Mobilising new services at FitzRoy
FitzRoy has extensive experience in mobilising (setting up or taking over) services, having mobilised ten in the last year alone. We took four existing services over from other providers in Hampshire and Oxfordshire and set six new ones up in Nottinghamshire. Over 60 people are supported across these services, which range in size from just one person to 17 tenants. We recruited 65 new staff in time for go live dates and retained 48 through TUPE processes.
In 2022, we took over a £5m established service of 117 people being supported across 31 locations, with 175 staff, and successfully transferred it in just six weeks. We pulled together a cross-departmental project team which enabled us to move fast. Open and early communications with the incumbent and commissioning team, with us all following a detailed and live mobilisation plan, led to strong, joined up partnership working.
Quality needed to be improved quickly so within the first six months:
- We put in a new and robust management structure, recruited 20 new staff and reduced our agency use by half
- We migrated all staff onto our rostering system, so we had a clear idea of staff contracted hours and overtime worked, enabling managers to better plan rotas and ensure shift cover
- 96% support workers completed their refreshed safeguarding training
- Staff 1:1 supervisions went from 0 to 92%
- We tackled standards and repairs with 7 landlords, for 79 individual houses or flats
- We secured 90% property compliance documents which were confirmed satisfactory or highlighted remedial actions
- We focused on safety and quality of service, including rolling out digital support planning and establishing robust reporting systems
- We arranged an open day that 32 families attended to raise issues, agree an action plan, and begin to build relationships
One transferred member said:
I feel valued as a member of staff [and] the organisation’s values are great. They treat the people we support as individuals and [put] their views and values at the front of everything.
A family member said of the staff:
We just want you to know what an amazing group of people they are, you could not possibly wish for better ambassadors for your organisation. The total love and care which they showed my sister was beyond anything we could have expected, they genuinely treated her as if she was one of their own family members, whilst still remaining professional at all times.
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