How Les Latchman leads by example at Radnor House

Person Centred Software’s Champions of Care Awards provide an opportunity to celebrate and recognise the crucial achievements made by those working in the care sector to bring happiness and better care outcomes to the most vulnerable members of our society. Often working behind the scenes, these awards are dedicated to showcasing the champions of care who work tirelessly to improve the lives of people living in care.   

Today, we’re sharing the story of Les Latchman, winner of the Leader Award at this year’s Champions of Care, who doesn’t just own and manage Radnor House – he encompasses the spirit of support, compassion and togetherness that makes homes like Radnor so special.  

Establishing the home with his wife nearly 40 years ago, Les started with a 10-bed unit and slowly expanded from there. Now, Radnor House is a 29-bed unit that specialises in providing care for adults living with mental illness, such as schizophrenia, bipolar and depression among others.  

Les also describes Radnor House as a “melting pot of cultures, faiths and beliefs, which include Indian, Muslim, Sikh, African, English, Irish, and Scottish among others. I think we are a true testament of inclusion in care; we have managed to foster a really diverse, multicultural environment, and it’s worked really well for us.” 

Les has proven himself to be a worthy winner of the Leader Award, always striving to give back to the community and to improve the care sector and the community, acting as a true inspiration, a pioneer, a leader, an advocate and a pillar of support. As summed up by his daughter Sabrina, “Les has always been a voice for the most vulnerable members of our community and in social care; Les has seen Radnor House through it all and always ensured that it remained able to provide the outstanding care for which we are proud to be known.” 

For Les, working in care isn’t just a job, it has been his life. As the son of parents who themselves owned a care home, Les has grown up from the age of 13 in an environment where residents were cared for and supported.  

As Les said himself when he spoke to him: “I grew up in the environment of caring for the residents when my parents owned a care home, so I didn’t know any different; how to care for them and how to interact with them just became second nature to me.” 

Les has been the manager of Radnor House, located in Handsworth, Birmingham, since he was 22 years old and has served as manager for 39 years. In that time, Les has cultivated an environment in the home of compassion and family values which are as strong today as they ever have been thanks to Les’ unwavering commitment to the residents, some of whom living at Radnor House since the mid-80s, and the staff.  

Les, now 61, still leads from the front, never afraid to roll his sleeves up and get involved, setting the example for everyone else who works at Radnor and prides himself on being an open, supportive, democratic and, most importantly, flexible presence for everyone in the home.  

As his daughter Sabrina (who herself was a recent finalist for the Excellence in Women Empowerment Award at the Leading Women in Care Awards) said, when submitting the nomination, “There isn’t anything he asks his staff to do that he wouldn’t do himself and still does today! You will regularly see him on the floor supporting residents and staff and always prides himself on being very hands-on as a manager, always there to offer support and guidance, whether it’s true paying for training for his staff members or just offering emotional support. 

“Whenever there have been challenges or issues,” she said, “for example we had a fire recently, or if a resident passes away, or if we have an inspection, or even during the pandemic, Les has been at the forefront of all these major events, managing the situation professionally and personally supporting the staff to navigate any challenging time.” 

When we spoke to Les, his high standards were evident from the beginning, as was his motivation to always provide the best possible care outcomes. He said: “We pride ourselves on always having good report where the CQC is concerned; we’ve never had a bad report, which is something I'm proud of and hope to be able to continue.” 

An important aspect of achieving the outstanding care levels is the part he has always played in the care home. Not just what he has achieved but how he has done it, as he explained: “I grew up around the residents, and when we established our own care home we lived there for four years before buying our own house. We were with the residents 24/7, and even today I always make sure that I am available to them whenever they or the staff needed me.  

“I don’t just come in and lock myself away in an office; I love to roll up my sleeves and help the residents, to take them out to appointments or engage in activities. It might not always be ideal when it comes to work-life balance, but I wouldn’t change it because it’s just how I work, and doing things like that are what got me excited about working in care in the first place – I love what I do, and I always have.” 

Les’ commitment to the wellbeing of residents is unparalleled – he still spends every Christmas Day with residents, and most bank holidays as well or any other festival or special occasion and has spent more of his life with the residents than without.  

He proudly said: “I’ve always felt like the care home isn’t just another family for me, it’s an extension of my own family, because whenever there are days of celebration, I get to spend it with them and then come home and celebrate it there too.” 

As unparalleled as his commitment to resident wellbeing is, his dedication to staff quality of life and career progression is just as strong. As a manager, Les has always encouraged and funded his staffs’ continued professional development. An amazing example of this is one of the management team who attained her social work degree whilst working at Radnor House.  

He explained: “I have been proud to support many of my staff in the past, some of whom going on to set up their own care homes and businesses; we have a senior member of the team leaving us to undertake social work training, and we are going to support her every step of the way. 

“We always ensure that we are supporting and providing training opportunities for anyone who comes into the team, from being a care assistant right the way through to management.” 

Les then summed up his approach in a way that has benefited many residents and staff over the years, saying: “Whatever I can do to support people, I always will.” 

As we wrapped the call up, Les showed the true hallmark of a transformative leader in care: measuring his success by the happiness of others, by saying: “One of the things that we most find with our residents and client group is that so many of them have been from pillar to post, many not being able to find the right level of support or to feel valued, that they belong to a community, and often as a result find themselves moving around from one service to the next when they become unwell. They’re kicked out or they have to find somewhere else to stay – this is a process that so many of our residents have gone through. But when they come to us, they settle. We have people living with us that have been here for 30 or 40 years, and so many of our residents have found a real home. Above all, this is something I’m really proud of.” 

Les has always been and continues to be a shining example of what it is to lead in the care industry and is a worthy winner of this year’s Leader Award in the Champions of Care.