3FLEXI COVENTRY |
BEST PRACTICE REPRESENTATIVE
Our goal is to continually improve
our standards and embed them
into a culture of excellence. We also
endeavour to ensure transparency
from our senior leadership team. If a
mistake occurs, it is explained and used
as a learning opportunity. Everyone
makes mistakes, but it is how you learn
from them that is crucial.
Balancing our service and
finances
One of the main challenges we face is
trying to maintain our high standard
of service while remaining financially
viable. Fulfilling the requirements of
our users is often impossible without
incurring losses. For one individual, we
incurred losses for three years, as we
were unable to increase our funding.
We were losing 85p an hour to care
for this user, but we did not stop, as
we are committed to those we care
for. Another problem we face is the
higher pay rates that are offered by
other local care agencies. We invest a
significant amount in the training of
our staff, so losing trained individuals,
and having to train their replacements,
only worsens these funding issues. We
often find, however, that employees
who leave often return quite quickly,
largely because of the way we value
and treat our staff. We receive a lot of
applications to join our service, but we
have always maintained that we want
to keep our service to a high standard
and thus not stretch ourselves too thin
or dilute our standards.
In my opinion, one of the ways this can
be solved is if local authorities allocate
funding based on the needs of the
service user. Around bank holidays,
we have to pay our staff double their
hourly rate, but this cost is not covered
by the CCG. There can also often be
delays in the payments we receive
from these groups, and we often have
to fight to get them to be paid. This
can result in people not turning up for
work because they cannot be paid and
could lead to families not receiving the
care they need or deserve.
Looking ahead, we are planning to
expand our service into other regions.
This will involve intensive training
of those who will be running these
additional departments. Our role will
be to travel between these locations
to provide support and check that
the systems are functioning. We have
received approaches to expand into
Yorkshire and the West Midlands, as
there are currently no complex needs
agencies operating there. Initially,
we are targeting expansion into
Birmingham, Yorkshire and Leicester.
We will then review this expansion
and assess its success. There is the
possibility of nationwide expansion,
but we must remain vigilant that we
do not dilute the standards of our
service. We have also been asked to
assist with care homes owned by the
Royal British Legion, which we view
as a great honour. By continuing
to provide our innovative model,
and ensuring we maintain our high
standards, we are confident that we
can expand our provision and deliver
a high standard of care to people who
need it.
We often find,
however, that
employees
who leave
often return
quite quickly,
largely
because of
the way we
value and
treat our staff
“
“
We embrace the families
of our service users
Rt Hon The Lord David Blunkett
Rt Hon The Lord Eric Pickles
