Meet the Ashford House Care Centre team

I have been part of the Ashford House team for a long time now and I am enjoying using my skills and experience in nursing to care for the residents. I have been a nurse for over 15 years, starting in the Philippines, and have continued to develop my skills since moving to the UK. I am happily married with a son and I feel privileged to be able to work in a job I feel passionate about.

I joined Ashford House in 2009 as a Junior Nurse. Thanks to my mentor, I was promoted to the Head of Unit for our Chestnut and Haleham units.

My role also comprises the mentoring of my junior colleagues to ensure that we can provide high standards of care to those we support.

As a Head of Unit, I make sure that show rooms are kept presentable for visitors.

Whilst at Barchester, I have been given many opportunities to take courses, including a leadership course, which has helped me improve the quality of my work.

I am a proud nurse and I will always endeavour to provide a high standard of care to residents of Ashford House.

I joined Ashford House as Head Chef in 2015, having previously worked for several large catering organisations.  I wanted to be able to focus my skills on providing for a smaller group of people with varying needs.

I am responsible for managing the kitchen budget as well as my kitchen team, which comprises a 2nd and 3rd chef and 4 kitchen assistants.

My primary focus is to ensure high quality, nutritious, appetising meals are provided for our residents, using fresh, seasonal produce as much as possible.  There are many different dietary needs amongst our residents and I enjoy working with families to ensure their loved ones’ nutritional needs are fully addressed whilst, at the same time, providing them with their favourite foods.

My kitchen team and I know how important food safety, hygiene and cleanliness are in the kitchen environment, and I am proud of achieving excellent results in all inspections, by both in-house and external auditors.

I encourage my kitchen team members to take advantage of courses offered by Barchester to improve their skills in order to enable them to further themselves.

Sandra is our Second chef here at Ashford House. She supports the aims and objectives of the kitchen to provide residents with tasty and nutritious meals. As well as supporting the Head Chef, Sandra is a keen baker and will offer support to residents who are competing in annual Barchester events, such as the Easter cake making or the Christmas cake design competition.

Linda has worked in Ashford House since 2010. She first joined as a Care Assistant, but was offered the position of Head Housekeeper in June 2015. Since then, Linda has been a dedicated member of staff, always upholding excellent standards throughout the home. Linda is responsible for ensuring that the laundry and domestic departments run smoothly, providing an outstanding service for everyone we support. Alongside this, she and her team maintain our show rooms to an incredible standard and prepare rooms for new residents, making them as homely and welcoming as possible.

Hello, my name is Dilyana Sharkova and I am the General Manager here at Ashford House. Welcome to our website.

I completed my nursing degree in 1982 and I have had experience in hospital settings working as Matron. I worked in Germany in University Hospital in Ludvigsburg and have gained quite a lot of experience in the nursing field.

I moved to UK 2002 and started working in care setting as Senior Care Assistant. I started working as a Qualified Registered Nurse in 2008  and become a Senior Nurse.

I have joined Bupa in 2014 and become a Clinical Lead Nurse. I become a Deputy Manager .  I have completed my Level 5 Diploma  in Leadership for Health and Social Care . In 2017 I started working as a Home Manager.

I do  enjoy my work as a Nurse and General Manager  , I am passionate about my work  ,delivering a high standard of person-centred care to those we support.  I like to get to know all our residents and staff  and  to run a home where residents and staff enjoy themselves on daily basis. I am open , honest and always approachable.