COMMUNICATIONS
a strong and consistent presence in local media. All local sites will want good quality photographs and video. Without a publishable picture, you don’t have a story. Finally, resist volume. Even the nation’s biggest
companies aren’t in the news every week. How often do you actually have something new and newsworthy to say? Worse still, chasing output causes burnout and internal interest wanes when results dry up. One media activity a month, executed well, is far more valuable than one a week. Two great social media posts with high engagement achieve far more than ones a day achieving zero likes.
The day it goes wrong Most days, for most providers, things are going well. But we all know that someone somewhere is having a bad day, be that at the hands of a regulator, following a family complaint, or when ‘force majeure’ strikes. And on those days, it’s more important than ever to make sure you have a robust communication plan.
Before your best day
Name a comms owner. One person who needs to think about communications. Make it a core part of their role, not something they fit in once other priorities are completed. Plan ahead. There’s nothing worse than finding out about a great initiative a little too late to do anything with it. Check in with your team fortnightly to find out what’s coming up and what is worth the extra 10 per cent effort. Be clear on what you need. Give colleagues a clear brief on what you need from them in terms of detail on an event, personal stories from residents, and usable photos, preferably with examples. Photos of a buffet spread are never published by the news, but happy and smiling residents are.
22 THE CARE HOME INDUSTRY HANDBOOK 2027
Before your worst day
Name your response team. Make sure you know who’s on the team, what their role is, and whether everyone has each other’s mobile numbers. A plan without current names and contact details is not a plan. Agree a sign-off route. Journalists work to
hard deadlines. If they say 5pm, they mean it. Make sure you know who is signing off content, who the backup is, and how the system works out of hours. Have a holding line ready. You don’t have
to wait to be asked for a statement, you can draft a template today. Imagine you’ve had an Inadequate CQC report; what do you want to say to your stakeholders?
At the very least, make sure you have the basics
in place. How can journalists contact you directly? What’s the process for agreeing a media response? What do you do if key people, like the CEO or the owner, are on holiday or uncontactable? Who has the social media logins if you need to make a post over the weekend? Where are your family contact details stored and how quickly could you reach everyone in an emergency – such as a full home evacuation following a fire? Think about what your worst day might be,
and what communications you might need to do on that day, and the days that follow. Plot out the branching scenarios and put an outline plan in place for each. Make sure you review and date it regularly; there’s nothing worse than a crisis protocol listing people who no longer work at the organisation! Two rules for the day itself. Communicate
with families and colleagues before the media; they need to be on your side and there’s nothing worse than a family member giving comment to the media and adding fuel to the fire. And never say ‘no comment’ – it adds nothing and vacuums
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