
Care Home Manager, Liam Palmer, highlights how the fundamental principles of hospitality can dramatically improve your care home with 5 top tips.
Topics covered in this article
2. Stand in the shoes of your residents every day
3. Set the tone around behaviours and culture
4. Build a community with the right mix of residents
5. Have a sense of pride about your home
Introduction
I’m obsessive about making care homes appealing.
I’d like to explain why.
How does it smell when you walk in?
Fresh?
Or a faint smell of urine?
For me, that’s unforgivable unless there has been a recent unpreventable accident.
The reception area should be welcoming, clean, tidy, well laid out with clear signage.
Some places take it further with fresh flowers and the smell of fresh bread to make a first class impression, like a premium hotel.
These are nice touches but rather than a prescriptive set of do’s and don’ts, it’s a set of principles around hospitality and thinking of the customer experience, reflecting the level of customer you wish to retain / attract.
How you apply these principles is up to you.
About this contributor
Registered Home Manager
Liam Palmer is the author of 3 books on raising quality standards in care homes through developing leadership skills. In Oct 2020, he published a guide to the Home Manager role called "So You Want To Be A Care Home Manager?". Liam has been fortunate to work as a Senior Manager across many healthcare brands including a private hospital, a retirement village and medium to large Care Homes in the private sector and 3rd sector. He hosts a podcast "Care Quality - meet the leaders and innovators”.
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