Meet the team

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Joanne Balmer (BEM)

Chief Executive Officer

Joanne has worked in care for over 20 years having started by working in care homes at aged 16 as a Care Assistant.  At 18, she began training to become a Registered Nurse and later undertook a number of nursing roles in hospitals and GP surgeries before joining a Welsh Local Health Board where she oversaw the provision and quality of Primary Care Services.

In 2010, Joanne moved from the NHS to focus on working solely within the Care Home sector where she has undertaken a number of roles including Commissioning Home Manager, Regional Operations Manager & Director of Quality.  Most recently before joining Oakland Care she worked for Sunrise Senior Living & Gracewell Healthcare where she held the position of Senior Director of Care & Quality for a number of years. During this time she oversaw quality, Learning & Development and Health & Safety.  She led the implementation of robust governance processes & quality assurance which resulted in six homes being rated Outstanding by CQC.  In her last 12 months at Sunrise & Gracewell, Joanne also oversaw the operational division of the portfolio, leading a team of operators as well as regional nurses.

In August 2019, Joanne joined Oakland Care as its Chief Executive Officer to lead the future growth of the company as new care homes are built.  She is committed ensuring Oakland Care homes provide the very best quality and service to residents.  She believes that this can only be achieved if our team members are happy and is determined to ensure that working for Oakland Care is an enjoyable experience where people are valued, supported and recognised as individuals.

In 2021, Joanne was awarded the British Empire Medal for services to Social Care during the Covid-19 pandemic.

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Malcolm Hague

Chief Operating Officer

Malcolm joined Oakland Care in 2020 having spent 10 years in social care as a Home Manager and in Regional Operations roles. Prior to social care, Malcolm’s background was in Hospitality Management, acquiring skills which are highly complementary to social care.

As Chief Operating Officer his role is to support the teams in Oakland Care’s homes, ensuring that they have everything they need to provide exceptional care. He also has oversight of all our homes to make sure that they are operating both effectively and safely.

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Pauline Cichy

Director of Care and Governance

Pauline qualified as a Registered Nurse in 1981 and as a Registered Midwife in 1986. She worked in acute independent sector hospitals until 1998 to the level of Director of Nursing. After a further two years working in a clinical role in palliative care and oncology, Pauline moved to clinical governance and compliance, including the design and implementation of the first clinical care pathways in the independent acute hospital sector.

Pauline moved to the prison sector in 2009, where she held responsibility for the clinical practice in 15 prisons nationwide as the Lead Nurse and Head of Clinical Governance. She was also Regional Director for two immigration retrieval centres.

When Pauline moved to the Care Home Sector, she successfully initiated the change to electronic care plans and medication administration for a care home group. Pauline was approached in 2015 by The Goodman Group LLC to be their Director of Nursing in the UK. She was recruited to Porthaven Care Homes in January 2017 where she worked until February 2020. Pauline was recruited by Oakland Care Homes in February 2020.

Within all her roles Pauline has had responsibility for successfully facilitating best practice and compliance with the various regulators as well as responsibility for training, risk management, complaints management, policy writing and bid writing for NHS Commissioned services. As well as her nursing qualifications, Pauline holds a diploma in clinical risk and claims management and a diploma in infection control. She also has a certificate in law, a qualification in Managing Safely – Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) and is a LEAN Practitioner.

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Rachel Tiff

Director of Marketing

Rachel joined Oakland Care in 2018. Prior to that, Rachel has over 12 years Marketing experience predominantly in the educational publishing sector, working at some of the largest educational publishers in the world, across a range of resources and qualifications.

At Oakland Care Rachel is responsible for the overall marketing strategy of the organisation, working across the full range of marketing initiatives, including branding, digital marketing, PR and advertising.

Together with the marketing team, Rachel also supports each home with local marketing requirements, ensuring they have everything they need to attract new residents, as well as supporting our People team with recruitment marketing and leading on the marketing strategy for the launch of our new homes.

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Richard Dooley

Director of Development

Richard is responsible for the acquisition, design, planning and construction of our new developments, including the acquisition of new care home locations in South-East England as Oakland Care continues to grow.  Working with a range of internal and external stakeholders, Richard leads the development team to ensure that exceptional developments are provided for our residents and their families.

With over 25 years’ experience in the development and construction sector Richard has been working within the care and retirement sector for the past 13 years. During this time, he has been involved with the acquisition and delivery of over 3000 retirement apartments and over 2000 care beds across England.  Richard has managed over £85M of land acquisitions and over £500M of construction contracts during this period.

Prior to his time in the care sector Richard worked within the housebuilding industry for over ten years at both small independent operators and larger national house builders.

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Paul Donnelly

Finance Director

Paul brings extensive experience in financial leadership and has a strong track record in driving growth while maintaining financial stability. Before joining Oakland Care, Paul held various senior finance roles at where he supported operational teams in delivering outstanding care and services. Paul oversees all financial operations, supporting Oakland Care’s sustainable growth while ensuring the highest standards of financial governance. Passionate about making a positive impact, Paul is committed to ensuring financial decisions enable the delivery of exceptional care for residents and their families, every day. Outside of work, Paul enjoys spending time with his family and playing golf.

 

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Aaron White

Assistant Director of Corporate Services and Sustainability

Aaron has worked in the care sector for almost 15 years in various management roles at both home and regional levels. As an experienced Project Manager, Aaron ensures the business has the tools and services it requires, from IT infrastructure to systems and equipment.

Aaron oversees new system implementations throughout the group and during the building and commissioning of new homes, ensuring the homes have everything they need to operate and everything works as it should.

A graduate of Environmental Management from Durham University, Aaron has always had a passion for sustainability and Environmental awareness. He leads the Green Committee at Oakland Care to ensure we deliver our services sustainably.

Aaron has three young children outside of work and enjoys trips out and family time. He is regularly found stuck in building and gardening projects at home.