Reflections on the last decade

WCS Care’s been on an exciting journey over the last decade – we’ve embedded strong values, systems and processes that mean we can be creative and innovative, and embrace opportunities like using new technology to improve the quality of our care and the experience of residents.

Sector-wise, it’s a shame there’s been much focus on negative stories about social care, at the expense of highlighting the positive impact we have on the lives of some very frail and vulnerable people.  Let’s not forget, the majority of care (72%) according to the Care Quality Commission is ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding’ and, as a sector, we haven’t been particularly vocal in challenging negative perceptions.

Projections for the next decade

WCS Care is focused on doing more of the same – aside from our people, our success is partly because of our tight geographic location and relatively small size. While we’re redeveloping our older homes, we don’t have plans to get substantially bigger or more widespread. We have a very short gap from bedside to boardroom and we’d lose that if we grew too much or too fast.

We’re a registered charity and have reaffirmed our commitment to provide care for people who are socially and privately funded. I don’t see that changing – it’s a choice that works for us but it may not work for other areas of adult social care.

Regrettably, there’s an increased risk of quality polarisation between self-funders and those who are socially funded. We’ll continue to offer the same high-quality care, regardless of how someone pays.

Insight

I am a hands-on Chief Executive. I love to get involved. I want to engage with residents and staff, and understand their needs, so I regularly work shifts in our homes. I count myself extremely lucky that it’s part of my job to spend time having fun with residents and staff.

Values are really important to me, and I’ve personally introduced ours – play, make someone’s day, be there and choose your attitude – and delivered the training to staff to ensure every day is well-lived for residents. Another statement you’ll frequently hear at WCS is ‘the standard you walk past is the standard you accept’ – it’s down to each of us to make sure we’re doing our best to get it right, to challenge what we don’t think is right and to deliver on our values. We must all be accountable and responsible, and learn by making mistakes, then figure out how to put things right.

Influences

The people I’ve worked with – service users, other staff, board members. I haven’t worked in care all my life but I’ve been in the not-for-profit sector throughout, working with groups of people with health issues or long-term conditions. There have been some uncomfortable experiences where I’ve learned as much about how not to do things as how to do them.

Also, the personalities, and the experience of being a parent to my three (now grown-up) sons has challenged me, given me confidence and a validation that I’ve taken into my work role.

Finally, my husband, who was a mentor to me before we were together, and is a person of enormous integrity, wisdom, knowledge and stature in the care sector.

Lessons

I’m always up for hearing new ideas but I’m probably not great at listening to advice. By fluke, from my first proper job onwards, I’ve been in a leadership role where the decisions were down to me. I had to bite the bullet and just try to get things right. While I didn’t succeed every time, I learned that being accountable and problem-solving are essential, and to persevere.

Advice

Start with what you want, and compromise if that’s not possible. Don’t start with a compromise. Be prepared to get things wrong, you won’t usually look as foolish as you fear. There’s always a solution; keep looking for it. If you aren’t having fun, it probably won’t work out, so enjoy what you’re doing and the people you’re doing it with. Or change something.

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