Meet the care home boss who gave his staff a 30 per cent pay rise

“Fifteen per cent on top of our fees is a lot of money,” says the managing director of Harrogate-based specialist dementia care provider Vida Healthcare. “But when I told people that the fee was going straight from their pocket into the pocket of the staff, families said ‘that’s fine’ and I’m not exaggerating when I say that. People were ok with it.”

He adds: “It was a risk because we’d already told the staff that that’s what we were doing but it worked and it paid off.”

Vida Healthcare, which was founded in 2010 by Rycroft and his father, Chris, operates three specialist dementia care homes in Harrogate, Vida Hall, Vida Grange and Vida Court, with a total of 294 beds.

Vida employs over 470 staff across the three sites, which are rated outstanding by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

“Because we offer that specialist care, it allows us to be stricter with our fees and demand what the care is worth,” he says. “It’s not a question of profiteering from it, it’s a question of remodelling and giving the staff what they deserve.”

Last month, the CQC warned that the government must fund better pay and training for adult social care staff to tackle a deepening workforce crisis that is undermining the quality of services.

“Poor wages in our industry is rife but many care homes can’t afford to pay people more,” Rycroft says.

As a private healthcare provider, Vida, which has a £20m turnover, rising to £25m next year, has more flexibility than those that rely on public funding.

“I’m really passionate about promoting the fact that there are amazing careers to be had in social care,” says Rycroft. “At Vida we have many examples of people progressing to make really strong careers out of it.

“A carer can earn £28,000 a year. A nurse who works a 45-hour week is on £52,000 a year. It takes a lot of progression in the NHS to get to that level but in our business you can get there almost straight away.”

This year, following the pay increases, Vida has attracted over 160 new staff members, including care assistants, registered nurses and wellbeing roles. It is currently recruiting for 30 roles across the group.

“Our vacancies have never looked better,” Rycroft says.

However, despite Vida paying its staff more than the average wage, it still has a recruitment challenge because of the perception of social care.

“I’m trying to change that perception of what a care home is and people saying ‘please don’t put me in a care home’,” says Rycroft.

“I look at our buildings as very nice hotels but the service happens to be care. It’s a booming industry in terms of development and investment so the knock on effect of that is that stock is getting better and, therefore, the image is getting better.”

In addition to the pay rises, Vida Healthcare has launched an aspiring leaders programme.

The programme, which is accessed by about 12 people a month, is designed for employees who are looking to move into leadership or management roles, or for those who would like to refresh their skills and knowledge.

The programme comprises 10 modules, hosted both on a video conferencing platform and in-person at Vida’s latest care home, Vida Court in Harrogate.

The course was set up as part of Vida Healthcare’s training platform, Vida Academy.

The academy was designed and established to support all of Vida’s staff, including new starters and senior managers, and provide opportunities for career progression.

Rycroft says: “There’s an expectation that nurses are leaders but they don’t get trained to be a leader.

"People look up to these people for clinical decisions which are life changing, so that’s why we introduced the leadership programme.”

There are currently 900,000 people in the UK living with dementia and this is projected to rise to 1.6 million by 2040.

Rycroft admits there isn’t a specific growth plan for Vida but he is on the lookout for another site to build a fourth care home because the demand is there.

“We’ve built a model that we know is sustainable and that works so we can place that in different areas of the country,” he says.

“I just don’t want to get to a point where it becomes too big and I can’t be present. It’s very important that the management is seen and heard.”

He adds: “I’m very happy to look at different areas in Yorkshire. I don’t have a strategy or a target zone but we’ve refined our design over the last 10 years and we think we’ve got it right now.”

Each of the care homes is divided into smaller ‘houses’ with features designed to reduce anxiety among people with dementia including open spaces and continuous walkways so that people don’t come to a wall at the end of a corridor.

Vida has also introduced circadian lighting, which is designed to work in harmony with residents’ internal clocks.

Looking ahead, Rycroft, whose father, Chris, is chairman of the company, says he is optimistic about the future.

“I’m very optimistic about the next 12 months because we’re out of the pandemic and we’ve stabilised. There’s an air of normality coming back,” he says.

“The pandemic hit the industry very hard and we’re still under very strict guidelines. It’s like wading through treacle sometimes.

“But it’s also shown me how robust the industry is and how robust it was in dealing with the massive curveball that was the pandemic that came out of nowhere.”

The father of two teenagers adds: “Despite the fact that we’re in another economically challenging climate, we’re used to being up against it and we’re just cracking on.”