The Road To Outstanding – A Podcast For People Working In Care

“Sophie Coulthard is the creator and host of The Road To Outstanding Podcast, and works as a consultant, supporting the recruitment, development and retention of staff within care organisations”

“At last … a much-needed podcast that understands and truly speaks to the care sector”

Do you listen to podcasts? Their popularity is on the rise in the UK, as more people are choosing to download their favourite shows onto their smartphone to listen to on demand.

“The Road To Outstanding” is a brand new podcast aimed at people working in care and was created by Sophie Coulthard who also hosts the show. Sophie works as a consultant within the care sector and was looking for a new way to share best practice and encourage people who are doing the job to get involved.

“I hear so many interesting stories from people I work with about what they’re doing that is different to help raise money and promote their homes, attract new staff and raise standards. Many managers I know who are rated outstanding have never been asked to share their experiences, so I wanted to create a platform where they would be comfortable to chat about how they achieved the accolade and what lessons they’ve learned along the way.”

The relaxed manner of each interview has really resonated with the listeners, who liken it to being able to have a cup of tea and pick the brains of people doing the job. People such as Julia Clinton from Sonnet Care Homes, who talks about the challenge she faced when she took the CEO post to find her home suddenly subjected to some very negative media attention. In her episode she discusses how she changed the culture and went on to enter and win numerus care awards after turning things around.

In an episode with Amanda Odd, who is the manager of a newly opened service for people with dementia, she explains how she turned to an unorthodox method to highlight person centred care; “I found out what my staff didn’t like to eat, and then I arranged a get together and served them all the food they had said they disliked… it really opened their eyes to what person centred care should be!”

There are also interviews with industry experts covering subjects such as Facebook marketing, PR and selection and development, with the aim of sharing key strategies people can listen to and then implement into their own company.

“I wanted to get experts on the show as they have such a lot of knowledge that I’m able to tease out; Someone described it as getting 30 minutes of free consultancy every week. The episode about using Facebook pages to attract clients and staff was a particular hit, because the interviewee; Michelle Purse shared so many tips, and completely debunked the myth that social media is not right for care companies.” Sophie says.

The podcast is not just aimed at leaders, but anyone wanting to listen to people sharing experiences within care. There’s a big emphasis on the good that is being done, and a second series is already in motion. Sophie is keen to have a variety of guests including domiciliary providers and more people who are on the journey to outstanding to discover the steps they are putting into place. She’d also love to get a perspective from an up and coming team leader, nurse or care worker, waving the flag for working in care. “Anyone with a great story to tell who’s doing something innovative, it’s so valuable and so important to share. I’d love them to get in touch.”

So before your next commute, or while you’ve got a cup of tea and a spare thirty minutes, why not pick an episode and listen to The Road To Outstanding, it’s available on iTunes, or if you don’t have a smartphone can find the website www.theroadtooutstanding.podbean.com to listen direct. You can also join in the conversation on www.twitter.com/CarePodcast.