Caring couple share knowledge to support other franchises
As a former army nurse and pharmacist what was the inspiration behind running a dom care business and how did their backgrounds influence their approach to care? How has their ‘above and beyond’ and innovative approaches to care impacted their communities, workforce and the people they support? How have they gone on to cascade their knowledge and best practice to support other franchises?
Mike and Catharine Chalton, co-own both the Wirral North, Wirral South and Chester franchises of Home Instead, they have owned the Wirral franchise for 16 years and are the only CQC Outstanding rated Domiciliary care provider on the Wirral. They bought the Chester Franchise 2 years ago and are working hard with their dedicated team to move the Chester branch into CQC outstanding category too, with their history who would doubt they will? Cath a former Army Nurse and Mike who had a background in pharma have worked tirelessly to improve care in the elderly and promoting care with dignity and are passionate about enabling people to stay in their home for as long as possible.
For the last 16 years, Mike and Cath have lived and breathed the Home Instead ethos and were one of the very first franchise offices of Home Instead in the UK. From small acorns mighty oak trees grow and this is true of the franchises that they own. They believe that their number one asset is their staff and they invest heavily in them; be that through training, hosting family fun days, pamper sessions, gym sessions in the office to simply hosting afternoon tea for them to enable them to get together and chat, they promote an attitude of truly caring for all in a family business which everyone wants to buy into.
Mike and Cath believe in empowering their staff and rewarding their hard work. 90% of key staff in the office working behind the scenes have been promoted through the ranks and career progression is key to developing the best support team to have behind the Care Professionals. By empowering and promoting the staff internally means that they understand the role of the Care Professionals and the needs of the clients.
The caring couple have always been ‘unwavering in focusing on their high standards of client and Care Professional support.’
As well as growing their own franchise Cath and Mike are selfless when it comes to giving their time to help other owners and the national office team develop new initiatives/projects and have acted as mentors to other franchise owners in their journey with Home Instead.
Not only have Mike and Catharine been delivering an exceptional and compassionate in-home care service to their senior clients in Wirral and Chester, but Cath has also represented Home Instead on the British Franchise Association (BFA) and the European Franchise Federation for some years now.
As mentioned above, Mike and Cath are passionate about care, putting back into the local community is absolutely fundamental to their work. They do this by their franchises organising companionship café’s, Dementia workshops and various events for their clients to attend. Where possible they always attend and speak directly to the clients which means a great deal to them. They also developed a charitable arm of the business ‘The Wirral Care Foundation’ which supports small local initiatives which would not receive funding from anywhere else.
They have been instrumental in a number of projects which have grown over the years. One such project was former The Rapid Access Service (Rapid discharge from hospital service), The Student Nurse In Social Care Programme and most recently have piloted Health Care at Home.
All four of their children have worked in the business prior to pursuing their own careers and one of their sons who has joined them as a neighbouring franchisee in South Cheshire.
Mike and Cath remain passionate about social care and look forward to being instrumental in the ongoing professionalisation of the sector.
