Download the ‘Lean Thinking Within the Care Sector’ – White Paper

In this white paper we look at Lean thinking within the care sector. More so than many other industry sectors, the domiciliary care sector has some institutional problems that prevent many companies from providing high quality care. Poor funding has led to poor pay which in turn leads to stress and high rates of staff turnover. One of the strange dichotomies is that care workers remain highly committed to their work and continue to provide the best level of care they can. The CQC State of Care report (2017/18) states that 1 in 5 home care services were rated as “Inadequate” or “Requires Improvement”.

Taking ownership of quality

In this White Paper we examine the role of Lean thinking within the care sector. We will look at how care companies should be re-evaluating the way they prepare for inspections by taking control of their own quality of care. Relying upon an external inspection body to retrospectively grade quality levels will do little to bring about consistent quality improvement. The ownership for quality needs to rest within the care organisation and not with the inspection body.

Improving quality is a never ending journey

We will examine how improving quality within an organisation is not a top down exercise carried out after an inspection report, but is something to be embraced by every member of the organisation every day. It is not a 6 month project, or even a year long one. Improving quality is something that must become part of the culture and it must be built into every action and activity. If care companies can adopt these ideas, the goal of becoming “Outstanding” will become merely a stepping stone in a never ending quest to improve the way things are done.