Survey reveals Top 10 list of concerns amongst care managers

A survey of care provider managers, conducted by the National Care Forum (NCF), has found care quality to be listed as chief among the priorities of the profession for the second year running, followed by methods of person-centred delivery in second place.

The NCF’s question “As a manager in the care sector, what matters to you?”, conducted at the Managers Conference for the last eight years, often receives a varied range of responses, with this year being no exception. However, finding that sector professionals are most concerned about the quality of care achieved gives executive director Des Kelly OBE optimism for the future, who comments:

“This annual check on what matters most to managers provides valuable insights. Managers have, once again, shown that they are driven by values. It is very clear that quality and person-centred approaches remain by far their over-riding priority. Given the challenging climate in which managers are working I find the results extremely encouraging.

“These results are of interest as they reflect the competing pressures that managers in care settings are juggling day-in and day-out. We know that the leadership offered by managers is crucial to ensuring that quality of care is consistently met. Once again the NCF managers’ ballot shows that it is people management issues and their underpinning values that lie at the heart of managers’ priorities.”

The overall top ten are listed as follows:

1. Quality of care and providing evidence of quality

2. Delivering person-centred care with compassion and kindness

3. The value of a skilled, well-trained and motivated workforce

4. Recruiting and retaining the right staff

5. Balancing person-centred care with administrative demands

6. Leadership to develop staff 7. Demands of compliance

8. Relationships – people receiving care and support and their families

9. Positive image and recognition for good care

10. Budgets/funding and sustainability

According to the NCF, the leading two issues account for almost 25 per cent of responses, with 2012 being the first year where the survey has recorded the top three entries as unchanged.