Mannamead Care

When Mannamead Care was confronted with the task of pulling all its residential homes together under one set of employment systems and protocols, it called on Mentor to help streamline its business.

Using Mentor's services hasn't just helped Philip and Tonya Gerry run a more efficient care home business - it's enhanced the lives of their elderly residents, too.

Mannamead Care's five sites across Devon look after some of the region's most vulnerable people - but building the business by purchasing four homes from four different vendors in the past eight years meant they inherited a confusing mix of systems and processes.

“Each of the four had been run differently, with different staff contracts, policies and procedures,” says Philip. “And if we had a staff or a legal issue, we were using a ragtag bunch of different solicitors for each home. We contacted Mentor, and they helped us to reorganise and streamline the business - it's been fantastic.”

Operational structure

Mentor's team of business advisers helped the couple develop a structure where all the homes and their 220 staff followed the same processes, and contracts used the same legally up-to-date company handbook.

Organising the sites under one umbrella also gave Mannamead increased purchasing power with its suppliers. “Our employees had a much clearer sense of their responsibilities, and this consistency meant the vast majority who do an excellent job could see that staff were unable to get away with bad practice, which improved morale and led to less attrition.”

But the Mentor services go further than that. “If our managers have an issue about the business running of their home, they can all access a Mentor consultant directly for advice through email or a helpline, without having to come through me,” says Philip. This gives them much greater autonomy, respect and trust to do their job.

All of which is good for the sites' 200 residents. “We always had good staff but giving them autonomy, consistent procedures and a really clear direction helps to build a really solid happy team, and improves staff retention. That leads to a happy experience for our residents, who know that their carers are friendly and professional and will continue to be there for them.”

Access to advice

Daryll Hall, Mentor's regional development manager for Devon and Cornwall, says that Mentor helped the Mannamead team with a holistic approach to a number of issues.

“Phil came to us for help initially with employment law, advice around contracts and issues with staff absenteeism,” says Hall. “Our help in these areas provided a much more cost-effective solution than engaging a solicitor every time there was a problem. We then helped Phil with wider HR issues and, with our support, he refined and enhanced consistent standards and brought his documentation up to date across the whole group.

“As a subscriber to Mentor, his staff now all have access to e-courses for such topics as safeguarding, health and safety and diversity, which several of them have taken up. And of course, perhaps most importantly on a day-to-day basis, we are always available on the end of a phone if Phil or his team need any advice.”

Philip and Tonya have come a long way since they bought their first residential care home business, Charlton House in Plymouth, from Tonya's mother 15 years ago. “Our other acquisitions have all been distressed businesses we wanted to turn around,” says Philip. “Three of those now have the CQC [Care Quality Commission] 'good and above' status, and the other is well on the way.”

Mentor was influential in the homes achieving this status, he adds: “At our recent CQC inspection at our Greenacres home, the inspectors were impressed with our robust approach to HR and in particular commented on the benefit of our HR mentoring from NatWest. Its integration into our recruitment, induction and ongoing management of staff and staff-related issues provided us with a process that demonstrated high levels of supervision and control in all aspects of HR.”

For Philip and his team, the future is looking very bright indeed: “We have a £10m turnover, and a fantastic community of residents who are cared for to the highest standards. That's down to our happy, committed staff - and the team at Mentor, who are continuing to help us to achieve that.”