Profile: Improving quality of lives key to the success of SweetTree Home Care Services

Barry Sweetbaum had a new vision for home care when he founded SweetTree Home Care Services with Nicki Bones, director of operations at the company, 11 years ago.

He wanted to create a new model of care that focussed on improving clients’ quality of life, rather than “just delivering functional care and support which the sector is sometimes known for”.

Speaking about SweetTree’s work ethic, Mr Sweetbaum said: “At SweetTree we have always viewed the activities of daily living – washing, bathing, dressing and nutrition – as being basic care and everyone should be able to expect high quality, dignified support with this. Where our model differs is that we seek to influence people’s lives by creating active stimulating experiences for them every time we visit. We are able to achieve this because we have set a minimum visit time of two hours per visit, which allows us the time to be able to make a meaningful impact on a client’s day whenever we see them.

“When SweetTree was set up all those years ago, neither Nicki nor I had any direct home care experience. Looking back I believe that was a distinct advantage because it meant we weren’t constrained by traditional mind sets of what home care should or should not be.”

It seems his idea worked because SweetTree, which provides domiciliary and live-in care throughout greater London and nationally, is going from strength to strength. The care provider, which was rated ‘outstanding’ by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in May, has won praise from a variety of organisations but it is the feedback from clients and their families that the managing director is most proud of. He said: “Over the 11 years we’ve been running, we’ve received amazing feedback from many of our clients and their families about the support they have received from the care and office teams. Without question I think that is the thing I am most proud of – how we’ve changed people’s lives.

“We’ve achieved Investors in People Gold Standard and have been ranked as the 18th Best Company to work for in the UK in the Sunday Times league table. Again this is something I am really proud of, as without the people who work at SweetTree and their dedication to delivering the highest standards, we would never be successful and more importantly our clients wouldn’t get the quality of care that they do.

“All of the hard work and commitment from the office and care teams has evidenced itself in the extremely good inspection reports which we have received from CQC and I am very grateful that we have something tangible to show for it.”

These achievements and the high standards which SweetTree prides itself upon can be attributed to the company’s ‘Mission, Vision and Values’ (MVV), which form the core values of the company’s recruitment process, training programmes, appraisal system and the care and support provided to clients. Mr Sweetbaum says SweetTree’s MVV can “be boiled down into a single simple statement which is ‘supporting people to reach their full potential’ - both clients and team members alike”.

Mr Sweetbaum believes high quality training is “fundamental” to the future of the sector and thinks a passion for the sector is sometimes more important than a formal qualification. He said: “All home care staff should receive a very high quality induction and training programme delivered either in-house or within training centres. It is not realistic to expect everyone to have a formal NVQ type of qualification because the most important qualification for someone in home care to have is a passion for the work they do and the desire to really care for individuals they look after.

“At SweetTree we see recruitment and training as the cornerstone of our success as a care provider. We invest huge amounts of time, effort and money to get our training right and this is highly valued by our team members and those we look after. Getting the training right is fundamental to the future success of the home care sector.”

SweetTree has recently appointed a new advisory board made up of senior health and care figures. Chaired by Stuart Sanders, an experienced GP and founder of the Independent Doctors Federation, the board will evaluate all areas of SweetTree’s operations, training and care provision. Mr Sweetbaum believes that opening the company to external scrutiny in this way sets a precedent within the industry and hopes it will help the care provider reach new heights.

The future of the sector is something Mr Sweetbaum is very positive about – both within SweetTree and as a whole – but he believes people need to be more financially prepared for the possibility of requiring home care services later in life. He said: “Practically, I don’t think we can expect that more public sector funding will be provided for home care in the future and therefore people are going to have to make arrangements with regards to paying for care. Insurance companies need to be incentivised to create products that help people meet their long term care costs and I suspect equity release schemes will play a huge part in the future funding structure.”

Speaking more specifically about what lies ahead for SweetTree, he said: “We are looking to continue to grow and expand the services we provide. In addition to supporting those with age related frailty, we provide a considerable amount of highly specialist care for people with palliative care needs, dementia, learning disabilities, brain injuries and neurological conditions. We will continue to increase the range of specialist services we offer. We have always been cautious about expanding too far and wide due to the risk of losing control on quality but I am sure we will also look to open additional offices in the coming years.

“We’re also doing a lot of work on the vocational side of things, trying to help our younger clients develop skills they need to get a voluntary or paid employment position. We are just about to launch a taster programme at a care farm to help people gain the skills they need to work in agricultural and horticultural settings.

“I truly believe that there is a huge opportunity out there for the sector as a whole and that a well-managed, well-organised and well-funded home care sector is exactly what is needed to solve the challenges of the care industry today.”

First job – working in a Marks & Spencer warehouse in Camden

Favourite book – My Secret History by Paul Theroux

Favourite film – The Shawshank Redemption

Favourite piece of music – Son of a Son of a Sailor by Jimmy Buffets

Best present – the pictures and pottery that my children have made for me

Last holiday – scuba diving in the Philippines