A good care in your own home service

Read our story about a good care in your own home service.

This story is about an agency that  has been running a care at home service in the North East of England for more than eight years.

Its customers seem to be very satisfied with its services and rarely have any complaints.

“I think that’s because we treat them with respect,” says the service's manager, Bill.

 “We never refer to them as “service users”. They’re our customers and meeting their needs is our main concern.”

CSCI inspectors have consistently praised the agency for its customer-centred attitude.

The agency only uses the highly qualified staff that have good “people skills” and a positive attitude towards their work.

It also checks out references of new recruits and investigates them thoroughly to ensure that they are the sort of people its customers will feel safe with.

The staff are encouraged to take pride in treating customers with respect.

They always arrive punctually at their clients' homes, and put their clients' needs before their own schedules.

“This sometimes means having to be a little bit more flexible,” said Bill. “But we don’t mind. It’s human beings we’re dealing with, not robots!”

“If a customer is, say, having a visit from a relative or friend that she doesn’t see that often, we can rearrange to visit her later, when they’re gone.

“Or if she has a hospital or clinic appointment, we can also work around that.”

The staff are trained to ask their customers what they would like done first on arrival each day, rather than automatically going ahead with the usual tasks.

This is because customers’ needs change from day to day.

The agency also makes it a priority to ensure that each customer feels compatible with their carer, and the carer with the customer.

Benefit from continuity of care

“We wouldn’t them to feel uncomfortable with one another,” says Bill. “And we try to use the same carers for the same customers, as much as possible.

“This means a good relationship can develop and the customer can benefit from that continuity of care.”

The agency has a very clear complaints procedure that is set out in a way that’s easy to understand.

The comlpaints procedure is always explained to customers when they first come to the agency.

Customers are also given a clear service agreement and plan that states all their needs and how the agency will meet them.

The plan is kept up-to-date by the carer who looks after them.

Bill believes that an increasing number of care agencies will soon have to work in the same way.

“As more people start to use direct payments to fund their care, an increasing number of agencies will have to take a more customer-centred approach,” said Bill.

“Otherwise, their customers will go elsewhere.”