Our next entrant is a franchise business employing five people. Bluebird Care (Swale) is a leading local home care and live-in care provider delivering consistently high quality care and support to customers within their own homes. Operating from offices based in Sittingbourne, the business’ reach also covers Sheerness, Teynham, Faversham, Newington and the surrounding areas.
Charmaine Grech, owner of Bluebird Care (Swale), has a background that spans over 20 years as part of the 'care profession' working as a Senior Occupational Therapist within hospitals and clinics. She discussed the service that she offered to clients: “Our customers are of all ages, from children to the elderly, and our service provides the full spectrum of an individual’s care requirements from assistance with specific daily tasks such as preparing meals and assisting with personal hygiene, to the provision of complete 'live-in' arrangements where our staff provide 24-hour care to the customers with the greatest needs.”
Staff retention in the home care sector is a challenge, but Charmaine is tackling this challenge head-on. Her ethos is to ensure all of her staff feel that they are an integral part of her team, and she backs this up by offering various incentives including funded NVQ / Diploma training in health care, loyalty and referral bonuses, and a clear career pathway. The retention of long-serving staff is a key benchmark for the business and her goal is to develop a team of experienced, well motivated and fully trained staff who feel that they have a stake in the business.
Charmaine considers this commitment to staff development one of the reasons that Bluebird Care (Swale) should be recognised at the Swale Business Awards: “Care is not only the sector name for the area within which we operate but the benchmark standard against which we measure our service and the high standards we set ourselves. Each of our care assistants undertakes a comprehensive induction-training programme, having already successfully passed a multi stage selection and interview process. In essence our staff are hand picked for the roles they undertake and receive continued training to ensure our methods and techniques lead the way in this sector. They are encouraged and fully supported to train towards health and social care qualifications. We recognise that customer satisfaction is vital for the success of our business and we are thriving largely through recommendations made by existing satisfied customers.”
Bluebird Care Swale
123 -125 High Street
Sittingbourne
Kent
ME10 4AQ
01795 422 200
www.bluebirdcare.co.uk/swale