Welcoming Akosua, our new deputy manager

Parkfield House Nursing Home is proud to announce the appointment of Akosua Bonsu as our new deputy manager. Akosua is a dedicated and passionate nurse whose career journey is both inspiring and heartwarming. She also has a long-standing connection with the home!

Akosua was born in Ateibu, a village in a renowned cocoa bean growing area of Eastern Ghana. The village, which was founded by Akosua’s great-grandparents, is full of community spirit, and the caring ethos runs deep. Akosua was the fifth of ten children, and her early life was shaped by strong family values and a deep-rooted respect for older people. Interestingly, her name means “born on a Sunday” – a cultural tradition in Ghana that links names to birth days.

Having had no access to nursery education, Akosua went straight into primary school and then onto a boarding school further east. Although it meant leaving home, this was, as Akosua describes it, “a rare and privileged opportunity”.

After leaving school she moved to Ghana’s capital city Accra, where she met her husband, Michael, at church. It was in 1990 that the couple first visited the UK, returning to settle permanently two years later. Throughout that time, Akosua worked tirelessly in cleaning and catering roles (including Greggs) before discovering her true calling – nursing.

Inspired by her mother’s own difficult experience in childbirth, and the effective and compassionate care that she had received from the nurses and midwives, Akosua decided to train as a nurse. It wasn’t easy to get copies of her school certificates from Ghana but she persevered, completing her nursing training at the University of Buckingham in Uxbridge.

After qualifying Akosua specialised in mental health nursing, and gained valuable experience at Charing Cross and Ealing Hospitals before making the move into caring for the elderly. She worked for several years at a 160-bed home in nearby Southall, proving particularly adept at gaining the trust of residents living with more advanced dementia. Even those known for exhibiting extreme behaviours of distress responded well to her calm demeanour. In fact, while a senior manager was visiting the home, Akosua talked down an extremely agitated resident – a moment that left a lasting impression on that manager. Soon afterwards, Akosua was promoted to manager of the advanced dementia unit! She took her responsibilities extremely seriously, often working extra shifts to ensure residents’ safety and wellbeing.

After a few years Akosua decided to move on, this time choosing to work as an agency nurse. In 2016 she began to pick up shifts here at Parkfield. Over time, her connection to the home deepened and she earned universal respect as a popular, reliable and skilled nurse – a good reason why home manager Glendeen Quow asked her to join the management team!

As the home’s new deputy manager, Akosua works with Glendeen to oversee the safe delivery of nursing care and ensure that the home’s clinical/care performance meets required fundamental standards. This encompasses quality assurance, medication safety and administration and supporting the nursing team. It also involves plenty of interaction with residents, something that Akosua is delighted about.

“I love bedside nursing,” Akosua says. “But this new role feels like a real calling. I learn something new every day, and my heart is always with the residents.”

Her leadership is guided not only by training and experience, but also by deep faith. A devoted Christian, Akosua finds peace through prayer, gospel music and church community. She also travels to Ghana annually, sometimes twice a year, to visit her mother, daughter and beloved grandchildren.

Akosua brings with her not just clinical expertise, but a profound philosophy of love, kindness, and respect – values deeply rooted in her upbringing. “Back home, we treat every elder like a parent. We share, we care and we support one another because we are all one family,” she enthuses.

That spirit of family is exactly what makes her such a perfect fit at Parkfield!