Caremark Thanet's Care Advice Morning

Caremark Thanet at The Feel Good Factory

One of the great things about living and working in Thanet is that there are so many community organisations. For a community engaged home care provider like Caremark Thanet working with these various groups sits very easily with our ethos. The Feel Good Factory in Margate High Street is one of those organisations.


We were lucky today to go along to The Feel Good Factory - where we were made very welcome - to offer advice about all matters relating to domiciliary care. We met with a number of people who were interested in working in domiciliary care. We were able to explain what working in care is all about and what opportunities are available with Caremark Thanet.

Three of the people we spoke with decided to fill in application forms there and then. We have arranged interviews for these people that will take place in the next few days.


We employ care and support workers from the age of 18 upwards. We know, however, that there are quite a few people in Thanet over the age of 50 who, for one reason or another, are looking to return to work. This was one of our primary aims in visiting the Feel Good Factory today.


So successful was our visit that we will be making regular visits to the Feel Good Factory. We will keep you posted about future visits.

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 emailgarry.costain@caremark.co.uk. You can also visit Caremark Thanet's website at www.caremark.co.uk/thanet.

Caremark Thanet Deliver Easter Eggs

Caremark Thanet Say Thank You to Its Home Care Customers and Carers

For the last five years we have delivered Easter eggs to all our domiciliary care customers and care and support workers. This year is no eggception (sorry).

If there are any eggs left after certain people have got their hands on them, we will have a number of care an support workers out delivering eggs to our customers, and each of our care and support workers will have an egg with his or her name waiting in the office.

We have also donated a few eggs to the elderly care wards at the Queen Mary the Queen Mother Hospital in Margate.

An Easter egg is a small gift but it says an enormous amount. It says thank you to our customers for trusting us to provide your care. It says thank you to our care and support workers for the often magnificent work that you do. And it says to those in hospital that we are all part of one community.

From Caremark Thanet, happy Easter to our customers, our carers an our community.

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 emailgarry.costain@caremark.co.uk. You can also visit Caremark Thanet's website atwww.caremark.co.uk/thanet.

How to Make An Appeal against a NHS Continuing Care Assessment Decision

What Is NHS Continuing Health Care?

In England, NHS Continuing Health Care (NHSCHC) is care funded by the NHS. It is available for people aged 18 and above and is provided to meet physical or mental health care needs that have arisen through disability, accident or illness. NHSCHC is care that takes place away from a hospital.NHSCHC funding is non-means tested. 

Care can be provided in your home or in residential accommodation. For more information on NHSCHC funding see my article here. For much more information go to the website of Care to Be Different. This is an absolutely outstanding resource for anyone having to deal with the arcane complexities of Continuing Health Care Funding.

How to Appeal Against a NHSCHC Assessment Decision

Following your full needs assessment for NHSCHC you should be sent a written explanation of the decision. If you are assessed as being not eligible, you should also be told how you can make an appeal. In short, there are three appeal opportunities.

1. Review by the Local Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG)

Your first appeal is to ask the CCG to review the decision. Each CCG may adopt a different procedure. However, details of each CCG's procedure should be publicly available, a copy of which you can request from your CCG. CCG's should deal with all requests for reviews promptly, but, sadly, you will find many stories of delays.

2. Review by an Independent Review Panel

If you are unsuccessful in your local review, your next step is to appeal to an independent panel. To do this you need to appeal in writing to NHS England. The review panel will meet locally.

3. Appeal to the Ombudsman

If you are unsuccessful at the independent review, you can refer your case to the  Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO). The letter you receive informing you of the independent review panel's decision should explain how your can refer the matter to the Ombudsman.

Further Information

The information in this article is deliberately brief. You can find more details in this document produced by Age UK. Also, the Care to Be Different website is excellent.

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.

Airbnb Style Care: A Get Well (Re)Venue

The Challenge Facing Hospitals

It is well known that hospitals are facing major challenges in discharging patients. The equation is a very simple one: only one patient can occupy one bed at one time. Therefore, every patient who is not discharged prevents a new patient being admitted.

Many patients who are discharged require a package of care to be put in place, typically provided by home care companies. It has today been reported in several newspapers and other media that trials are to take place in Essex under which homeowners will be paid £50 a night  (perhaps up to £1000 per month) to accept patients who are discharged from hospital. The homeowner will prepare three microwave meals per day and provide a bed for the patient. It has been referred to as Airbnb style care and, obviously, there have been accusations of care on the cheap.

Who Could Possibly Benefit?

There are many arguments - social, ethical, political, business - that can be put against such a service. However, for me the most compelling argument against it is that I find it very hard to see who is going to accept - willingly - this service.

The reason I find this so difficult to fathom, is that the one group of people who might benefit from such a service are people who will need some personal care or medication support upon discharge. This is a fairly usual situation. However, the provision of a regulated activity - as many people have pointed out - must be delivered by a provider who is registered with the Care Quality Commission. The company leading this trial in Essex, a company called CareRooms, would appear not to be so registered. However, their website reads:

"We have converted spare rooms in people's private homes within the local community. These CareRooms are equipped with monitoring equipment, mobility aids, external carers and technology to educate patients on their illness/injury and how best to avoid readmission."

Forgive the note of cynicism in my voice as I point out the obvious. If the rooms are "equipped with ...external carers...", are these carers in addition to the home owner? If they are, will they be there all the time? If the answer to that is yes who pays? Even if the answer is no, who pays? And if they are carers, are they carrying out anything that is classed as a regulated activity? I could go on, but I won't. 

I won't go on because I want to share this with you.  CareRooms' website also says:

"Rent out your spare room when it suits you, get complimentary care training all the while you help those in need."

I'm sorry, but I have to state the obvious, again. Why provide care training if the people you train do not deliver care?

Just one more nugget from CareRooms:

"Assist those who want to stay in the family home and live independently longer."

Nothing wrong with that apart from the question of whose family home is being referred to?

If CareRooms are going to be providing a regulated activity, either they must have to play by the same rules as every other care company or every other care company gets to play by the same rules as CareRooms.

If there is no care - regulated activity care - then who is going to stay with a stranger after being discharged from hospital? If you need a meal preparation service only, surely you will go home and have the service provided by a domiciliary care company. Three meal preparation calls a day will be cheaper than paying CareRooms. If you are fit to be discharged, there is only one place to go: home. If you are not fit to be discharged, there is only one place to be: hospital. If you are fit to be discharged but need a little help there is only one alternative: care from a registered provider.

And Finally

I wonder if hospitals would considered renting out their beds to people looking for bed and breakfast accommodation? What do you think?

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.

Do You Work in Domiciliary Care?

Do You Work in Domiciliary Care?

Are you looking for something new?

We are Caremark Thanet: Providers of Outstanding Domiciliary Care to the Residents of Thanet.

We are looking to recruit a small number of experienced care and support workers to supplement our existing team. We are looking for people to cover: Margate, Ramsgate, Broadstairs, Westgate and Birchington.

If you would like to find out more about the opportunities that are available with us please telephone  01843 235910. 

You can also visit our website: www.caremark.co.uk

and Facebook page: facebook.com/caremarkthanet

If you feel that we are the type of company that you would like to work for: telephone me now.

Understanding Care Services: NHS Continuing Health Care

What Is NHS Continuing Health Care?

In England, NHS Continuing Health Care (NHSCHC) is care funded by the NHS. It is available for people aged 18 and above and is provided to meet physical or mental health care needs that have arisen through disability, accident or illness. NHSCHC is care that takes place away from a hospital. Care can be provided in your home or in residential accommodation.

Who Qualifies for NHS Continuing Health Care?

You will qualify for NHSCHC if you are assessed as having a primary health need. The NHS Choices website provides a very unhelpful circular definition of this. A primary health need, it is explained, is one that is on-going and substantial and is related to your health. An assessment will take into account the nature and complexity of your needs; the intensity and severity of your needs, and the unpredictability of your needs.

How Do You Get NHS Continuing Health Care?

In short, you need to be assessed. The assessment is carried out by a multidisciplinary NHS team. There is no right to an assessment, but if it seems that you might need NHSCHC then the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) for your area must carry out an assessment.

The fact that you have a long term medical condition is not, of itself, a qualification for NHSCHC. However, the following circumstances are likely to suggest that an assessment is appropriate. 1. Where  you are due to be discharged from hospital and you have long term needs, 2 Where a period of intermediate care has come to an end, 3. Where your health declines significantly, 4. Where you are approaching the end of your life, 5. Where you reside in a nursing home and your health care needs are under review and 6. Where your health and social care needs are being assessed as part of a community care assessment.

In most circumstances, there is a two stage assessment process. The first stage is an initial assessment. The purpose of this is to decide if you need a full assessment. The initial assessment may be completed by a doctor, social worker or other health care professional.

The full assessment is carried out by two or more health and/or care professionals. The assessment looks at the following criteria: behaviour, cognition (understanding), communication, psychological/emotional needs, mobility, nutrition (food and drink), continence, skin (including wounds and ulcers), breathing, symptom control through drug therapies and medication, altered states of consciousness, other significant needs.

Each of those criteria (or domains) is assessed on the following scale: no needs, low needs, moderate needs, high needs, severe needs or priority needs. The criteria in bold are assessed, on the full scale, from low through to priority. The criteria in italics are assessed from low to severe. The remainder are assessed from low through to high.

You will be eligible for NHSCHC if one or more criteria are assessed at the priority level or two or more criteria are assessed as severe. You may also be eligible if one criteria is assessed as severe and you have needs assessed in a number or other criteria or a number of criteria are assessed as high and/or moderate.

A two stage assessment is obviously a little time consuming. It can take 28 days from the initial assessment to determine you eligibility by way of a full assessment. Clearly in some cases this is far too slow. There is, therefore, a fast track procedure that can be used where your condition is worsening and/or you are terminally ill.

What Is the Cost of NHS Continuing Health Care?

There is no cost to you if you qualify for NHSCHC.

Who Provides NHS Continuing Health Care Services?

NHSCHC services can be provided by any number of health professionals including physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists and domiciliary carers. When you are assessed as being eligible for NHSCHC, you will be allocated a personal health budget. This is an amount of money that is used to support the needs that you have. It is similar to the personal budgets allocated by social services to support social care needs.

Just as with a social care personal budget, you can ask for your personal health budget to be paid to you in the form of a direct payment. A direct payment puts you in control of choosing who supplies your services. You don’t have to do this. You may, however, enjoy the freedom and choice that direct payments give you. You can find out more about personal health budgets and direct payments on this page.

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.

Will You Support John’s Campaign?

What Is John’s Campaign?

I want to tell you about a campaign; it’s a very special campaign; you may have heard of it; you may not; it’s called John’s Campaign. If you’ve heard of it you’ll know how important it is; if you haven’t heard of it, let me tell you why it’s important; it’s important because it deals with an issue that will touch the lives of many of us at some point: John’s Campaign is the campaign for the right to stay with people with dementia in hospital.

The campaign was named after Dr John Gerrard who died five weeks after entering hospital in November 2014. John was aged 86 when he died. He had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease when he was in his mid-70s. He went into hospital to have treatment for leg ulcers. His family described his decline as catastrophic.

Going into hospital is unnerving and unsettling for most of us. For someone with dementia who is already confused, insecure and frightened the experience is something that we can only try to imagine. How can any society with any claims to being a compassionate one deny people with dementia the comfort of having a familiar figure with them when they are in hospital? One of the most important elements of support that people with dementia can be given is the reassurance that comes from having trusted people with them.

June Andrews, Professor of dementia studies at the University of Stirling puts things starkly: “…for many [people with dementia], getting admitted [to hospital] is the top of a slippery slope.” To find out what things might be encountered once on the slippery slope I recommend Andrews’ article to you. Further information is provided as follows by the Alzheimer’s Society:

• Over a quarter of hospital beds in the UK are currently occupied by people with dementia
• The average stay of a person with dementia is three weeks but it can be much longer if rehabilitation is a problem or there is nowhere suitable to go
• One third of people with dementia who go into hospital for an unrelated condition NEVER return to their own homes
• 47% of people with dementia who go into hospital are physically less well when they leave than when they went in
• 54% of people with dementia who go into hospital are mentally less well when they leave than when they went in

As things stand, there is no general right for carers, family or friends to stay with people with dementia when they are in hospital. Practice varies from hospital to hospital and from ward to ward. By supporting John’s Campaign you will be supporting the right to stay with people with dementia in hospital.

What Can You Do?

1.      Go to the website of John’s Campaign, in particular this page, which explains different things you can do.

2.      Download, read and disseminate widely the John’s Campaign Statement.

3.      This is an election year. You can question candidates about how they and their parties stand on the issue.

4.      Write to your local NHS trust and ask what its policy is.

5.      Go to the John’s Campaign Facebook page, like it and encourage all your friends to do the same.

It strikes us as almost unbelievable today that there was once a time - and it was a time in the not too distant past - that parents were not allowed to stay with their sick children in hospital. The generation who won the right for parents to stay with their children when they are in hospital is the generation who will benefit when John’s campaign succeeds.

If you have read this far, please support John’s Campaign.

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.

Domiciliary Care and the Art of Customer Service

Introduction
My wife and I run a domiciliary care company. We are based in Thanet down in South East Kent. We are a business. We are part of the service sector. We provide a very important service to some of the most vulnerable people in our society. We view our customers in the same way as any outstanding business should, which means that our philosophy is very simple. We aim to provide outstanding domiciliary care to each of our customers: And on that we will never compromise.

Customer service, therefore, is at the very core of what we do. We know our customers have choices. They can choose to go to one of Thanet’s many other home care providers. However, we want them to exercise their choices in favour of us. We want people to become our customers, remain our customers and recommend us to others who will in turn become our customers.


Customer service is not a science; it is much more of an art, and as with any art there are imperfections. My approach to customer service has been shaped, principally, by personal experience and by the views of certain writers on the subject. From these two particular influences I have adopted a number of principles that I believe are at the heart of outstanding customer services. I hope you will read on to find out more.

Lessons from Experience

Shortly after my twentieth birthday I went to work in an art gallery. My job was to make the picture frames. The business was run by one man, I’ll call him Peter. We did quite a bit of work for restaurants and pubs. We would source and frame pictures around the particular theme of a restaurant, pub or whatever the establishment might be.

We also did some bespoke work. Customers would bring in their pictures or photographs and we would frame them. A few customers would buy pictures from us. Many of these would be prints of famous paintings – the impressionists were quite popular. Selling pictures – particularly original and limited edition pictures – was an aspect of the business that Peter wanted to expand; but it never really happened, for good reasons as you will discover below.

Peter was not an easy man to get on with. Many people simply did not like him and would do their best to avoid him. He knew this and, publicly at least, took great delight in it. On occasions, however, he could be charming. More often, he could be rude, arrogant and, at times, thoroughly obnoxious.

Peter frequently displayed his less desirable traits towards his customers (more usually potential customers who were soon dissuaded from becoming customers). There were a small number of customers who came back time and time again. These people were treated by Peter with a service that was almost servile – and I could never work out what it was about this handful of people that Peter treated very differently from the vast majority of others who came into the shop.

With most potential customers Peter revelled in being contrary. If customers asked for advice: he’d refuse; if customers did not want advice: they got it forced upon them; if a particular moulding for a frame was out of stock: he would refuse to order it for customers who requested it; if a particular moulding was in stock; he’d insist that customers who wanted it must have another. I could go on, but you get the picture (pun intended!).

Peter went out of business in about 1986. I’d left a couple of years before. I was not surprised to discover that he went out of business; I was surprised that Peter lasted as long as he did. As I said above, Peter never expanded the picture selling arm of his business and the picture framing aspect was always a very small part of what we did. It was the work for pubs and restaurants that brought in the money, which was never very secure at the best of times.

The recession of the 1980s forced hospitality chains to curtail their spending. This had a devastating effect on the business. By 1981, Peter had started to feel the squeeze, but did little to improve things. From about 1983, the business was in trouble. By 1984, the work from the hospitality companies was not enough to keep the business afloat. There was certainly a market for the bespoke framing service: competitors locally appeared to be doing very well notwithstanding the recession. Peter, however, continued to bite that hand that wanted to feed him.

Whilst I worked for Peter, I never thought too much about how Peter ran his business. I guess I found it amusing. Sadly, though, it wasn’t amusing for the people who lost their jobs when Peter went under.

Customer Service

I am obsessed with customer service. That is no exaggeration. If I’m on the receiving end of poor customer service I’m – to put it mildly – angry. If any of my staff are responsible for poor customer service I’m equally angry – perhaps even angrier – and that anger is accompanied by heavy doses of disappointment and regret at what they have done and contrition towards the customer we have failed. Once again: that is no exaggeration.

Marketers – especially social media and content marketers – often say that content is king. That may have a great deal of merit lying behind it. However, it is the customer who rules. The customer has always ruled; the customer will always rule. Provide your customers with what they want and you are more likely to retain them as customers. Retain your customers and give them outstanding experiences and those customers are more likely to recommend your services to others.

This is not exactly ground-breaking stuff. If you take a look on the reverse of a Bank of England £20 note you will see a picture of a singularly brilliant man. Adam Smith lived during the eighteenth century during which time he was a key figure in the Scottish Enlightenment. He held a chair in moral philosophy at Glasgow University and is sometime referred to as the father of modern economics.

Amongst Smith's many erudite utterances stands one that contemporary businesses, however large or however small, would do well to heed. The real cost of any product or service, explained Smith, is the time and trouble of acquiring it. For latter day business people the message is that you should ensure that your company has a customer centred philosophy that delivers superior value.

In Search of Excellence

Today there is a mass popular business book publishing industry like never before. I have to say that I’ve never been that keen on that particular type of book, with a few notable exceptions, one of which is In Search of Excellence by Tom Peters and Robert Waterman, the book that some commentators credit with creating that aforementioned publishing phenomenon. I have written about this book before, and I have no doubt that I shall write about it again. I should wholeheartedly recommend it as staple reading for anyone in business.

The book has come in for a bit of criticism in recent years, not least because some of the companies held up by the authors as paragons of excellence have seen their fortunes dip in the years since the book’s publication in 1982. However, many of the books principles, I should suggest, are sound, and offer businesses a source of first rate advice for improving their customer service.

I confess that I have drunk deeply from the cup that is In Search of Excellence and become intoxicated on the “… eight common themes which [Peters and Waterman] argued were responsible for the success of [their] chosen corporations, which have become pointers for managers ever since.” I’m not expressly going to refer to those themes; however, much of what follows is underpinned by the work of those two authors.

All Experiences Are Valuable

I’ve always taken the view that all experiences are valuable. Human beings learn from experience. Sometimes the worst experiences are the ones we learn most from. My time working for Peter in no way constitutes a bad experience. Quite the reverse in fact: it was a time when I was extremely happy. My time with Peter, though, did provide me with a formidable learning experience. I came to appreciate this many years after I left Peter’s gallery.

I am going to go through just six principles that I consider to be central to providing outstanding customer service. My time with Peter offers me innumerable examples of a business failing to follow these simple rules and, ultimately, suffering the consequences.

The following are not the only principles of outstanding customer service: there are others. The following may not be the most important principles: there may be others that could conceivably claim a higher ranking. They are not principles in any particular order: there is a solid case to be made for all to share star billing. One thing is sure, however: companies that fail to do these things are not providing outstanding customer service. Indeed, fail to do these things and providing outstanding customer service is next door to impossible.

Principle Number One: Always Be Polite

I know this is obvious: it is obvious. But how often does it fail to happen? How often have you been subjected to the rudeness of some company employee? Let’s look at things from the employee’s point of view: customers might rule but sometimes they can be very challenging. And that is very true. Impoliteness is not a one way street. For that reason, employees who deal with the public need very special skills.

Many might disagree with this but I’ll put it out there anyway. There are some things that cannot be taught, and one of those things that cannot be taught is how to deal with people. Either you can deal with people or you can’t. If you can’t deal with people, there are a few things you can learn to make things easier for you, but you will never learn how to do it in the way that it is done by someone to whom it comes naturally. It is something that is innate.

Even Peter knew this. He knew that he could upset people just by being in their presence. Fortunately, he had someone who was far better at dealing with customers than he was. I'll call her Beth. She’d worked for him for a number of years. Now and again he would let her deal with customers. I never knew what the criteria were for assigning Beth to these customers. Peter never gave any reasons; however, he was quite open about the fact that when he sent Beth to deal with customers it was because he wanted to win their business.

Principle Number Two: Answer the Telephone

When I worked for Peter, I never answered the telephone. Peter insisted that he or Beth answered it. If he was in the gallery he would usually answer it. If he was busy Beth would answer it.

Some companies set targets for how quickly the telephone has to be answered. There’s nothing wrong with such a target so long as answering the ‘phone is not the job of just one person who has multiple other tasks to do and things are so busy that the ‘phone rings every five or six minutes.

Peter used to set a target for how quickly (or more accurately how slowly) the ‘phone had to be answered. He used to say that it should ring fifteen times at least. His reasoning – I’m not sure whether dignifying what follows as being the product of reason is justified - was that if the call was important the caller would hang on or would ring back!

If someone is taking the time to ring my company then it is right that I should assume that the call is important. What may seem a trivial matter to me may well be of monumental importance to the caller. Of course, there are times when it is physically impossible to answer the ‘phone immediately. Today, however, there are various ways that customers can leave you a message and you can then ring them back the first moment you have a chance.

Principle Number Three: Return Telephone Calls

This follows on from the above principle about answering the ‘phone. Inevitably, there will be times when a customer calls and the person she wants to speak with is unavailable. It beggars belief that anyone in business would not claim it as a company mantra that calls must be returned at the earliest opportunity. It may beggar belief but the failure to return calls happens all too frequently.

I have no idea how many customers Peter failed to gain (and how many existing ones he lost) through his arrogant insistence of returning only certain calls. Peter would go out once or twice every week usually to auctions or art galleries. He would be out the whole day and Beth would answer the ‘phone and diligently take down messages for Peter’s return (these were the days before mobile ‘phones).

Beth told me that he would return calls from friends and usually from designers who worked for the large hospitality chains. He would never return a call from a name he did not recognise, unless it was a new designer, and rarely return a call from private customers even if he did recognise the name. When the gallery was doing quite well in 1979 – 1980, Beth said it was rare to receive fewer than 10-12 calls a day.

Just recently I had to contact a local firm of solicitors. In my area this firm is very well known. I asked to be put through to the department I needed on five separate occasions spread over about five weeks. On each occasion there was no one there to take my call. On each occasion I asked if someone could call me back. On each occasion I was assured that I would be telephoned. On no occasion was my call returned.

In my business, it is not too much of an overstatement to say that my insistence that staff return calls at their earliest opportunity comes close to being a mania with me. I have four simple rules. Number one, if you are asked to return a customer’s call, return the call as soon as possible. Number two, the person who takes the call initially should indicate to the caller when the person the caller wishes to speak with will be available. Number three, if there is someone else who can deal with the matter then that person should have the call transferred to him immediately or should be asked to call the customer at the earliest opportunity. Number four, always keep the customer informed, which brings me to my next customer service principle, number four…

…always keep the customer informed…

…because sometimes the world conspires against you and you cannot do what you have said you will do. In my experience, people are very reasonable so long as you let them know what is going on.

When customers brought pictures into Peter’s gallery to be framed they would be given a receipt and on that receipt Peter would write a date from which customers could collect their framed pictures. All too often, we failed to have the pictures framed and ready for collection by that date. Some customers were fairly phlegmatic about things; some were irritated; some were angry. If Peter dealt with the angry ones the outcome was almost inevitably that they were given back their unframed picture and told to go elsewhere. If Beth dealt with them, in Peter’s absence, she would ensure that the picture was framed within the hour and we had a relatively happy customer. I don’t recall once our ever doing the simple task of ‘phoning a customer to tell him his picture would not be ready on the day we said it would be ready.

It is always a salutary experience for managers and business owners to put themselves into their customers’ shoes. They should do it often and ask the question: “As a customer, what are the things that are likely to make me view a business in a particularly unfavourable light?” High on the list of answers will surely be: “Not knowing what is going on”.

Principle Number Five: Say Yes

There are few words more pleasant for a customer to hear than “yes we can do that for you”. Don’t misunderstand me here. I’m not for a moment suggesting that you should say yes to everything that customers ask for, however unreasonable. If you are an electrician you’re probably not going to agree to plaster a customer’s walls; if you’re a physiotherapist you might draw a line at dental surgery, and if you’re a tree surgeon unblocking drains may not be your thing.

The point I’m getting at here, is that businesses should take every opportunity to delight their customers with the services that they can offer. Electricians may not plaster walls but they may well be able to recommend someone who can do the job.

A couple of years ago we took out a group of staff for lunch at Christmas. The choice was a Christmas menu, which some people wanted, or the normal menu, which others wanted.  However, the restaurant insisted that if you were sat on one table you must all choose from one menu or the other. Eight people on one table had to have the same menu. Eight people split into two groups of four and each group on a separate table could have had a different menu.

Once again, I should exhort business owners to put themselves in the position of their customers. Peter either could not do this or perversely could do it very well and knew exactly how to make his customers miserable. Beth seemingly had the ability to empathise with customers.

Principle Number Six: Promise Less; Deliver More

I think this principle is very much implicit in much of what has gone before. Never, and I mean never, promise what you know you cannot deliver. Just in case I haven’t made that clear let me say it again: never promise what you know you cannot deliver. The temptation is often to promise something to win business even though you know the chance of your delivering on your promise is less than that of winning the national lottery jackpot (and that by the way is a one in 13 983 816 chance; your chance of being hit by lightning is significantly higher).

For a small period of time I worked in car sales (this was after my time with Peter). Note I didn’t say that I sold cars. I didn’t say that because it would be stretching a point to say that I sold cars. The reason I worked in car sales for a short period of time is that I was not particularly successful at selling cars. The point of this is that I used to work with sales people who would promise almost anything to get the sale. The consequences of this were usually three-fold (at the minimum). First, there would be a pretty upset customer to deal with at some point in the near future following the promise that had been made but not fulfilled. Two, that customer would not come back to the dealership a second time. Three, that customer would never recommend the dealership to people he or she knew.

Conclusion

I know what you are thinking: you’re thinking that surely some of these principles clash with each other. For example, principles five and six appear, potentially, to be inconsistent with each other. And you would be right to point that out. But that’s the problem with any system of principles: unless there is a hierarchy of principles clashes are inevitable.

Providing outstanding customer service is not a science; it’s an art. There will be times when things go wrong; there will be times when you cannot do what you would like to do for your customers, and there will certainly be times where you are faced with dilemmas. Do one thing and you get an undesirable by-product; do a second and you get a different undesirable by-product. In situations like this I should submit that the course of action you should take is the one that is least damaging to the customer. The alternative is to do what Peter would have done: take great delight in upsetting a customer.

 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.

Eight Things You Should Know about Community Care Assessments from Kent County Council

Introduction

In order to get financial help from Kent social services for your home care needs there are two assessments that social services must undertake.  

To take these in reverse order; the second assessment that is carried out is a means test. This determines whether you are entitled to have your home care provision paid for in full by social services; partly paid for by social services or not paid for at all by social services –  in this last case, in other words you have to pay for it yourself. There is, though, an assessment that comes before this.

The first assessment is one of your care needs. This is known as a community care assessment. You may also hear it referred to as a care needs assessment. This article deals with the community care assessment only.  

The information that follows applies specifically to adults. It is also aimed at people looking for domiciliary care (home care) although much of what is said applies to people seeking residential care.

Here are eight things you should know about community care assessments from Kent social services. 

1. Kent County Council (KCC) has a statutory duty to carry out community care assessments. 

Local authorities, like Kent County Council, often have statutory duties placed upon them. What this means is that there exists a law that has been passed by Parliament – a law contained in an Act of Parliament, also known as a statute – that places the local authority under an obligation to do something. When such a duty exists, it is something that a local authority cannot fail to do. Such is the case with community care assessments. Local authorities, like KCC, therefore, are under a duty imposed by law to carry out community care assessments.  

2. The Duty to carry out community care assessments is interpreted in such a way that means that in practice it is highly improbable that KCC can refuse to carry out an assessment of your care needs.

The law imposing the duty says that if it appears that you may need community care services that your local authority may be able to provide then your local authority has a duty to carry out an assessment of your care needs.  

Even in circumstances where the KCC believes that you have little chance of qualifying for community care services: it must still conduct the assessment. Even in circumstances where KCC believes that you will not qualify financially for social services help: it must still conduct the assessment.

If you are disabled Kent County Council has an additional duty imposed upon it by law to carry out an assessment. 

3. If you are a carer who looks after someone (your wife, husband, relative or friend), you are also entitled to have a community care assessment. 

If you look after someone, you can request a community care assessment when the person you care for is being assessed. You are entitled to an assessment even if the person you care for decides not to have an assessment of his or her needs undertaken. 

4. To get a community care assessment your first step is to make a referral to Kent social services. 

You can do this yourself. Alternatively, a relative, friend or carer can do this on your behalf. You can also be referred by your GP or another health or social care worker. To contact Kent Social Services you can telephone: 03000 41 61 61 (text relay 18001 03000 41 61 61) or email social.services@kent.gov.uk.  You can also drop into a Gateway Plus Centre. There are several of these in Kent and you can find their locations by following this link. 

5. To get an assessment takes about 28 days from the day of referral.  

Although local authorities have a duty to conduct community care assessments, there is no duty placed on them that dictates how quickly they must deal with referrals. There are guidelines; however, and the guidelines state that referrals must be processed within 48 hours and the whole procedure completed within 28 days. Kent County Council says that in most cases it completes assessments within a month. In an emergency, a local authority can put in place temporary care services.

6. Assessments usually take place in your home.

If you are seeking home care this is the best location for an assessment to take place. It is possible for alternative locations, like a GPs’ surgery, to be used. If you are a little unsure about explaining your needs to someone, you might like to have someone with you at your assessment. This person will sometimes be referred to as your advocate, that is, someone who speaks on your behalf. 

It is also possible for assessments to be done by telephone. This may be fine for simple assessments but it is not advisable if you have more complex care needs. Telephone assessments are controversial because they can be used as a means of screening out people before the formal assessment is conducted.  

You may also be asked to carry out a self-assessment of your care needs. This may help you focus your mind on what your needs are but in no way should it be used as a substitute for a formal community care assessment.

7. Your care needs will be assessed as falling into one of four categories. 

The community care assessments measures the risk to your independence and well-being if nothing more is done – in other words what is the risk to your independence and well-being if no care is provided. 

The four categories are referred to as eligibility criteria and they are called: critical, substantial, moderate and low.These criteria are a measure of how serious your needs are. 

In the first, and most serious, category your needs are judged to be critical. If your needs fall into this category then your life may be at risk, and/or you have significant health problems, and/or you are at risk of serious abuse or neglect if nothing else is done. 

In the second category your needs are deemed to be substantial, which means that if nothing more is done you will havelimited choice and control over your living environment and/or you will be at risk of abuse or neglect. You will not be able to carry out most of your personal care or domestic tasks. 

The third, moderate category, without more being done you are not able to carry out several tasks relating to your personal care or domestic tasks. You are not able to maintain a lot of contact with society or take an active part in family life. 

In the final, low category, will not able to carry out one or two tasks relating to your personal care or domestic tasks without more being done. 

Many local authorities will provide funding for care only where your needs fall into one of the first two categories. Kent County Council provides funding for care falling into the first three categories. 

If you qualify for funding you are said to have an eligible need or eligible needs. However, even though you have an eligible need you will still need to qualify on a means test. 

8. If you are assessed as not having eligible needs, or you feel the assessment of your needs is inadequate, you can appeal. 

You must ask for the decision in writing. You need to know the reason why you have been assessed as you have. Make sure that you are aware of the local authority’s complaints procedure. Kent County council has a complaints team at: Brenchley House, 123-135 Week Street, Maidstone, Kent ME14 1RF.  Telephone:  03000 410 410 or:  Brook House, Reeves Way, John Wilson Business Park, Whitstable, Kent CT5 3SS.  Telephone : 03000 410 410. Alternatively you can email them at: complaintsteamadults@kent.gov.uk.

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 23591001843 235910 or email garry.costain@caremark.co.uk. You can also visit Caremark Thanet's website at www.caremark.co.uk/thanet.