We believe that in their everyday lives carers have the right to expect services which:

  • are responsive to their needs
  • are delivered to a consistently high quality standard
  • treat them with respect and promote their independence
  • provide them with good information.

We have a strong desire to meet our beliefs and to continue to improve the quality of our services to meet the growing expectations of carers and their loved ones and be committed to providing the highest of quality standards to all the individuals and families we work with.

To this end Crossroads will take a pro-active approach to introduce quality systems that incorporate both internal and external quality audits so that every part of the organisation and its services can be evaluated to ensure improvements are continuous.

Customer satisfaction surveys

Each year we will carry out an Annual Customer Satisfaction survey to help us improve our services. Crossroads will build upon the questionnaire results and will continue with specific questions year on year to establish whether overall satisfaction with the service has increased or declined. The questionnaire will:

  • determine the overall levels of customer satisfaction amongst Crossroads service users
  • measure how services provided by Crossroads meet or surpass service user expectations
  • measure the outcomes achieved from Crossroads intervention and Crossroads service activities
  • establish a more in-depth understanding of the needs and profiles of the Crossroads user.

Investors in People and Skills for Care Awards

We recognise that our staff are at the heart of our success so we are committed to ensuring that we achieve and retain the Investors in People Standard and the Certificate in Skills for Care. Development of our staff is key to our enhanced quality and enhanced performance which will result in better outcomes for carers.

PQASSO accreditation

We want to ensure that carers receive the highest quality services from us so we will aim to test our services against the PQASSO standards. The PQASSO standard will test the areas of service delivery, customer information, professionalism of staff, customer insight, understanding the user’s experience and customer satisfaction. We will be committed to achieving PQASSO in 2011.

CROQUET (Crossroads Quality Evaluation Toolkit)

Crossroads Association acts as our guardian to ensure there is a consistency of approach and standards on behalf of the schemes that operate under the Crossroads name. This is monitored through ‘CROQUET’, a quality audit process. CROQUET documentation is also recognised by CQC and the Charity Commission. There are three levels awarded under CROQUET; level 3 being the highest award. We will aim to continue to retain our level three standard within the CROQUET framework.

Customer consultation committee

Until recently, our Customer Consultation Sub-Committee played an active and vital role in improving our services. The Committee fed directly into the Board of Trustees to maintain a regular framework for involving carers in the running of the Crossroads service. The Committee was made up of 12 service users who worked together to identifying any areas of concern on behalf of service users; monitoring the performance of the service; scrutiny of Crossroads policy and procedure and representing the views of carers from Salford, Trafford, Stockport, Bolton and Rochdale. The Committee met four times a year and Crossroads supported these members in attending by providing support to the cared for free of charge. We would like to resume our Customer Consultation Committee with up to 15 carers representing all of the six scheme areas from early 2012. If you would like to be a member of this Committee or would like further information, please contact Paul Parlby on 01204 365025 or by email at paul@gmcrossroads.co.uk.

Customer experience mapping

To ensure that we deliver an effective high quality service for all our customers across our service areas we will carry out regular ‘Customer Journeys’ and mystery shopping visits to highlight where improvements to the service can be made. We will map and assess every step a carer and their loved one(s) take in receiving a Crossroads service to test that our processes and service delivery is effective and meeting the needs and expectations of carers. Our Customer Consultation Committee will play an active role in customer journeys and mystery shopping.

Tell us what you think

In 2008 we launched our ‘Tell Us What You Think’ programme which was backed-up by a new Compliments, Comments and Complaints policy, new leaflets to promote service user feedback and a new central complaints database. The new ‘Tell Us What You Think’ leaflets are now included in all our service user packs which detail how compliments, comments and complaints will be dealt with and reported. We record the outcomes of any complaints and discuss each complaint at monthly management team meetings to ensure that lessons are learnt.

Monthly quality audits

On a monthly basis our Operations Manager will carry out unannounced visits to each service area office to audit that all Crossroads policies and procedures are being correctly followed. Care plans and risk assessments will be inspected to ensure that care plans are being reviewed, are up to date and accurate to reflect the current situation. Staff files will be inspected to check that all supervision, training and performance appraisals are up to date. Feedback from each visit will be provided to the Care Manager and areas of concern will be collated and discussed at monthly management meetings.

Staff satisfaction surveys

Each year we will carry out a staff satisfaction survey to help us meet our aim of Crossroads being a great place to work and to develop for all staff. To build upon this aim we want each member of staff to be clear about how their work contributes to the successes of Crossroads, be empowered to look for more ways to improve the way we work and the work we do and for staff to be clear about what they are expected to achieve. The staff satisfaction review will be divided into two parts: staff satisfaction questionnaire to each member of staff and the facilitation of staff focus groups. The two part review will ensure that both qualitative and quantitative results will be collected as well as giving staff the opportunity to discuss their views and opinions within their teams.

Staff exit interviews

Our employees generally remain with us for many years, with the average length of service being over 5 years and the longest service being over 25 years. We pride ourselves on our ability to retain our employees and this reflects the excellent working conditions we offer all staff. Sadly though, some staff do leave us, often to pursue further education, to retire or to move onto a new challenge.

All departing Crossroads employees are provided with an exit interview just before they leave employment. The aim of the exit interview will be to learn the reasons for the employee’s departure, on the basis that any criticism is a helpful driver for further improvement. Exit interviews will also be used as an opportunity for Crossroads to assess and improve all aspects of the working environment, culture, processes and systems, management and development.