A YORK-BASED firm is playing a leading role in training carers across the UK how to handle and move elderly and other vulnerable people.

Kate Lovett, of EDGE services, has spoken out about the growing business after The Press revealed earlier this week that five carers at a York care home had been sacked, following an investigation into their ‘manual handling practices’ with residents.

The home's owner said that the carers, who were originally suspended after a whistleblower had raised concerns about the care of residents, had been found to be at fault after an investigation, and had been dismissed. It said no residents were harmed.

Ms Lovett said she frequently came into contact with poor practice across the country and the professionally-accredited training programme which EDGE delivered had been designed to help eradicate this.

She said EDGE, based in Museum Street, worked with seven out of the top ten largest care home groups within the UK and employed 15 staff, including six office-based workers in York and nine trainers across the UK, from Glasgow to London.

"We deliver face to face Key Trainer’s events in the main and work with care home groups, domiciliary care agencies, NHS Trusts, hospices, care charities as well as delivering specialist Children Handling training to staff working in Special Needs Schools and for children’s charities," she said.

"We are one of the leading providers of this specialist training across the UK and certainly we train more delegates across the year than any of our competitors.The training we deliver is professionally endorsed and academically certified."

She said she set up the company in 1998 with her husband Andrew, a former primary school teacher, who now had the 'business head' while she had the 'clinical one.'

"I regularly write for a number of health care journals and have presented at national care shows etc over the years, " she added.