Our Team

Arnie Ayag

Clinical Manager

Arnie has been with us for some time and has always impressed with her Clinical experience and knowledge. Arnie has excellent clinical experience and she is excited about continuing to learn and grow in this new role.

She brings a wealth of nursing experience from Singapore, where she worked for 10 years in Person Centered Care, Chronic Care, Advanced Dementia and Palliative Care Nursing.
Among Arnie’s many exceptional attributes are her compassion, excellent communication, and interpersonal, organisational and management skills. Her sound clinical skills combine with a passion for the delivery of outstanding person-centred care to older people.

Preet Lail

Operations Manager

Preet Lail has a combined role of Operations Manager and Registered Nurse Support. This allows her to take on the Operations Manager responsibilities while continuing to pursue her training to become a Registered Nurse in New Zealand.

Preet has been with us since 2013 and has become an integral part of the team at Leighton, including providing some great support to our previous Operations Manager Teresa. She has welcomed the added responsibilities and new challenge the Operations Manager role presents. Preet has great skills and experience to offer as a manager, as well as the trust, confidence and support of residents, families and staff.

Registered Nurses

Our Registered Nurses get to know each resident very well. They assess each person’s needs and then plan the care for each person. They lead the caregiver team, coaching them and ensuring they give the very best care possible. A Registered Nurse always rings family if a loved one is unwell, unhappy, or anything of concern has happened. They keep in close touch with family.

Activities team

Our activities team knows each resident very well and what works for each person, creating meaningful activities to support creativity, socialisation, stimulation and fun as well as assisting residents to be involved in the daily running of their home.

Care team

Each member of our team has been hand-picked with great care. Many are registered nurses in their own country, with the courage and initiative to start a new life far from home and family. Every staff member is chosen because they have what we call ‘knack’ in working with people with dementia, caring for and connecting with each person as they would a very best friend. This means that people feel loved and important. Our staff accept you as you are, really listen to you, love to hear you laugh, forgive your mistakes and have fun together.

Our caregivers are loving, capable and experienced. We are enormously proud to have such committed and professional people working with us. Their cultural diversity, energy and dedication enrich us all.

Our team includes:
• A Weekend Manager who leads and supports the staff team at weekends and public holidays.
• Key senior caregivers who lead a small team to provide the best possible care in each area of the home.
• Caregivers who have a genuine commitment to make a positive difference to the lives of people by caring for them with love and empathy.
• Home Assistants or Housekeepers who work alongside our caregiving staff maintaining an environment that is clean, bright, cosy and welcoming in our small homes.
• The podiatrist, physiotherapist and hairdresser make regular visits, ensuring the personal needs of our residents are met.
• The dietician oversees menu planning and is available to assist with any dietary or weight-related issues.

Staff education

We believe that every member of staff needs and deserves to be nurtured and developed, and encourage them to reach their potential and be the very best they can in their chosen field.

As a growing organisation, we are continually looking for current staff members or people in the community with potential to be a leader. Staff education and development is our passion. We love to provide opportunities for advancement within our organisation to staff who later become inspirational to other team members. We have an Education Coordinator who coordinates, supports, motivates and encourages staff to grow and develop as much as possible.

Our training programme includes:

• First Aid training
• Best Friends Approach to Care, which is the foundation of our philosophy of care.
• All caregiving staff working in dementia care study four Unit Standards about dementia care.
• We hold regular in-service staff education sessions, which cover topics such as Abuse and Neglect, Advocacy, Civil Defence, Communication Skills, Cultural Awareness, Documentation and Care Planning, Food Safety, Health and Safety, Infection Control, Restraint Minimisation, Safe Transferring, Stress and Grief, Falls Minimisation, Pressure Area Care, Cultural Safety, Fire Safety and Chemical Safety.
• A De-escalation Training Programme presents staff with skills and strategies to manage sensitive situations.
• A training programme encouraging staff to embrace diversity.
• Annual training days are held for Operations Managers, Diversional Therapists, Clinical Managers and Registered Nurses.
• A Health and Safety Award and Staff Member of the Week Award are made on a regular basis at each home throughout the year.
• A Representational Child Therapy programme is available for residents who would benefit from this therapeutic approach. Our staff are trained to support this programme.