Kaleidoscope Care

1. Rolling guaranteed hours
The guaranteed rolling hours scheme has now seen an extra 110 hours added to the agency's work. Carer recruitment remains strong, but we are working hard to avoid diluting down existing carers' hours by using the guaranteed rolling hours scheme. Meanwhile, the advertising drive is to continue with a style new to the homecare sector.

2. Reputation and service
The reputation of the agency is now strong in Herefordshire and has largely recovered to old levels in Shropshire. Reliability is at a high with a CSCI rating of 'Good'. The Shropshire Authority has already made its feelings clear with the award of the five zones. Service levels are good and care standards are greatly improved with a virtual elimination of medication irregularities, but we should never be off-guard in this area. The 'no blame' policy, except in very exceptional circumstances, remains in place for all medication investigations.

3. Training
We are now investing far more in training. Thanks to Di Walker's hard work, our short course training record is radically better than a year ago. There are now eleven specialist short courses, instead of six. At last, regular courses are now held at the Mayfair Centre; this step is a welcome improvement in access to training. The overall level of training has transformed since early 2007.

Responding to the feedback about the course on Challenging Behaviour, I have been in touch with Sterling University, with a PCT and, of course, with the suppliers of the CD. The suppliers were advised by qualified people. Their other DVDS vary from 'excellent' to 'acceptable', but we felt this one was not to our requirements. Challenging behaviour turns out to be a highly complex area. For instance, the link between pain and aggression in dementia is still at the early stages of investigation.

The agency has bought another DVD on Challenging behaviour which, it is hoped, will be an improvement.

Those carers who have attended the course with the old DVD should contact Di Walker if they feel a viewing of the new DVD would be helpful.

4. Rotas
The rotas have, at last, benefited from nearly a year's work with the computer people to make the IT work better. The improvements have removed significant stress from the work but, as ever, we do ask for your understanding. Without them, the whole agency would come to a halt in no time flat.

Ideally, we want to keep set carers on set rounds, but sickness, reductions and increases in availability, holidays, new client packages, and other factors make it very difficult to stick to the ideal way of doing things. For instance, if a client declares they do not want a carer, for whatever reason they wish or for no reason at all, we must attend to their wishes. If this means a call in the middle of a round is stopped, very often, we have to reallocate the entire round.

We are now one of the most reliable home care agencies across the entire 1,300 square miles that we serve from Hereford to just south of Shrewsbury.

5. CSCI Inspection
A CSCI inspection is expected in the next few weeks. The usual survey has been sent to selected carers and client relatives as well as clients will be surveyed. The inspector will be visiting selected clients and will, of course, do her usual visit to the office. The last time she was very thorough, so we do not expect an easy time, but there are hopes that our report will show another improvement over the advances of last July.

6. Church Stretton Maysi Project
Jenny Englefield gave a presentation to some Church Stretton Carers a few weeks ago about the Maysi project. If any Church Stretton Carers feel it would be useful for clients to benefit from this service please contact me personally. I am very keen to give Jenny as much support as possible because she is an important figure in care in Church Stretton and has gone out of her way to assist our clients in the past.

The government has decided to bring in a carer registration scheme for England. The start date is October 2009. Details can be found here:

The key question is whether the new system will bring greater security to vulnerable adults and pay off, making the care service sector run better and more easily.

It is possible that this will be the case. If so, we should support the plans: however, confidence in government run schemes of this nature is not as high as it should be. In the run up to implementation, there will need to be some very good confidence building work. Will the extra cost of £28 for each carer and the need to do another CRB for every member of staff produce worthwhile results? Carers and agencies are facing cost rises all round; it appears that the government feels we will just go on being able to pay up. If the scheme fails to be worthwhile, there will have to be some very serious explaining to do

8 Visit preferences
Some carers have requested the rota staff not to be allocated to certain clients. Everyone is reminded that any such requests must be made of the Senior Care Manager or to a Director. In special cases carers will not be expected to visit certain clients where there are very good reasons. Rotas have been instructed not to agree to any such requests unless the appropriate procedures have been followed.

If you know of carers without access to the internet, the company would be very grateful if you could pass on the contents of this news page

1. Recruitment of rolling guaranteed hours carers is proving successful. It is planned to have at least three in Hereford City and three or four in Shropshire. Some non-guaranteed hours staff have joined and are joining in Shropshire and Herefordshire. The aim to provide extra capacity to take on care packages without diluting existing carers' hours is working. Guaranteed hours staff must have generous availability and be especially responsive to the calls to cover and to take up new packages. This is no easy option, but it does make their income more predictable. The scheme involves the agency paying staff for any un-worked hours, but this is investment in the future and, although expensive, is well worth it.

2. The agency is continuing to improve its computer system. We now have call logging, a vastly improved method of changing visit arrangements, and other improvements are on the way to 100% feed-through to all aspects of the accounting function. Work is now on improving Care Plan information and systems, so these can be practically put onto the system rather than be recorded in separate Word files.

3. The in-house training scheme is working very well with record numbers of carers receiving essential training. New courses are now offered covering Dementia, Nutrition and dealing with anger and aggression.

4. New packages have doubled in number in March 2008 compared to last year. Hours are rising and reliability remains high. Minor disruption before Christmas has been dealt with systematically and effectively and is now completely finished.

5. Carers are reminded to always ensure they ring the right on-call number. Doing on-call can be very stressful. Ringing the wrong number and disturbing someone who is not on duty without checking can, rightly, cause serious upset. You can find out the on call number, if you wish, when you speak to people during office hours in Leominster, otherwise it is always on the out of hours office answering service. This is a matter of respect for people who do a very difficult and utterly essential job.

6. To ensure reliability, Louise Eliasson has been appointed to a staff position in the office responsible for the Master Rotas. She will continue to do care work from time to time to keep in touch.

7. After some delay, staff with e-mail addresses are now receiving news and other information. Please make certain you are on the list. If you are not, please send an e-mail to the office, so we can add your address.

If you know of carers without access to the internet, the company would be very grateful if you could pass on the contents of this news page

1. The agency wishes to thank all the carers and the office staff who made Christmas more reliable and better run than in 2006/7. The pressures caused by sickness, and other factors were exceptional and yet everyone performed excellently. Many carers went out of their way to create this success.

2. The new offices have settled down and are proving warmer, less expensive and popular with the staff.

3. Di Walker has been appointed to run the in-house training courses. Three have already been run and next week a course is planned at Leominster, followed by a course on the 6th of February at the Mayfair Centre in Church Stretton. This will be on Health and Safety, because an analysis of the training needs of S Shropshire carers showed that this was the most needed course. Shropshire carers without this short course, or whose health and safety training is over three years ago should take steps to attend. Contact Di Walker.

4. The quality survey of the clients was belatedly analysed. It revealed that reliability had indeed improved since the survey at the beginning of 2007, however, several clients reported that they were unaware of the complaints procedure. Many client should now have received copies of this. It is in the standard package when a new client file is lodged in their homes but because the procedure is in a larger document, it can be overlooked. Completion of the carer survey analysis is due soon. Both survey results were delayed due to the need to deal with difficult working conditions from mid November 2007 to early January 2008

5. Carers on guaranteed hours will be employed to take up new work and cover for sickness and other unforeseen events that need to be covered. The intention is to try to keep up the hours for existing carers and offer availability so we can take up new packages. This system is used by several other agencies and, though expensive, is proven to work.

6. Changes in pay and expenses have been very low this year. The aim has been to ensure those on the very lowest rates are, at lease, on equal to others elsewhere. Because weekend working is essential to so many care packages in the week, weekend rates have been set at a minimum of over £8 for all carers, experienced or otherwise. Car expenses have been put up by 2p a mile to counter higher costs over the last year and a few other small increases have been implemented. The agency intends to grow and with this expansion more hours should be available for carers within their chosen availability. Carers will benefit from an extra four days paid holiday. If the cost of this had been put on pay, this would have represented around a 1.5% pay rise. With the four extra days to be added from April 2009, the two together will represent a 3% rise. These increased costs have to be paid from increased charges to clients and local authorities.

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1. The new offices will feature a training room and will have similar facilities to the old ones.

2. More emphasis is to be put on training. As well as the five standard courses, we shall be running courses on nutrition, dementia care and others relevant to our
    work.

3. The company has just run a quality survey of clients. The returned information is to analysed soon. In the meantime, responding to a suggestion from a carer, a
    survey of the staff is to be carried out soon. The questions will be designed to find out what staff think, in some cases, the type of question is the sort some
    companies would prefer not to ask. We strongly believe that the only way you can manage properly is with good information. Without this, decisions are taken
    blindly and the result is usually bad management. This is in line with the Company Information flow policy, and is key to quality.

4. Availability policy is to be made more clear with a policy to be included in the staff handbook. This is to be sent out with the rotas in the week of the 5th of
    November. Not much is to change, but what is now practiced is to be made clear. In particular, the policy is to include an understanding of the pressures
    short notice calls to work during availability periods can sometimes put on carers working lives. The aim will be to clarify the policy but keep the system
    practical, so that availability rules are worked in a flexible way, whenever practical.

5. Some short courses have been well attended, but one recent course only had six people turning up. Carers are reminded that training is not an option. It is
   a legal and professional requirement. The company is doing its bit to improve the quality of short courses and carers must act to make certain not only the
   wellbeing of our clients is put first, but equal first, that they make certain their own wellbeing is given due attention. The general level of trained staff has
   greatly improved over the last ten months, but this must continue. Training is not optional.

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1. The company has decided to implement a stand-by carer scheme. Full details will be sent out by memo, but the principle is to provide cover over weekends by paying for a carer to stay on stand-by. If called to work the carer will be paid the rate applicable as well as the stand-by pay. Please contact your Care Manager or the Rota Operator for more details.

2. A special scheme has been introduced to pay staff if they successfully introduce a new employee to the company. Again, details have gone out on memo. You can find out more by contacting either of the Directors or your Care Manager. The scheme involves vouchers and is designed to make certain staff who introduce new employees are rewarded appropriately.

3. A short course on First Aid is to be held at Leominster on the 5th of September. Carers who the company has no record of up to date certificates have been sent letters, so they can attend. If you find your rota makes this impractical, please ask the operator to try to change things around, if possible, so you can make the course.

4. Several key up-dates to the staff handbook have been made over the last weeks, please check the memo on these when it comes next week.

5. Holidays are going up after October 1st. A memo has gone out about this, and the staff handbook will soon feature how to calculate the number of days entitlement and how holiday pay is calculated. Essentially, it follows the guidelines published on the acas.org.uk web site.

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1. The draft CSCI inspection report reveals the agency has improved its services so well as to have risen a level in quality. In particular, the measure of reliability has risen from poor up two levels to 'good'. Improvements have also been seen in other areas. It is expected that the final report, due sometime around the end of the second week of August, will show other advances in the quality of service. It is hoped that final report will be the highest level that the Kaleidoscope Care service has ever reached. Although a great advance, the aim is to go much further. Formal information to staff will be sent out by memo when the precise details are published by CSCI.

2. Meanwhile, the agency has already started work on the Inspector's advice in the draft report, so improvements are planned in the Medicines Administration Record system (MAR charts). The Diary system is to be changed, again, following the inspector's advice. Carers and clients will be fully informed by letter and memo about the procedure and arrangements before the changeover takes place. The aim is to make better use of diary information by returning it to the office when it is still quite fresh. Part of the new system will quickly reveal when client's medication has changed so the Care Managers can keep the new MAR system accurate and inform carers where necessary.

3. Reliability has radically improved this Summer, thanks to careful work from the rota staff and the many carers who have responded helpfully and positively when asked to do more than that little bit extra.

4. Some more changes have been made to the staff handbook. The most important ones relate to medication and include a new section containing basic, but essential, information on moving and handling. An update list will be sent out to all staff shortly. If your handbook is not up-to-date, we can print off an entire section, if required. It is essential that all staff keep this source of information up to date.

5. The Autumn training schedule has been arranged and the course times have been published. Especial effort should be made to attend Moving and Handling, Health and Safety and the key course on Adult Abuse Awareness. Carers are getting more up-to-date with their short courses; as this develops, we hope to run specialist courses on dementia, mental health in adults and more.

6. A new item in the staff handbook is to list the basic paperwork carers should carry with them. Such items as incident reports, accident reports, etc will be included in this list. The idea is to provide a check list so no one will be without essential paperwork when it is needed. A memo will be sent out about this shortly.

7. Following a visit from our external accountant, it is good to see the finances of the business have properly stablised. This will enable more courses, more investment into improving services and the chance to take positive steps to develop the service. For the first time for a long time Kaleidoscope Care can now take active steps to make choices and develop a new and better way.

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1. Contract hours have levelled off with the loss of two clients who, sadly, died. However, several new contracts have commenced which are expected to develop, as clients begin to realise how much easier life can be with a little assistance.

2. The Senior Care Manager is making great progress with the new risk assessments assisted by the Shropshire Care Manager. In addition, the principle that every care plan should have an objective is gradually being introduced into the method. The company is also preparing to engage with the new Independent Mental Capacity Advocates scheme.

3. After the successful Safe Handling of Medicines course a month ago, the company is to run another one later this year and especial emphasis is also to be put on Moving and Handling.

4. The handbook continues to evolve and carers are, again, directed to take a close interest in any alterations. Notifications are sent out of changes with rotas.

5. Recruitment continues to benefit from new methods of advertising, but the company has reverted to newspaper exposure in the middle of June, to make certain that it can get the best choice of people. The advertisement is to appear in The Shropshire Star, South Shropshire Journal, The Ludlow Journal, and The Leominster Journal

6. The situation of the company has stabilised. Rotas, invoicing, records, organisation and planning are developing well. The future is looking far better. Meanwhile, expressions of interest to bid for zones to service in Shropshire are due in September and formal bids to follow in October / November. The company is considering bidding, but will be careful, given the state of the Local Authority dominated market and present funding uncertainties. Although the company is now on a sound footing, profitability is still around break even; however, with consistent hours growth, this should improve to permit more re-investment.

7. The staff handbook is soon to be available on this web-site. Around 270 pages will be downloaded onto a special web page, accessible by use of an orphan web page. This will help staff keep up with additions and alterations.

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1. Contract hours have risen and remain steady for the last two weeks. The latest marketing campaign featured donated space to a well known information organisation to elderly people on 23,500 items. After the previous campaign, there are great hopes of a repeat success. It is directed towards privately funded clients, because public funds are now so stretched that there has been a radical reduction in the number of new care packages assisted or fully funded with public money.

2. The Senior Care Manager, assisted by the Shropshire Care Manager has developed and is now using a radically improved system of risk assessments for inclusion in the Client Service Plans. These are available at the office and a copy will lodged in every client's home. They give a clear view of the situation and, when read in conjunction with care plans, have greatly improved the information carers need to look after clients properly. The old risk assessment system is to be abandoned for this greatly improved method.

3. The Safe Handling of Medicines course on the 16th of May was a great success with a record attendance. The company wishes to thank all the carers who took the course, it was clear every carer who was able to make the meeting did so. Another course will be held later in the year. The next key course to be attended is 'Adult Abuse Awareness'. This will be part of the Autumn schedule of short courses and the company hopes carers will attend in equal numbers.

4. Meanwhile, it is hoped to run a Moving and Handling course in Church Stretton in the Autumn, along with First Aid and a course on Dementia.

5. Carers' attention is directed to new changes and additions to the handbook. The most important change has been the inclusion of advice on dealing with Violence and Anger in a calm, steady and certain manner. Other changes are inclusion of a company memo from February last year on the policy on second jobs, information about the new risk assessments and a small but important change in the handling of rejected medicines.

6. Finances have greatly improved radically since last year, when the future of the company was uncertain. Now the time and the foundations have been created to grow a steady and sound business. Avoidable missed calls no longer exist, unintended double ups are virtually unknown, invoicing for private clients is usually in the week following the visits, invoicing accuracy has radically improved, carer confidence has improved, carer turnover, although still too high, has reduced, and the company reputation is on the mend.

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1. Contract hours have now risen by 16% since the low period in February. The marketing campaign is expected to keep the rate of increase going for some time to come.

2. Appraisals are continuing and have proved very valuable for carers to communicate to the company as much as the company finds them worth while speaking to the carers. This has turned out to be a useful, long overdue step.

3. Nine years service was recognised with a long service award handed to a Leominster Carer last Wednesday, during a Moving and Handling short course. The company wishes to record its great appreciation for all the years service and hard work put in by this dedicated carer.

4. Caroline Abel is the name of the new NVQ 4 Care Manager. She is to work in the Shropshire area and will report to the Senior Care Manager, Jacky Mayo.

5. Sandra Hill, the new Full Time Accountant has arrived, and with the extra time she has, the accounts department is already looking up. Visitors may notice the office has been rearranged and now appears much larger and better laid out.

7. The staff handbook continues to evolve. Recent changes and additions have been prompted by the www.csci.gov.uk AQAA report we have to fill in. This Thirty page plus document, although long, has been very useful. However, certain aspects of the document are confusing and we expect some changes will be made in its first review.

8. Carers are reminded they can check the www.csci.gov.uk web site for the arrival of new care businesses and their registration details. Follow the link at the end of this sentence to see all the CSCI registered care businesses in Leominster and a five mile radius: quicksearch Just type in HR6 8EP in the bottom box and click 'Search' You can do the same for a Church Stretton or Ludlow Post Code.

9. Finally, everyone in the company will miss Mo Grogan. She is an exceptionally gifted Care Manager, and we wish her every success in her new job.

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1. Contract hours continue to rise as the reputation of the company improves. Reliability and consistency of service are beginning to pay off, and will soon translate into more hours for carers. Initially, we hope the marketing campaign will enable us to fill gaps in carers' rounds so increasing their hours without the need to increase carer numbers.

2. Appraisals in line with csci.gov.uk have started in earnest for Herefordshire carers and will soon start for Shropshire staff. These must be attended and are part of the terms of business.

3. Carol Tipton has settled into her new job providing rota cover remarkable well. She is providing a consistent and thorough style, essential to keeping the day to day operations practical and flexible. Meanwhile a training programme is continuing to ensure there is always someone available to take over when key rota staff take holidays. Internal promotion has proved a success here.

4. Appointment of a Trainee Care Manager has been made. Caroline Abel has an NVQ 4 and will be covering Shropshire. Mo Grogan will be spending a few days with her to provide guidance and she will be given a thorough induction at Leominster, as well as in Shropshire. She shall report to the Senior Care Manager, Jacky Mayo.

5. We expect the new full time Account will be joining us shortly. She has a Degree in Business and Finance and will be working with Rachael Wall in a team. As well as the qualifications, she has had previous experience working for a domiciliary care agency. This is part of company policy to increase the number of qualified people working for the business, as well as making the best of the existing team.

7. Several changes have been made to the staff handbook recently. As usual, you should ask for updates, or consult the latest versions at Leominster. Policies and Procedures have also been up-dated and, likewise, a copy of the latest version is available in the Conference and Staff Room. You can ask for extracts to be sent to you if necessary.

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1. We are pleased to report, after a period of consolidation where loss making contracts and the contracts made untenable due to the final days of the old management were let go, contract hours are now rising again.

2. The course on the safe handling of Medicines to be held on Wednesday 16th of May in Leominster. Attendance is important.

3. Carol Tipton is to be the new main member of staff to provide rota cover in the place of Matt Cox.

4. Recruitment for a new Care Manager and Accountant is well in hand

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Update 2 March 2007

1. More copies of the new staff handbook are to be created next week. Carers should ask for a copy and will be sent reminders.

2. The csci.gov.uk inspection report found no fault with the caring staff whatsoever. This accomplishment should be noted. Meanwhile, improvements in the office are continuing.

3. The current Care Coordinators are soon to change status and will be employed as Care Managers. Their responsibilities will cover much of what they already do now, but they will have additional duties and responsibilities. Full notification of the new arrangements will be sent to you with your rotas. The primary aim of change is to improve communication and to clarify and reinforce the work of the carers with better guidance from those who have in-depth caring experience. A system of regular appraisals (a csci.gov.uk requirement) is to be implemented as part of this development.

4. A short course on the safe handling of medicines has been arranged at Leominster on Wednesday 16th of May. It is important carers attend as this is an area csci.gov.uk notes needs special attention. More information will be sent out with your rotas. Meanwhile, senior management and Care Managers are to attend a course at Ludlow on this subject.

5. Most of the Summer holidays have now been booked. If you have not yet done this, hurry, as there are few slots left.

6. There have been two significant discrepancies on time sheets this week. In such cases, time sheets cannot be processed until the staff member personally explains to a manager how they came about. Depending on the case, this could necessitate a meeting at Leominster

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Update 25 February 2007

1. Thanks to contributions from carers, the Lone Worker Policy has been altered and improved.

2. A system of quality checking is to be gradually introduced to ensure better timing of client visits.

3. The holidays booking policy has now been published. Copies have been sent to all carers. This is a key subject because holidays are as important as giving a good service to clients. Caring can be a very tiring and, sometimes, stressful occupation; to this extent alone holidays are not optional.

4. A detailed memo is to go out on the subject of timesheets. These are the most important documents the company uses. Certain changes have arisen since the introduction of the new computer system. Please make sure to read the memo as there are several points that need to be emphasised. Contact the office if you need any more information on this or any other subject.

The revised Lone Worker and the Holidays Policies have been added to the Staff Handbook and to the Policies and Procedures Manual. Copies are always available to read on request.

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Update 15 February 2007

1. The final results of the 2007 client survey are in and the response rate was over 70%. However, although the results had improved, several points were made and we are following up on them.

2. The csci.gov.uk inspector noticed some areas for improvement. We have created a Lone Worker Policy and are to follow up on the survey by informing our clients of its results. Meanwhile, the inspector was able to instruct us on certain aspects. For instance:

The common belief that carers can only 'prompt' the taking of medicines and not 'administer', is not quite correct. The same actions can be either prompting or administering, depending on the client. If you remind someone to take medicine, and they realise they have forgotten, this is a prompt. On the other hand, for someone suffering from dementia, where they may have no idea they should be taking the medicine, and cannot therefore be reminded, here, it is a case of administering the medicine. Of course, the general rule that carers must not use invasive techniques still applies.

We found the visit from the inspector very informative... but the initial result of the inspection is still a couple of weeks away. Meanwhile, a Director is to travel to the CSCI offices in Worcester to apply for a countersigned CRB as the first step in the process of application for Registered Manager status.

3. The Directors hope to visit Church Stretton to discuss affairs with Shropshire staff at the Mayfair Centre.

4. The policy on holidays is to be consolidated and published shortly. The company wants to offer carers maximum flexibility to book holidays whilst ensuring consistent service for clients. A side effect of high numbers of carers taking a break at one time, is that the company is obliged to recruit extra carers to cover their absence. After the holiday season, this often leaves long serving carers with less work than they would wish. A more planned holiday system will reduce this effect and will, we hope, reduce staff turnover. Holidays are important. The company is doing its best to ensure a consistent, fair and positive system to benefit the staff and service users.

The new policy will be sent to all carers with their rotas, and will be part of the Policies and Procedures manual as well as being included in the new staff handbook. Staff should keep up to date with the Policies and Procedures manual and with the new handbook, which are available on request.

If you know of carers without access to the internet, the company would be very grateful if you could pass on the contents of this news page

Carers with questions can e-mail enquiries@kalcare.co.uk

Update 28 January 2007

1. The 2007 survey of clients has gone out and about 30% have been filled in and returned so far. The results are better than expected, with no complaints about the calendars, thanks to the new IT system. Clients like these because they are a special feature of Kaleidoscope Care and give advance notification of the carers coming the next week. But there were a couple of 'blank responses' to the questions on presentation and the wearing of uniforms.

Towards the end of a long shift on a hot day, it's very difficult to present well, but please do your best. The uniform problem may have arisen from a couple of emergency callouts recently. Do not work without company uniforms, unless the situation is very urgent. If these situations arise, you must notify the office, so we can either warn the service users before your arrival or explain to them later. Such events should not happen and are contrary to regulations, so any exceptions must be fully reported and recorded.

Another marked feature revealed that 50% of the clients were unaware of our complaints procedure. All of these people have been sent a copy of our up-dated service users' guide, including formal and informal ways of making complaints. The latter was included to try to encourage clients to point out problems where they might not want to start a formal process. We do note that the formal method is preferable and is based on legislation and csci.gov.uk regulations.

The names of commended carers will be published internally, but the most mentioned carer will be published here, if they give their permission. The quality survey results are encouraging, but many responses have yet to come back and a final report will appear shortly.

2. It turned out the computer proved as demanding for getting the invoicing correct as it was for doing the rotas. (Carer visit scheduling). To update rates for the private clients alone, the Directors had to spend two full days over the weekend inputting data, time and time again. For each non-standard private client rate, no less than 60 computer entries are required to cover every service permutation; then, every grade of carer. for some reason, needs this information to be inputted again. As with most computer systems, if you make even the smallest error, it will not work.

Even the best systems seem to have awkward features, and our I.T. is no exception. We are currently trying to deal with its habit of rounding down .5 rather than rounding up to 1p. This is small change, but when dealing with some organisations, 1p out can cause as much disruption as £1 out.

The computer has forced us to clean up our systems and order the office efficiently. Small errors that can accumulate into significant problems with paperwork systems, will not be tolerated by machines that will spit them back at you. In the highly regulated care sector, this discipline is very appropriate. We therefore intend to use the computer to its full capacity , including using it for many different types of records, call logging and much more.

3. Many carers have not booked their summer holidays. Last year saw too many holidays approved at the same time. Therefore the peak periods this year will have a strict limit on the number of carers taking their holidays at the same time. If others get there before you, the wellbeing of the people we care for must come first, and you will not be able to take your holiday at the time you want. We have little or no flexibility on this, but you could get what you want if you act quickly now.

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1. Some changes have been made to Policies and Procedures. Please consult the manuals in the Leominster office, or ask a Care Coordinator or The Church Stretton Team Leader for more information

2. The consultation period over the change in employment notice from one week to four weeks, to ensure better client service, is about to end. From January 26th, four weeks is to be the new period required to give notice of ending employment from the employee and from the company. More information about this is available from the office.

3. The new policy on information is now in force. It is the duty of all employees to inform the company of anything they can reasonably know is key to the well being of clients and the business. This is a key part of their duties, and is an essential part of the company quality program. Failure to report essential information of this nature, when possible, could cause loss or damage to the company and, worse, compromise the wellbeing of clients.

4. The successful implementation of the new computer system is down to the loyalty and dogged work of all in the office, as well as to the perseverance of our carers. With improved efficiency and control, the company is now in a position of greatly increased strength. Thank you to you all.

1. First indications are that the new computer system is living up to expectations with a dramatic increase of accuracy on the rotas. Next week will be the test to see just how well it actually works in operations.

2. Meanwhile, the offices in Leominster have seen a change of layout. The Post Room has moved to where the Staff Room / Dining area was situated and the new Staff Room is to double up as a conference and meeting room to the back of the building, were the previous Manager had his office. Health and Safety notices have moved to this area. Your pigeon holes are now situated to the right as you enter the New Post Room from the Entrance Hall. Jacky Mayo, a Care-Co-ordinator will use the old Post Room area for her office. She has lacked a proper place to do her work for some time, so this improvement is long overdue.

3. Several copies have been made of the company policies and procedures manual. One is to remain in the new Managers' Office, to the right as you enter the Leominster offices. Another can be found with Matt in the Rota Room. A third is to be available in the new Staff Room and the last is to be with The Church Stretton Supervisor. You are strongly encouraged to read the manual. It has been updated recently with new items on RIDDOR, a new policy on Gifts, Legacies, Wills and Bequests and a new key policy on Information Flow.

4. The company is to strengthen its knowledge of Medicines with some staff and a Director to attend courses. This is a particularly important area, please ask for more information.

5. The CSCI inspection is expected any time from late January to late February. Many of you will be contacted by CSCI as part of the inspection and many clients will also be surveyed. Despite the forthcoming inspection, we have implemented the new computer system, taking a risk. The expected improvements are expected to be so great, that any delay would be unacceptable.