Home Care's Golden Thread: Communication

I'm the managing director of Caremark Thanet. Caremark Thanet is a family run business providing care in peoples’ homes. Home care providers like us are businesses; businesses that are part of the service sector. Like any business in any sector, we aim to provide the highest level of customer service that we can.

Customer service has many facets. One facet that is of importance for all businesses is communication.  We provide services to some of the most vulnerable people in our society.  We know; therefore, that for our customers, communication is of particular concern. For this reason, there is a golden thread that runs through all that we do. And it is this:  We always keep you, our customers, informed.

Few people like uncertainty. Whilst uncertainty cannot be eliminated, one of the things we strive to do at Caremark Thanet is to reduce it as much as we can. A sure way to reduce uncertainty is with good communication.  Uncertainty presents itself in different forms. One type of uncertainty occurs when you cannot get answers.  We always try to provide you with swift answers to your questions.

We know that one of the things that you appreciate greatly is that when you telephone us you get to speak with someone who can help you. We may not always have the answer, but we usually know where to find it. We may not have the answer that you want, but we believe that it is better to have the answer than to have no answer at all.  And when we say we’ll ring you back; that’s exactly what we do: we ring you back.

Uncertainty also occurs when things change. Unfortunately, change is a fact of life. Sometimes the world conspires against us and changes are forced upon us – for example, a carer’s car tyre has a puncture when she is on her way to you. When something like this happens, we always try to let you know what is happening as soon as we can.

We are by no means perfect. However, keeping you informed is at the heart of what we do. And on the whole we make a pretty good job of it.

Garry Costain is the Managing Director of Caremark Thanet, a domiciliary care provider with offices in Margate, Kent. Caremark Thanet provides home care services throughout the Isle of Thanet. Garry can be contacted on 01843 235910 or email garry.costain@caremark.co.uk. You can also visit Caremark Thanet's website at www.caremark.co.uk/thanet.