Metrocare to raise care quality and standards with NVQ target

Metrocare is working hard to increase the quality of care given by its staff by taking the bold decision to now only recruit social care candidates with an existing NVQ qualification.

Comon folklore would have you believe that care and nursing staff provided by an agency is often likely to be below par, sub-standard and certainly not as good as a homes existing staff.

The minimum standards are agreeably low, with carers only needing a CRB, six months experience, recent (within the last twelve months) mandatory training in areas such as fire awareness, health & safety and manual handling etc and two years trackable work history to register and work with most care agencies. Six months really is not enough, especially with the challenging behaviour some client groups and service users may present to an unfamilar face.

So Metrocare is making a statement, that not all staff provided by agencies are simply making up the numbers and by choosing your supplier wisely can ensure high quality NVQ qualified carers, even at short notice.

How can they claim this?
By making the bold decision to now only recruit NVQ qualified carers and by providing their staff with training beyond the minimum standards.

"This was not the obvious decision to make. But when we considered the current mood in the care marketplace due to recent press, we felt it was important to make a stand and raise the standards provided by social care agencies and be confident in the service we provide. We cannot directly monitor our staff performance as they are out on placement, therefore making sure they are the best possible candidates and exemplary ambassadors for our company is essential." said Operations Director, Steve O'Brien. "With over 100 job enquires per week in the London area alone, we realised that we could easily make this move and create a company NVQ target of 80%."

Metrocare also boasts about its internal training where training certificates are not simply awarded for attendance. Q&A sessions and pass/ fail test papers are taken at the end of each module. In addition to the mandatory subjects other training is provided to staff to ensure that they are ready to service client needs. Many courses including SOVA (Safeguarding of Vulnerable Adults) and medication training sessions are common place for care staff at Metrocare's London Head Office.

Steve O'Brien, Operations Director

Metrocare Ltd 0844 504 9636

Metrocare is London’s healthcare staff provider. We deliver an effective and tailored recruitment solution by placing experienced staff through our knowledgeable employees. Everyday we provide an aspirational, streamlined service to our clients.

As a leading supplier of temporary and permanent staff to some of the UK’s largest social care organisations, we have built an extensive portfolio by fully understanding the needs of our clients and the services they provide, this along with our experienced staff team allows us to tailor our services to each clients needs.

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