A company dedicated to improving standards in the UK’s care homes has been able to expand their product range, thanks to support from Keele University’s Business Bridge* programme.

As its name suggests, The Care Training Company, headquartered in Stoke-on-Trent City Centre, is focused on providing quality training to carers and clinicians to ensure that patients receive the best possible treatment and service from those looking after them.

The Care Training Company was established by Jenna Lloyd, a dual qualified nurse, after she consistently witnessed routine procedures in care homes being carried out incorrectly or not at all.

After initially offering face-to-face training sessions, Jenna approached the Business Bridge programme to support the expansion of their training offerings:

“The success of the company to date has been great, and we’ve given training to staff from care homes across the length and breadth of the UK. However, as we’re only a relatively small team, we were finding that demand for our services was exceeding the number of face-to-face sessions that we were able to provide. To help meet this demand, we began to expand our offering to allow for more online and distance learning, and this has been supported greatly by the Business Bridge team.”

Through the Business Bridge programme, The Care Training Company were able to receive support for the filming and production of a series of training videos. Subsidised through the programme’s Innovation Voucher scheme, the filming was conducted by local specialists Inspired Film and Video and took place at the University’s School of Nursing. Experienced School staff were also able to feedback and provide expert consultancy to ensure that the video content is accurate, relevant and of use to the intended audience.

Speaking about her experience of the programme, Jenna said: “I cannot fault the support, guidance and advice that we’ve received from Keele University, particularly from Business Bridge and the School of Nursing. Coupled with the financial contribution that the programme was able to provide to supplement this project, it has been a fantastic experience and I would thoroughly recommend it to any business looking to expand in the healthcare sector. The work done here will lead to more care home staff being trained nationally to a high standard, creating a better environment for residents and allowing staff to administer care more quickly and effectively.”

Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent businesses can benefit from a range of specialist support and funding, more details of which are available through Keele University’s Business Gateway on 01782 733001 or by emailing business.gateway@keele.ac.uk.

*The Business Bridge project (ref: 32R16P00713) is part-funded from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the England 2014 to 2020 European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) Growth Programme.