Social Care Awards 2021

18 GHP / Social Care Awards 2021 , Dec20400 Suffolk based company Heritage Care empowers its clients to have agency in their own care. Moving out of a time of challenge for its organisation, it reflects on its past successes and hope for the future. An independent care company that provides dedicated, personable, and professional services, Heritage Care is a small yet exemplary business. As a core ethos, Heritage Care holds its powers of empathy at its heart. It understands that for its clients, the best way they can be cared for is in their own home; moving into supported living may not be an option they wish to take and in fact may be seriously distressing. Heritage Care also endeavours to support the loved ones of its clients. It is a service that works by way of getting to know each patient as an individual to tailor its programmes appropriately, providing both short-term and long-term care packages, including palliative care. As shown by its excellent client retention rate, this personalisation and focus on the patient as a person has been a cornerstone in its success. Whilst Heritage Care is one of many in its industry, with over 100 home care services in Suffolk alone, this cornerstone is what makes it unique. In this way, it recognises that no two people are in the same situation – therefore, every person requires their own specific kind of attention. Furthermore, it believes that every one of its clients should have a say in how their care is handled. It offers them the most leeway possible to alter and adapt the programme to suit their lives, working with families and organisations to Best Domiciliary Care Service - East Anglia do so. Due to the sensitivity of this, Heritage Care’s Directors supervise each team member personally. In this way they can ensure that the business is delivering the standard of care it strives to provide each client, taking a hands-on approach to the role. The Directors also work hard to support their employees, always willing to lend a hand should they need it, showing the commitment that they have to each person. Heritage Care also points out that whilst this supervision and additional support is available to staff should they need it; it often is not required. Its staff are highly trained and competent individuals who approach their duties with care and rigor. Additionally, Heritage Care also invests in continual training and self-development to enrich its staff’s professional capabilities as well as helping them in their careers. It reimburses each staff member for their travel costs and pays them above the national living wage so that each of their colleagues feel valued. The quality of care that it provides across the board has resulted in it being awarded the Top 10 award by homecare.co.uk , a ranking that is decided purely on recommendations and client feedback to decide the winner. In this way, this small yet dedicated team has become an exemplary voice in the field of home care, its standards being among the highest in terms of integrity, dignity, and client agency. In terms of specific services, it offers everything from personal care and milestone preparation to domestic services, medicine supervision and management, shopping, sitting services, and handling transferal to and from appointments. It finds that it scarcely needs to advertise these services however, as due to its stellar reputation, its word of mouth reviews and recommendations ensure it is always in high demand. It has also been careful to make sure that this success does not impact the quality of care. In all its growth, it has been careful to scale its operation slowly and with diligence, forever keeping its core tenants and goals at heart. If it ever feels that the demand is beginning to become more than it can supply for, it will close its doors to new clients to ensure that its current clients are well looked after. Being a small business has been advantageous to Heritage Care to build and maintain relationships with its clients – its one-on-one operation allows for a genuine rapport, and it can offer social activities that go above and beyond the call of duty. That being said, even with the thoroughness of its operational model and its healthy amount of clientele, the business has suffered somewhat in the past year. The pandemic caused its revenue streams to be hit as the economy took the brunt of lack of cash influx and made extra training too costly to offer staff for a time. Cuts implemented by local government have also impacted them greatly, as it has found too often such organisations try to do more things with less funding, which is spread thin as it is. However, despite the hurdles it has had to face in 2020, it is optimistic as it moves in 2021 and beyond. In the future, it seeks to continue to build on the watertight foundation it has built, supporting its staff in all the good work they do. Company: Heritage Care At Home Ltd Contact: Pat Smith Website: www.heritagecareathome.co.uk