change from working in residential settings and moved to a Reviewing Officer and Care Manager post with the local community team within Hampshire County Council.  Paula undertook assessments in people’s home, arranged provision for people to be able to remain where they wanted to be and to review the support they had in place to ensure that it continued to meet their needs. She worked for Hampshire County Council for over 30 years providing social care support for vulnerable adults and ensuring that they are kept safe.

Her ethos has always been to treat people how she would like her own parents to be treated. She gets great job satisfaction when she is able to support and advocate on behalf of others so that they have the right support to meet their needs and she can work towards meeting their goals/wishes.

Paula was really excited to join Clarity Care in September 2021 so that she could provide her experience and expertise in supporting people on their personal journeys when they most need assistance and advise. She is now in a position where she can provide the time to build long-term relationships with individuals so that she can advocate on their behalf and support them to have the right care and assistance as and when required.

After working in retail for a number of years, Amanda was offered her first administrative role in 2006 working for a children’s nursery. Four years later, she joined the reception team of a GP surgery and in 2013 was made Assistant Practice Manager, taking responsibility for a variety of business functions including IT, HR, equipment and resources and GDPR compliance.

‘Being patient-facing for a number of years and then gaining experience of the business functions that support primary care was really interesting and has given me the perfect skillset for my role at Clarity Care.’

‘When I saw the opportunity, I thought I had the understanding of people reaching out for help and the skills to support its provision.  As it is private business, we are not constrained by the same pressures as other organisations and can devote time to talk to clients and ensure they get the best service possible which makes for a lovely working atmosphere.’

Donna gained a BA Hons in Media Studies and Sociology, from Portsmouth University in 2006. Studying Sociology cemented Donna’s certainty that she wanted to work with people. Donna was a relief support worker, for Two Saints, supporting the homeless and those at risk, giving support, dignity and respect to all those she worked with.

Donna went on to study Social Work at the University of Portsmouth, gaining a master’s degree (Msc Social Work) in 2010. Donna began her social work career working for Hampshire County Council within a Community Hospital Team. Donna’s role was facilitating hospital discharges for people with complex physical and mental health needs and creating care packages to best meet identified needs of service users and carers.

Donna moved to the Adults and Older Persons Community Team. The role consisted of working as part of a Multi-Disciplinary Team, as appointed lead Social Worker. Donna worked collaboratively with health colleagues, mental health colleagues and Housing colleagues. Donna completed strength based social care needs assessments, in line with the Care Act 2014, whilst establishing robust contingency plans. Donna completed Mental Capacity Assessments (MCA) using Mental Capacity Act 2005, Safeguarding adults investigations and risk assessments. She also worked alongside legal professionals on matters involving Lasting Power of Attorneys, (LPAs) and Court of Protection matters.

Donna qualified as a Best Interest Assessor (BIA), in 2018, working within the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards legislation, promoting Human Rights, ensuring a person’s deprivations are proportionate and least restrictive.

The key emphasis of Donna’s practice is promoting independence and wellbeing, whilst working collaboratively with the person, their families and any relevant professionals, ensuring the person is kept at the center.

Donna welcomes a challenge and enjoys listening and talking to people to gain a meaningful person centred insight, to tailor the support and advice.

Registered with Social Work England and a member of the British Association of Social Workers,  Donna joined Clarity Care in February 2022. Donna is excited to be working for such a supportive, client focused team.

Since joining Clarity Care Consulting I have completed Annual BIA updates, Mental capacity Act training, Testamentary Capacity and Will disputes training, as well as Mental Health, Dementia and Wellbeing workshops.

Karina began her career in social care in 1993 as a carer supporting individuals at home alongside working with adults with dementia in residential care. In 2003 she joined Hampshire County Council as a care manager in the older persons and physical disabilities team.  Karina completed the social work degree becoming a registered social worker in 2015. In 2019 Karina completed training as a Best Interest Assessor at Bournemouth University. Karina has attended continuous training to keep updated with the Care Act 2014, Safeguarding Adults, Continuing Health Care Assessments and Mental Capacity and Best Interest Assessments and completion of COP3’s to support applications to the Court of Protection.

Over the years Karina has built up a wealth of experience and knowledge in social care, working in the Integrated Learning Disabilities team for Portsmouth City Council working jointly with LD nurses, Continuing Health Care nurses, psychology and Occupational Therapists.  Karina was also involved in a pilot scheme, whilst with HCC alongside Older Persons Mental Health nurses, to provide a specialist person centred homecare service for individuals with dementia supporting them to remain in their own homes.

Karina is passionate about supporting and empowering people with a range of health and social care needs to achieve their potential, advocating to ensure their views and wishes are heard.  Karina has a good understanding of dementia and the impact it has on the individual and their loved ones and looking at ways in which she can help support with this often difficult and emotional journey.

“I am very excited to join Clarity Care, to be part of a small, caring and supportive company, having the opportunity and time to provide the very best service for those that require our support.”

Karina enjoys spending time with her family and her dogs, her outside interests are going on hikes and countryside walks, she loves gardening and can’t resist visiting garden centres.

Since joining Clarity Care Consulting I have completed Annual BIA updates, Mental capacity Act training, Testamentary Capacity and Will disputes training, as well as Mental Health, Dementia and Wellbeing workshops.

Lorraine gained a BSc Honors Degree in Social Work from University of Portsmouth in 2009.  Lorraine’s Social Work career commenced when she joined Portsmouth City Council in 2009 in the Community Rehabilitation Team.  This role consisted of being part of a multidisciplinary team collaboratively working alongside health colleagues, Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists, Speech and Language Therapists, other Social Workers and Rehabilitation Assistants.  The vision of this team was to promote a person remaining in their own home living as independently as possible.  During Lorraine’s time in this team she supported many clients to achieve their expressed wish of returning to residing in the local community after spending time in placement in a residential setting.

When this team disbanded Lorraine was transferred into the Assessment and Support Team, a team working with Adults from the age of 18 which incorporated physical disabilities, learning disabilities, substance misuse, homelessness, mental health, dementia, residential and nursing placements, hospital discharges, facilitating discharges after a person had been detained under Section 3 of the Mental Health Act.  As part of this role Lorraine completed Care Act 2014 assessments, mental capacity assessments, reviews of formal care and placements, Continuing Healthcare Checklists and took the lead in this process, prepared paperwork and participated in Court proceedings for Deprivation of Liberty (DoLS) challenges, Mental Health Act Tribunals and S117 aftercare.  Lorraine worked alongside District Nurses, Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists, Scheme Managers, Pharmacists, GPs, care agencies, hospital staff also nursing and residential home staff.

Lorraine supervised unqualified staff and gained a Practice Supervisor qualification from University of Portsmouth where she supported students on the Social Work Degree pathway while on placement at Portsmouth City Council.

Lorraine, in 2022, qualified as a Best Interest Assessor (BIA) from Bournemouth University.  In this role Lorraine worked within the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards ensuring a person’s Human Rights are respected and the placement is the least restrictive option also proportionate to the person’s assessed care needs.

Lorraine’s practice is person centred ensuring the client is fully involved in the decision making process but also holistic liaising with all the people who are important to the client.  Guaranteeing a client’s past wants, wishes and feelings are always considered.

Lorraine has kept her practice skills current by regularly attending formal training sessions on legal updates, strengths-based practice, Mental Capacity Act 2005, Safeguarding Adults, Deprivation of Liberty and Continuing Healthcare.

Lorraine is registered with Social Work England.  Lorraine joined Clarity Care in September 2024.

Lorraine enjoys spending time with her family and playing cornet in a brass band.

“I feel privileged, excited and enthusiastic to be part of the small and caring Clarity Care team where I will have the opportunity to spend quality time with the clients, empowering them to live their best lives and the freedom to be creative to achieve the client’s expressed wishes!”

Fiona Heald has worked with older and vulnerable clients for over 30 years and has a wealth of experience helping them, and those that care for them have a voice.  This includes advising about local authority care fees funding to include deferred payment agreements, disregarded assets and how financial contributions towards care fees are calculated.  She is also able advise on the making of Powers of Attorney and how they should be used as well as Court of Protection property and financial affairs applications.  We are excited to have Fiona join the Clarity team as our expert on Health and Social Care Funding