Outstanding Care at Home
Chris is our Registered Manager and co-founder of Kingsway Care. He ensures we are able to provide outstanding care and be fully compliant and ready for inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) at any moment. Chris successfully gained CQC approval for Kingsway Care to start providing our exceptional home care services.
Co-founders, Chris and Olly, sharing the joy of gaining Care Quality Commission approval for Kingsway Care
What is a Registered Manager?
Being a Registered Manager is one of the most challenging and complex roles in the Care Sector. Chris is ultimately responsible for the people in our care. He also takes on a leadership role for staff, a support role for relatives, and accountability for a multitude of compliance processes. Let’s find out why he finds it so rewarding.
How Did You Start Your Career In Care?
Chris admits, that like many people, he fell into Care work by accident. He had tried being a chef, a musician, and hotel work before joining a residential home supporting people with challenging behaviour. In retrospect, he says this was a blessing. He developed an interest in what is called ‘Positive Behaviour Support’ and quickly become a senior key worker after being thrown in at the deep end.
I switched to home care, also known as domiciliary care. I learned a lot about the differences between home care compared to residential. The need to plan routes and travel times, how to attract the right staff, and all the regulations and processes required to pass CQC inspections.
Why Kingsway Care?
I had been a Registered Manager for another company but felt the time was right to do things my way. I spent the early days of Kingsway Care setting up processes and networking. We met some great people, particularly through AgeUK. Everything fell into place once we gained CQC approval. We were able to start building the fantastic team we have today. (Meet our hands-on management team).
What Does a Typical Day Involve?
Even though every day is different, it starts with a daily morning huddle. The team gets together for 15 minutes or more to discuss any concerns from the previous 24 hours. This could be about recruitment or Clients in the pipeline, complaints or compliments, or noting any improvements that have been made as a result of our care. This is what is so rewarding about the job. Knowing that we have helped improve a Client’s quality of life by increasing their independence, mobility, or general happiness.
This is what is so rewarding about the job. Knowing that we have helped improve a Client’s quality of life by increasing their independence, mobility, or general happiness.
Care Assessments
I’m also responsible for visiting potential Clients to carry out Care Assessments. This is one of my favourite parts of the job. It can take a few hours to really listen and get to know someone, their life history and personality and their family or informal carers. I need to understand how much support they need and how Kingsway Care can help.
Enabling Independent Living
It is always our goal to increase the Client’s independence and improve their quality of life. It’s important to know where to stop and not take over but still provide enough support to maintain the safety, health, and wellbeing of the Client in their own home.
After the visit, it takes a few hours to write up the personalised Care Plan. I also need to make sure we have the capacity to take on new Clients and CareGivers to suit the Client’s personality.
It’s important to involve the family (or friends) that may be stressed out and feeling guilty that they aren’t able to look after the loved one by themselves. It’s very rewarding to receive feedback that we have improved their lives too.
Auditing Medication Charts & Care Notes
Every Thursday, I audit medication charts and Care Notes for each Client. It’s important to do a 360 and spot any errors and find the reasons and take action to correct anything. I also have to check care notes are written in a person-centred way, that they are factual, and action any training improvements that could be made.
Our digital ‘PASS’ system allows us to check the correct medications have been taken at the right time or topical cream applied. We can also sort out repeat prescriptions or discuss concerns with the Client’s doctor. For example one of our Clients had fallen down once too often and it turned out that one of the prescribed medications had a side effect of falling.
Recruitment
The lack of care staff in the UK is constantly in the news and we have to counter-attack the negative stories. It’s my responsibility to make sure we grow in a safe sustainable way and have enough well-trained, competent, and reliable CareGivers. We realised early on that we would need to pay more and provide fantastic working conditions to attract the best staff. Our CareGivers are outstanding but we constantly need more to meet the demand for care at home services. If anyone reading this would like to know more, please visit kingswaycare.com/careers
Training & Development
Every CareGiver has an in-depth three-day induction to Kingsway Care and how we like to do things. The inductions always start with a welcome speech by Olly, the Managing Director and co-founder. He explains how he was the primary carer for his Great Aunt Lily and people sense from the start that we are going to be different.
Kingsway Care Academy
We also have the Kingsway Care Academy, 12-week course for people new to care, leading to the industry-recognised Care Certificate and pay rise on completion. Training, support, and career development are all ongoing with our Field Care Supervisors and our trainers are able to identify strengths and goals.
Flexible Hours
We know that there are a lot of people that would enjoy working in the care sector so we like to be flexible and work around their existing commitments. We have training programmes and jobs with hours to suit mums on school runs or older people that may have grandparent duties, or students that can work around their studies. If you have the right caring attitude, we would love to hear from you.
