Z Cares supports newly registered and established providers at all stages of their journey.
I believe that care should be personalised. This includes care given to providers, who are as unique as the people they support.
I therefore offer flexible support designed to support you wherever you are in your journey.
Newly registered providers
Congratulations you! Registration can be a fraught process and not everyone makes it out in one piece. As a sensible provider you know it’s just the beginning of your journey and want to make sure you continue to get it right.
If you’re both registered manager and nominated individual, it’s sometimes hard to avoid “marking your own work” or have another potential conflict of interest, contributing to the CQC’s dislike when someone holds both roles – yet around half of RMs are also the NI.
When in that position, it’s very useful to have a “critical friend”, expert advisor, mentor and second opinion. In the absence of a CQC rating, it’s also reassuring for potential clients to see that you have external quality support.
Established providers
The CQC have been slightly distracted over the last couple of years and one particularly frustrating aspect of this for providers has been the lack of inspections.
This is particularly frustrating for providers with no rating or an outdated Requires Improvement preventing them from getting the best contracts, but even Good and Outstanding services are now finding their reports to be so old as to be losing their value as an asset.
The lack of a new Ratings Characteristics-style guidance for the new framework has also introduced a level of uncertainty for quality assurance.
I can help bring some certainty to providers in limbo with an expert external opinion, supporting both solo managers and large quality teams as most appropriate. This will ensure readiness for that next inspection, whenever it comes and however it’s being done by then!
Service turnaround
There are many reasons why a service might find itself in crisis, such as a worse-than-expected inspection or quality check outcome, a serious incident, accident or other unanticipated situation that means you find yourself having to make repairs, or even having to decide if the service is even worth fixing.
A well-managed return from the brink speaks to both your quality and seriousness as a provider. Inspired by the Japanese art of kintsugi, we will work together to ensure that your repairs make the service even more beautiful than it was before.
Joining the family
If you’d like to be part of the Z Cares family or need one-off support, I have more information about how to join and the services we offer here, and a contact form if you want to get in touch with your enquiry. Please see here for more information about how I can support services in difficulty.