Reduced Income vs. Higher Requirements:

• Reduction in hours of service clients receive and hourly rates for some individuals.
• Increased costs e.g. employee pension contributions.
• Costs of additional training requirements such as CPR, the new and more in depth Care Certificate induction system, increased number of direct observations and Supervisor/ Manager training required to implement regulatory changes and keep pace with best practice guidelines.
• Increased Client expectations.
• Cost of designing, training and implementing managerial systems to meet new regulatory requirements.

How do we address this?

When the going gets tough, the tough get creative!

• Examining every aspect of our activities and making saving efficiencies where possible.
• We are streamlining processes to be less staff intensive on staff time.
• Developing new services and expanding existing work.
• Making use of free resources such as Distance Learning packs, online courses and Skills for Care materials.
• Utilising client/ family volunteers to help in areas such as Makaton training, policy evaluation and recruitment.

What you can do to help?

• Be reliable! The office lose time covering shifts at short notice and this is a barrier to productivity and a drain on resources. Balance your personal and social life with work commitments e.g. consider alcohol consumption, late nights and where possible contingency plans for family emergencies.
• Talk to colleagues and arrange shift cover yourself if you need to be off at short notice such as when ill or dealing with a personal emergency. Let the office know prior to the shift being undertaken. Quite often you can negotiate shift swaps with a colleague to facilitate everyone’s emergency and social needs.
• Inform your Line Manager of any difficulties you are having with your work or concerns regarding to client safety or service delivery so that issues can be ‘nipped in the bud’ before they become a bigger issue.
• Be professional and make sure all work related conversations are meaningful and to the point. Don’t waste time on idle gossip or moaning to someone who can’t resolve the problem/ issue.
• Let us know any ideas you have to improve the service we deliver to clients and for cost efficiencies.