Jane Payne, Service Manager at The Richardson Partnership for Care is a finalist in the National Learning Disability and Autism Awards 2015.

She was nominated for the Employer Award for her commitment to providing top quality care to people with learning disabilities by heading a group of specialist residential care homes in Northampton. Jane has responsibility for supervising the managers and support staff, and has overall accountability to the owners. She is entirely service-user focused and always assesses the impact on service users when making decisions.

Jane has been praised for achieving a careful balance of providing empathetic, ethical care and maintaining a successful business. She believes that the two can go hand in hand and that profitability is vital to safeguard placements and provide a sustainable stable home for service users. Thanks to Jane, The Richardson Partnership for Care has thrived and grown over the last few years.

One of people who recommended Jane for the award was the father of a service user who has learning difficulties. He said: “I have worked with Jane, as my son’s advocate and in other capacities, for the past ten years and I am very familiar with, and a great admirer of the leadership she provides for all of her staff and, through this, the incredibly high quality of the care the homes provide. Jane’s personality shines through all of the dealings I have had with the Company. Her dedication to her staff and residents, from the major strategic issues down to the tiniest detail is outstanding.”

He added: “Through the leadership provided by and the example set by Jane, the culture of the company is a very open one, not only internally but also with respect to residents’ families and advocates. I can genuinely describe the excellent staff led so brilliantly by Jane as a ‘happy ship’ – and a very professional one.”