Three of our Regional Service User Ambassadors presented at ‘an audience with the exec’, sharing their lived experiences with our Executive Management Team.
Regional ambassadors, Adam, Alex and Dave presented feedback from the Service User Council to our Directors.
The presentation focused on three key areas: colleague engagement with service users, colleague turnover and colleague morale.
They discussed how these areas directly impact the quality of care and the overall morale in their homes.
Interacting with colleagues
They explained that their living experiences are highly influenced by the interactions they have with colleagues.
They shared that positive and uplifting colleagues create a positive and happy environment to live in.
The ambassadors noted that morale is good and there is an increased focus on person-centred activities for all abilities which brings service users and colleagues together.
Integrating new colleagues
Their feedback also included the knock on effect that colleague morale has on the turnover of colleagues, and in turn, quality of care.
Service users told us that they feel safer and happier when they’re supported by a familiar and consistent team, that knows their individual needs, service users didn’t like use of agency within their homes
The group advised they’d like to get involved in reviewing the handover process, so if unfamiliar/agency staff are working on a new unit, they have a good understand understanding of individual needs and interests.
Celebrating colleagues
A key note from the feedback was that people living in our homes singled out the Values Awards as a big positive.
People reported a general ‘feel good’ factor whilst celebrating the efforts of colleagues. They told us they’d like to take more of an active part in the awards and judging process next time.
Hearing directly from the audience
Dave, Service User Ambassador at Willowbeck, shared:
"Meeting with the Executive Team has become the most recent part of Exemplar Health Care’s commitment to listening to its service users.
“Representing service users at this high level sounded initially quite daunting, but I found the team to be friendly, approachable and eager to hear what we had to say.
“I came away reassured that the service user experience matters, and the efforts to listen to, and respond to our insights are both genuine and accountable at the highest level.
“It's also a rewarding responsibility to speak on behalf of all other service users. This is only really possible because of support for the Regional Council meetings and the efforts of the other ambassadors to represent service users at individual homes."
Rachel Calladine, Business Development Director, shared:
“We had a great meeting with our service user ambassadors, we received some impactful and insightful feedback from the council that we’ve taken on board and reviewed as part of our monthly Executive meeting.
“We’re very lucky to have such passionate people on our Service User Council, and we look forward to working alongside them to shape our ongoing plans and make improvements for both service users and colleagues.”
“The collaboration between the Service User Council and the Executive Management Team highlights our mission of making ‘every day better’ for adults living with complex needs and putting our residents at the heart of everything we do. It’s certainly one of the best parts of my role.”
The Service User Council
Our Service User Council is made up of residents from each care home who take on the role of Service User Ambassador.
Ambassadors meet monthly at council meetings to share their feedback and ideas, and collaborate with other areas of the organisation.
Over the past year, our ambassadors have been involved in filming training videos, making TikTok videos, collaborating with Sheffield Hallam University and co-producing easy read policies.
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