News & Articles
CareRisk E-News - January 2012
Insurance - what's it all about?
Insurance - we're all aware of it and most of us will admit it's essential, both for your care home and for your personal peace of mind. But with the array of important issues to consider and the sheer complexity of all the supporting information behind them, how many REALLY understand the principal aspects of their insurance?
You, as a care business owner, should know what your premium pays for so you can ensure you've secured the very best value for money ... read more.
Floor coverings - an accident waiting to happen
It is the minor slips, trips and falls which give rise to the greatest number of claims from our care provider clients.
Non-slip, flat, clean floors are of paramount importance in managing your liability insurance claims frequency ... read more.
Elderly lady breaks leg
We have a client who runs a lovely care home - the residents and staff are all active and happy. It's always a pleasure to visit. Last year though they had an unfortunate mishap involving one of the elderly residents ... read more.
Needles and sharps - vital safety precautions
This is one of those accidents that just should never happen.
A carer had been helping a diabetic resident administer their insulin. The needle they used was safely put into a paper seal and should have been discarded in the sharps box - it wasn't. Instead it was left on the resident's bed ... read more.
CareRisk E-News - October 2011
Train, re-train and manage staff skills levels
I can almost sense the lack of excitement about this heading.
Let's make it interesting by detailing a real-life scenario: you are in court; the family of a resident who suffered internal trauma from a hoisting accident has just won a case against you and your staff for the injuries their mother suffered. Your insurers are to meet an award of £65,000 and total legal costs for both the plaintiff and defendant at just over £100,000.
The family are talking about asking the Police to consider investigating this matter under the Corporate Manslaughter legislation.
To make matters worse, your care business has had no new residents for over a year, you are operating with a shortfall of £12,500 a month and your insurance premium has just increased from £2,200 to £15,000 ... read more.
Call alarms - principal risks
We all need the reassurance a call alarm holds - the knowledge that aid is only a phone call or a button press away in an emergency. What a tragedy it is when the very system we rely on fails at the most crucial time of need. This is well documented in a devastating fire which occurred in 2004 ... read more.
Laundry room fire risks
Most laundry rooms are kept immaculately clean and neat, but every now and again, the system seems to breakdown ... read more.
Unguarded radiator burns victim
Assumptions are the enemy of your Duty of Care responsibilities, and nowhere is this more important than in a situation where a care recipient is incapable of providing any feedback to the care providers ... read more.
CareRisk E-News - September 2011
Ask questions, save money
It's no secret - we all want to get the right insurance policy and pay as little as possible for it.
Who wouldn't, right?
But with so many options out there, it is becoming more and more difficult to nail it down to a hard answer ... read more.
Care home falls short on lost jewellery
When personal items of value (either monetary or sentimental) are lost, it makes everyone feel awful.
Whether through theft, misadventure, neglect or catastrophe, feelings are always compounded by the circumstances leading up to the realisation that something is missing.
Often there is very little anyone can do about the experience of loss, but the next question on everyone's mind is invariably whether the item(s) are covered by an insurance policy ... read more.
Domiciliary carer steals client's money
One of the most fascinating aspects of working in insurance is the varied nature of claims and the circumstances which bring these claims about. Occasionally these are downright amazing - and I don't mean that in a good sense.
One example was where an elderly domiciliary care client had a particular Carer who regularly looked after her.
When the lady passed away, her family subsequently discovered almost £150,000 had been withdrawn from her bank account over the two-year period prior to her death ... read more.
Special Bulletin - July 2011
CHIS issues call to arms over perception of care
Media coverage of the terrible treatment disabled patients received at a residential hospital has delivered a serious blow to the public's perception of quality in the UK's care sector. Businesses and organisations operating in our industry need to take action now before their commercial viability suffers a similar fate.
No-one would deny these are tragic events, however it now falls on all players in the care sector, supported by their industry associations, the Government, and its official regulator the Care Quality Commission (CQC), to improve their services and minimise long-term damage to the industry and its patrons (a collective term used here to include patients, service users, residents, clients or whatever you call your customers).
In putting things right, it will also be critical that fallout is carefully managed to ensure widespread public perception of care standards provided throughout the UK is not unfairly swayed by harsh or inaccurate representation in the media ... read more.
CareRisk E-News - July 2011
Drain Claim
In July 2010 one of our Rest Home clients noticed the paving in front of the home had started to sink. The concave paving deteriorated quickly and by September, it had fully collapsed causing significant damage the property's drains.
CHIS informed their insurer (Travelers) but the claim was denied, based on the assessment that the damage had first become apparent several months earlier when the policy was held with a different insurer ... read more.
Practical lessons in business stand the test of time
IBISWorld, a leading business information analytics firm, has published the thinking behind their top practices for corporate success. When the company conducted an analysis of international enterprises several years ago, the research group found the world's best organisations commonly pursue similar practices … all of which remain surprisingly relevant today.
Practice #1: Embrace specialisation.
"Focusing on a single industry is absolutely critical for businesses wanting to dominate in an increasingly global marketplace," explained IBISWorld's Jason Baker ... read more.
CareRisk E-News - May 2011
Do you have a £20 head?
I was talking to a fellow recently about the notion of 'protection' and he shared an amusing story.
He had started cycling with a club and was in the bike shop getting fitted out for his first outing. When it came time to choose a helmet he found a dizzying array of colours, shapes, sizes ... and prices ... read more.
Care group patients given dishwasher fluid to drink
Here's an alarming tale of what can so easily go wrong and it's not the first time we've heard of this happening... read more.
Considering your insurance cover
When it comes to buying insurance most of us look at the price before we consider anything else and then seem to work on the basis of better the devil we know rather than the devil we don't. But is that the wisest way to be? ... read more.
CareRisk E-News - April 2011
Insurance premiums
For the last five years insurance premiums have reduced substantially for the majority of care providers. In many ways one of the benefits of regulation is reducing the frequency of claims, especially the liability claims ... read more.
Neil Burman makes prime choice in care
PrimeCare Insurance is pleased to announce that Neil Burman has joined the firm as a Director. Mr Burman is one of the best known names in the world of domiciliary care for insurance and risk management services. He will work alongside company founder David Waters providing insurance services to the domiciliary care industry ... read more.
Questions you should be asking yourself regularly
Today's care industry innovation is tomorrow's minimum expectation. Reality is that if you don't give your clients and their relatives what they want, when they want it and how they want it, it's all over... read more.
Archived
CHIS Newsletter Summer 2010
(PDF 2.24MB)
All in a day
Earlier this year, CHIS and PrimeCare invited a number of key individuals in the care industry to meet to try to gain a general understanding of the current status of social care and discuss how things are likely to shift over the next five years or so ... read more.
Investors in People
CHIS have recently reviewed the impact on care related businesses involved in an employers' liability claim and found the time involved by the employer is significant in accessing records, providing information to lawyers & insurers, and attending meetings... read more.
Business Interruption insurance cover
August 2009
I can almost sense that ... aaaagh ... as you read the title, but please for the sake of your own business bear with me and read the next few paragraphs ... read more.
Safeguarding ... and the impact on your insurance policy
August 2009
For many care home owners and managers the impact of the new safeguarding agenda is yet to be clearly understood ... read more.
Mental Capacity Act
June 2009
All care providers should seek legal advice in relation to potential risk factors arising from the Mental Care Capacity Act 2005, which became fully enforceable in October 2007... read more.
Why your care home needs a website
April 2009
The jury is in and the answer is 'yes', you must have a website. Unanimous decision ...That's if you still want to be in business ... read more.
Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards
February 2009
Article by David Waters (PDF 1.51MB), published in Healthcare Buinsess.
Useful Articles
What's the value in your value proposition?
June 2009
Care homes are constantly faced with pressure on prices ... but any businessperson worth their salt will tell you not to negotiate on price, but on value ... read more.
Do your brochures stink?
May 2009
If you use brochures, does your heart sink when you need to send out a brochure to families of your potential clients? Your heart sinks because you know that very few people actively read your brochure ... read more.
Tell them what to do - Call to Action
March 2009
C -T- A. It sounds like a dreaded disease with long, unpronounceable names that have been conveniently shortened to an acronym to make it less offensive. Unfortunately, most marketing communications haven't caught the 'disease' yet ... read more.