Skip to main content

Staff Appreciation Post: Deb Carter

Staff Appreciation Post: Deb Carter


We have a vast range of disciplines here at the Laura Fergusson Brain Injury Trust, and today we would like to recognise the work of Deb Carter, who has worked with LFBIT for the past eight years as a social worker.

When Deb began work with LFBIT, there was no dedicated role for social work. At the time, she worked part-time as a rehab assistant, and part-time as a social worker. Over time, as more referrals began to come through, Deb shifted into full-time social work. The service has now grown to the point where last December Deb was able to recruit her social work student to join the team as the new social work colleague.

As with many roles at LFBIT, no two days of work are the same. Deb does a lot of work in the community, following clients out of rehab and identifying areas of need. Through this, she can then connect clients with the appropriate resources. This can include things such as secure housing, financial support, family or drug and alcohol services and counselling or psychology services. This work involves a lot of communication between parties, often communication that clients may find difficult or frustrating after a brain injury.

“I work with lawyers, courts, police, WINZ, MSD housing, drug and alcohol, homecare agencies, a huge amount outside agencies,” says Deb. “We know that our clients with brain injury can't always manage to get across what they want to say, so you're there to help bridge that gap.”

As well as this work, Deb does single discipline assessments through our assessment team, supervises students and is LFBIT’s care and protection officer.

“You've got to be able to adapt really quickly. You could have a day where you come in and you work trying to help people get into housing, or you're going to WINZ with someone, but then the next thing you get a phone call and that could be around care and protection. The job keeps you on your toes and you need to be able to think on your feet. I've got some complex clients, but they're great. It is about working towards gaining the trust of a client and their whānau, once you get it, that is rewarding.”

Reflecting on these rewarding experiences, Deb notes particular pride in her work with Sarah, whose story you can read here.

“When I met with her it had been a couple of years since her injury, but she was really struggling. She is just lovely, but her situation was very sad as she was living in a shed. Once we got her into a house, her whole demeanour changed. Everything about her changed. It took a while for her to adapt to her home and understand that it was hers. Every time I go out there now, she has really made it her home, where she couldn’t do that before. Many LFBIT staff helped Sarah to furnish her house, and this speaks volumes to the people that work here.”

The LFBIT team, as well as rewarding experiences with clients, is something that Deb appreciates in her work.

“The teams that we've got here are amazing. Our managers are so approachable, Kathryn Jones as CEO is just fantastic, and everyone is very down to earth. If you've got things going on in your personal life, they're very supportive and adaptable for you. It’s just a brilliant place to work.”

“Deb is an experienced Social Worker and adds huge value to our team,” says Del Eden, Speech-Language Therapy Clinical Lead. “She willingly offers her advice and expertise, supporting our LFBIT team, as well as clients and their whānau.”

We’d love to give our deepest thanks to Deb for all her work over the years. Your work is so essential and has such a great impact on the lives of our clients, it does not go unnoticed.