Robert has been with Ascend Health for nearly two years after completing his studies in Psychology in 2020. Robert started his journey in the healthcare sector working in community engagement and is now an important part of our Operations team in Safety and Compliance.

Robert now has the responsibility of managing Ascend Health’s ongoing NDIS compliance. This is a very important project ensuring that our processes and procedures meet NDIS standards. Robert works daily on incident management and member’s safety, but is known to be the person that will never turn down a task. He is capable of anything he sets his mind to! 

Find out a little more about Robert and his role at Ascend Health with our Q&A!

Working as Ascend’s Safety and Compliance Manager. Describe a typical day?

It usually starts with looking at spreadsheets, followed by a meeting or two, and then topped off with planning and scheduling audits, with a sprinkling of incident management and risk assessment reviews. It’s not the most exciting job, let's be honest, but when you pass an audit or receive feedback about the quality of services Ascend provides, there’s a huge amount of satisfaction.

Tell us more about your experience?

I worked for many years in construction ensuring workers safety and that our site complied with all quality standards. During this time I was studying psychology part-time online in the evenings and on the weekends (which turned out to be a big help in the final year during Covid). After joining Ascend Health following a two month internship, I learnt about the needs and challenges faced by people living with disabilities, and was able to apply this knowledge to my role in community engagement.

What do you love most about your role?

Sushi Thursdays are pretty great, but most importantly I really believe strongly that Ascend Health is changing the way disability support services are delivered and is raising the standards of the healthcare industry. I get more and more excited about seeing what the students that work for Ascend Health end up doing in their future healthcare careers. I’m grateful that I get to be a part of helping them along in their journeys and seeing what they do for our members.

What do you love to do in your free time?

Your home is your castle, so you’ll usually find me working away in the garden, and I’ll try my hand at anything, so if there’s something that needs to be fixed I’ll always give it a go. I’ve also partnered with Ascend to start developing assistive technologies, so I also spend a lot of my free time learning skills that help me in my professional roles. The line between work and home is very blurry.

What are three things you can’t live without and why?

Our lives are so reliant on technology these days, so it would be a nuisance if I lost my phone or laptop, but these are all replaceable. My health would have to sit at the top of the list.