A single bad review or safeguarding story alone is not a crisis. How you respond to the situation determines its outcome.
In this article, we explore what actually happens in the days after a bad review or safeguarding notification hits your business. You’ll learn the importance of having a response plan in place before a crisis, and the common mistakes to avoid.
What actually happens after a bad review or safeguarding notification?
You’ve been informed that a negative story about your domiciliary care business is making the rounds.
Do not panic.
The first step is to find out exactly what you’re dealing with. The nature of the complaint will shape your response.
A bad review on Google or Carehome.co.uk is public-facing and can spread quickly through a community. You may see a noticeable dip in referrals, as local authority commissioners and self-funding families regularly check online ratings before making care decisions. See our care home marketing guide for more information on how ratings feed acquisition.
Formal safeguarding notifications go through internal CQC channels. They receive less public attention; however, they risk greater consequences in the long run. If the CQC decides to investigate the incident, you may receive a lower rating for quality of care.
In a worst-case scenario, a negative review could trigger a formal investigation, compounding the crisis. According to official guidance, the CQC continuously monitors data points (including public complaints) and instigates ‘responsive assessments’ when it identifies concerning information.
This sounds scary, but it’s important to recognise the stakes before planning a response. Providers of domiciliary care need to be even more cautious than care homes in this regard; read on to find out why.
Why are domiciliary care providers more exposed to reputation risk?
In short, because of the nature of home care itself.
Unlike care homes, domiciliary care providers operate in patients’ houses (for information on how reputation shapes care home referrals, read our dedicated insight). There are no physical premises for a family to visit and judge directly, so online and word-of-mouth reviews carry disproportionate weight.
The reputational risk for domiciliary providers is heightened because home care is often unsupervised. Carers are trusted to uphold standards independently, so an isolated instance of misconduct can cause a loss of confidence in the company as a whole.
A single incident becomes public within hours. Providers often take days to respond.
The first 48 hours are the most important when dealing with a crisis in social care. Don’t wait for things to get worse.
The first 48 hours: what to do and what not to do
Using Bridgehead’s reputation management approach, let’s break down what to do and what not to do in the first 48 hours following a negative incident.
Establish the facts.
What actually happened? Who was involved? How much information is already public, and is there anything else that could leak?
Find out as much as you can about the incident and make sure your team is on the same page.
Ensure the right people are notified.
Depending on the severity of the incident, you may need to log an official CQC safeguarding incident. Make sure you’re transparent; concealing information only makes things worse in the long run.
For more information on what’s classed as a notable safeguarding incident and how to report one, refer to CQC guidance.
Find out if legal sign-off is necessary before making a public statement.
You should always seek legal advice before releasing a public statement that could invite liability. This includes circumstances where there was a serious safety violation, regardless of fault.
Decide who should respond publicly, and who should stay silent.
Public statements should only be made by those who have the authority to do so. In most cases, this will be the company’s owner or the general manager.
Staff members should not publicly comment on the situation. Uncoordinated statements are a quick and reliable way to make a crisis worse.
Consider an apology.
Care providers have an obligation to apologise for any harm caused to patients under the CQC’s ‘duty of candor’. This is not an admission of liability, and can actually reduce the likelihood of the aggrieved party pursuing legal action.
Don’t appear publicly combative.
This is the single most common mistake we see across crisis responses. You should never argue with a reviewer publicly, as this makes you appear overly defensive and draws further attention to the situation.
If you need to respond, do so through a private channel.
The first 48 hours are the most important, but the crisis response doesn’t end here. Next, we’ll walk through the process of rebuilding trust with commissioners and families over the following months.
The following months: rebuilding trust with commissioners and families
Build a credible action plan.
And have it ready early. CQC guidelines state that care providers must develop an action plan that directly addresses areas for improvement after receiving a negative assessment.
Not only does this fulfil regulatory requirements, but it also reassures families and commissioners that you’re doing the necessary work to improve.
Co-producing the action plan alongside commissioners does even more to rebuild your reputation by showing stakeholders that you value their input.
Show evidence.
Keep detailed records of the improvements that you make. Any further incident or safeguarding reports should clearly demonstrate that you’re learning from past mistakes.
Keep in mind that it can take time to rebuild public trust. Most commissioners will want evidence of sustained improvement across a full review cycle before resuming referrals.
The most effective way to prove that you’re worthy of confidence is to achieve a positive rating in the next CQC inspection. This can act as a reputational reset point for your business if commissioners and families are convinced of enduring change.
Keep regular contact with families and commissioners.
Set up regular meetings with commissioners and families to update them on any progress made. Make sure you’re honest and transparent; address any setbacks and clearly state how you intend to avoid them in the future.
Contact with stakeholders should not be limited to times of crisis. Maintaining positive relationships through a digital communications strategy outside of formal review periods demonstrates commitment to change.
Building the response plan before you need it
The critical piece of advice to take away from this article is to have a crisis communications plan ready before you need it. Without adequate preparation, what started as a single negative review can quickly escalate into a full-blown crisis.
Not sure what you should include in your plan? Here’s a quick checklist:
A single, named spokesperson;
A pre-agreed holding statement signed off by legal counsel;
A defined trigger for when to escalate to an external PR company.
Already have your crisis communications plan on standby? Check out our care home marketing auditing tool to find out how to spend your PR budget more effectively.
