Faces of Baptcare | Meet Kate Flight

People always smile before talking about Kate Flight.

“I found Kate to be so approachable, helpful and genuine as I transitioned into my new role. Nothing was a bother and she always followed up with what she said. She really cares for the residents and wants the best outcomes for them,” said Larnica Marshall, Leisure and Lifestyle Co-ordinator at Baptcare Karingal.

Another colleague who worked closely with Kate on the art exhibition, Clinical and Quality Systems Partner Zoe Johnson, echoes this glowing feedback.

“Kate’s creative and innovative thinking honestly puts her in a class of her own. The artist in residence exhibition is just an example of the amazing ideas that Kate brings to her role and her passion, dedication, diligence to projects and staff helped the lifestyle team archived their goal.

Kate has taken consumer experience to the next level and brings a consumer experience lens to each individual. We walk into a facility and Kate knows individual residents and their background, literally picking up conversations from the last quarter.

She has kept me laughing and I admire the enthusiasm she brings to work every day. Kate is an invaluable part of our team and a great asset to Baptcare,” Zoe said.

You can learn more about Kate in our chat below.

How long have you been working at Baptcare as Quality Business Partner leading experience? What does your role involve day to day?

I began this position in January 2021 – so just shy of three years. Each day varies, it includes visits to our RAC sites every quarter to complete customer experience surveys, collaborating closely with the exceptional Lifestyle Teams, and working with the Quality Team – sometimes that is piloting and evaluating new equipment, reviewing documentation or processes. There are also many projects on the go. These include delivering training for the Living Well Together Model of Care and the establishment of Consumer Advisory Groups.

What do you like about your job?

I always like having face to face contact with our consumers, hearing their stories, understanding what we can do to make a difference, what we do well and where we can improve. Lots of themes emerge in this space and lead to service improvements that we can co-design with our consumers.

Can you share a particularly special workday or customer interaction you’ve had recently?

I’ve actually got two! The first: I always enjoy dining with the residents on my visits to our RAC (Residential Aged Care) sites, it provides a great opportunity to hear from the residents their thoughts on the meals and dining experience that we provide. They offer recipe tips, menu suggestions and their reviews on table settings and the meal being served, amidst some great conversation. It’s great to see how feedback from our residents has transformed the meals and dining experience.

My second story: At Karingal, last week a resident pulled a suit out of the wardrobe, that he had worn to the Spring Ball the day before. He was so incredibly proud of the suit and tie that Lifestyle team had sourced for him and then hemmed his trousers to be the correct length. He couldn’t have been happier describing the whole event, the fantastic food, the music and feeling like a million dollars in his tailored suit!

I love hearing the stories where staff have gone the extra mile and made a real difference to create a special occasion, experience or memory for their residents. This was one of those moments.

Kate – you created and led an amazing art exhibition project throughout our RAC/Retirement Living communities recently. What surprised you most about this experience and was there a standout moment you’d like to share?

A daughter of a resident described how grateful she was that her father had the opportunity to display his first art in exhibition at 92 years of age. His artwork was incredible. Lifestyle teams worked so hard curating these exhibitions with their residents – it was an amazing experience.

Seeing the connection that it brought residents, families and staff across all sites was beyond what I had ever anticipated. I’m looking forward to the 2024 art exhibition!

Did you always want to work within this Consumer Experience space or what are some other jobs you’ve performed in your career?

I’ve had many roles across hospitals and the community sector both within Australia, UK and Ireland.

I’ve always been drawn to project roles which have focused on service development, co-design and teamwork that deliver improved consumer outcomes.

You trained as an Occupational Therapist (OT). Can you reflect on how your years as an OT have helped you in your present role?

As an OT, we want to understand what’s important to a person, their strengths and where they are experiencing difficulties so we can remove those barriers and support and empower them to live meaningful lives.

We tend to be great listeners, and good problem solvers and like to understand where the cause of an issue may lie so we can work together and find a solution. My role in customer experience definitely draws on these skills and project background.

What did you want to be when you grew up?

An Occupational Therapist! (tick)

Can you tell us two surprising things about yourself?

I was an extra in the last series of Wentworth (just one episode, so I’m not giving up my day job!) and two…

Hold on – you need to tell us more about this please! How did this brush with fame happen and were you a fan of Wentworth or Prisoner?

I’d like to say that I passed an audition with my amazing acting talents, but I may happen to be friends with the super talent scout responsible for extras!

Confession – I hadn’t watched many episodes of Wentworth and no, I was not an inmate! For my role, I had to sit on the floor in a London bomb scene with medical intervention. It was a great day out with my teenage son who also had a brief brush with fame.

And now that we’ve cleared that up, what’s your other surprising fact?

I went overseas for a year and stayed for 13, living most of that time in Northern Ireland so my three children have Irish names – Cormac, Ronan and Orla.

In true thorough Kate Flight style, after she’d submitted these Faces of Baptcare responses, she followed up with an email entitled “Delayed Flight” and the following words:

If the other interesting fact about Ireland is a bit yawn – I was going to say that.

I managed to secure tickets to Taylor Swift concert for myself and my daughter and she thinks I’m incredible for pulling that off! Now I have to learn a lot of Taylor Swift lyrics before February! Pressure is on.

Go Swifty Kate go! Re dealing with that pressure? If we were corny, we’d just say “shake it off, shake it off…”

Do you have a favourite quote or motto in life?

Take it from Dorothy – “there is no place like home!” (I have that hanging in my hallway and I am partial to red shoes). (Ed. exhibit A below!).

What was the last book and TV series you’ve read/watched lately?

Jessie Stephens “Something Bad is about to Happen” and currently enjoying Ted Lasso (bit late to the party) but I can confess it did encourage me to fully immerse into the World Cup.

Please complete this sentence: My ideal weekend would include…

A walk with my dog Boss (pictured with Kate), a swim in the ocean before breakfast, a good coffee, a good book, another swim and a lunch catch up with friends or family. Actually, that definitely sounds more holiday than weekend!

Do you have a mentor or idol? OR if you could sit next to someone at a dinner party, who would it be and why?

I don’t mind who I sit next to, but can Yotam Ottolenghi cook please? I love his recipes, but I’d prefer him to whip them up so I can try and have that perfect weekend I described!

Thank you, Kate, for all that you give to the Baptcare community. We wish you endless perfect weekends (with or without Yotam and Taylor)!

You can watch a video of the Baptcare 2023 Artist in Residence Exhibition on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knS6zw0HLks