Christine Asbury, the chief executive of WCS Care Group Ltd, the first care provider in England to have five homes recognised as ‘Outstanding’ by CQC has spoken out on how other homes can achieve this rating.
Christine said “It’s about helping to create little moments in daily life that make the biggest difference: the laughter over the dinner table, feeling the fresh air on your face while spending quality time outdoors, doing the things you’ve always done and of course trying new experiences.”
Ms Asbury says that achieving five ‘Outstanding’ ratings from CQC does not come easy. It has been with hard work and introducing a set of four key values that has helped to achieve this rating. These values are as follows; ‘play’, ‘be there’, ‘make someone’s day’ and ‘choose your attitude’ and all have been taught to 700-plus team members by Ms Ashbury herself.
The five care homes to achieve this rating are based in Rugby, Nuneaton and Kenilworth and support older people, those living with dementia and those living with physical disabilities and long-term health conditions. They all share ten common attributes:
- Preparation– they make sure every manager is fluent in the Key Lines of Enquiry (KLOEs);
- Pride and confidence– they ensure managers look forward to their inspection as an opportunity to showcase their home;
- Shared responsibility– managers are supported on the day of the inspection to help them remember what they wanted to show the inspector and to help locate all the relevant evidence;
- Leadership– they talk, train and validate leadership at all levels;
- Creativity and innovation– they seek ways to improve the lives of residents;
- Resilience– they are willing to try things and change what isn’t working. Failing gives them the opportunity to get it right;
- People– they ensure the staff (known as the ‘real magic’) are passionate, committed, value driven and caring;
- Opportunities– they grow a strong set of junior managers who are given an opportunity to try, learn, to get things wrong and to be successful;
- Procedures– they have a strong and well understood set of systems and processes in place that are consistent across each home;
- Commitment– ‘The standard you walk past is the standard you accept’ – they ensure staff know that they are responsible for their own behaviour and that of staff around them.
Ms Ashbury’s advice goes further and urges people to be “confident and creative about the care” they provide and to take pride in their home when they’re inspected.
