Introducing…Erik Sutherland
Every month you can find out more about staff within East Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership, including what they enjoy most about their work and what they get up to in their spare time.
This month we’re ‘Introducing’…
Erik Sutherland
Head of Locality Health and Care
My name is Erik Sutherland and I’m Head of Locality Health and Care.
I’m based in The Johnnie Walker Bond in Kilmarnock. I’ve worked in health and care since 1996/97 and have been with East Ayrshire HSCP since 2014.
I have responsibility for the leadership, strategic direction and delivery of a range of services. Those services span care at home, district nursing, community equipment and adaptations, locality social work, hospital and front door teams. They include intermediate care, adult support and protection, older adults mental health, East Ayrshire Community Hospital, community alarms and telecare. They also extend to commissioned services such as care homes and Red Cross Home from Hospital.
At the moment there’s a lot of pressure on our services and I spend time daily with colleagues in Acute Services, Scottish Ambulance Service, Primary Care and other Ayrshire HSCPs considering how we best work together across health and social care to respond to those demands.
My day generally involves chairing and contributing to partnership meetings, management teams and committees. My favourite days are those where I hear the personal stories of people our teams support – how we go the extra mile and how much our residents appreciate the care that team members show.
I also enjoy days where the range of partners involved in delivering integrated care in East Ayrshire get together, for example our recent Local Conversation events.
I’ve been fortunate to have worked with colleagues who have encouraged me to focus on people and their outcomes. I am convinced that this is what keeps our care and support person-centred, high quality and something to be proud of.
I find working in health and social care hugely rewarding. At the same time it is ever-changing, fast-paced and can be emotionally intense. For that reason it’s important that we all take wellbeing seriously and prioritise that within our teams and ourselves. For me personally that’s about taking time to read, walking in the fresh air or having a nice meal with family.
Thanks for chatting with us Erik!
Don’t miss next month’s ‘Introducing’, where we’ll be hearing from another member of the senior management team!
