Occupancy rates
reception looks drab, it is likely to amplify any negative perceptions. Alternatively, if you ensure that a
friendly member of staff is there to greet them and the reception is warm and welcoming, they are more likely to have a positive impression of your home from the offset. The customer experience is also key.
Investing in a customer relationship manager, who conducts all tours and understands how to communicate your care home’s positives, allay concerns and manage smooth follow-ups will help calm and reassure visitors – and give them the confidence they need to vote with their feet. As part of this experience, having a welcome pack with statistics and reports that demonstrate your care home’s excellence can be a valuable additional tool.
3. Commercials The primary purpose of a care home is to look after some of the most vulnerable members in society, giving them a warm environment in which to spend their final years. Although caring is the primary focus, like all businesses, care homes do need to make a return both for reinvestment purposes and to give providers and owners the income they need to make their investment viable. Unfortunately, low occupancy rates
can create a vicious cycle, feeding into poor compliance and confidence, and so further damaging commercials. With more empty beds, it is likely that
you will have to reduce your staff, make cuts to the services you are able to offer and limit the facilities you can provide,
and your investment in them. If this happens, it will be reflected in data about your home, such as CQC reports, which will further damage confidence in your care home and reduce the amount you are able to charge residents. As well as focusing on confidence
and compliance as ways to improve your care home’s commercials, there are some other general principles that will help to meet your home’s overheads and improve profitability. A great way to provide immediate relief
on the commercials in your care home is to look at your staff recruitment and retention. Recruiting staff is expensive, taking up a lot of managerial time and training new staff is always going to have costs associated with it. It is therefore a good idea to work
at retaining more of your current staff by ensuring that you are offering competitive pay and investing in their career progression – in the long-run, this will end up saving you money. Another great way to improve the
commercials of your care home is to offer a more specialised level of care; homes that offer dementia care or care for those with complex needs are able to charge more. If you can find a specialism and employ the necessary people to deliver this level of care, this can be a great way to improve your care home’s commercial success.
Conclusion Ultimately, the care sector has been severely impacted by the coronavirus crisis. The devastating images of care homes that were displayed on a daily basis at the start of the pandemic are unfortunately engraved in the public’s minds and it is going to take time to improve confidence in the industry as a whole. Despite this, if you focus on improving
the three Cs - compliance, confidence, and commercials - at your care home, you will start to see a steady rise in your currency with your local community, which will help to restore your occupancy rates, as well as helping improve wider perceptions of the sector.
designated-settings-care-home-capacity.
2 . Christie & Co, Care Mid-Year Review 2021, July 2021,
https://www.christie.com/news- resources/publications/july-2021/care-mid- year-review-2021/.
3. Office for National Statistics, Deaths involving COVID-19 in the care sector, England and Wales, May 2021,
https://www.ons.gov.uk/ peoplepopulationandcommunity/ birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/articles/ deathsinvolvingcovid19inthecaresector englandandwales/deathsregisteredbetween weekending20march2020andw eekending2april2021.
4. Care Quality Commission, Publication of statistics on deaths involving COVID-19 in care homes in England: transparency statement, July 2021
https://www.cqc.org. uk/publications/major-reports/publication- statistics-deaths-involving-covid-19-care- homes-england.
Tony Thiru TCHE
References 1. Care Quality Commission, COVID Insight 6: Designated settings and care home capacity, December 2020
https://www.cqc.org.uk/ publications/major-reports/covid-insight-6-
20
Tony Thiru is chief executive officer of Fulcrum Care, a care consultancy firm that helps improve both resident outcomes and the commercials of care homes for owners, managers and investors in England. As well as managing Fulcrum, Tony still plays an active role in providing consultancy for their clients and specialises in compliance, risk mitigation and troubleshooting, with a track record in transforming failing care homes. Tony and his team at Fulcrum are keen proponents in using technology to help improve the work lives of carers, the experience of residents and to help modernise the care sector altogether.
www.thecarehomeenvironment.com • December 2021
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