Knockdene HealthCare is a newly formed nursing agency that will operate throughout
Northern Ireland providing nurses and healthcare assistants (HCA) to health and social care
providers who require these services.
At Knockdene HealthCare we are committed to achieving excellence in the provision of
safe, effective care affording clients and patients the quality and standards they expect and
deserve. Knockdene holds the values of trust, quality, efficiency and respect at its core.
Our Aims and Objectives
To provide a high quality, cost effective service through recruiting nurses and healthcare assistants (HCAs) who are suitably qualified, competent and experienced to undertake the activities for which they are employed and responsible
To ensure all care is delivered in accordance with the requirements of our clients and their patients, treating them with dignity and respect at all times
To provide our services 24-hours a day ensuring that we can successfully meet the needs of our clients and staff
To promote equality and diversity amongst our workforce
To ensure all staff receive appropriate training and development
To implement all our policies and procedures in order to ensure quality, minimise risk and maintain compliance with all legislative requirements including the Nursing Agencies Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005 and Nursing Agencies Minimum Standards 2005 DHSSPS
We believe our service is stronger with input from our clients and staff and will continually seek their feedback on how we can enhance and improve our services
Nature of the Service
Knockdene HealthCare provides nurses and HCA on a temporary and permanent basis to
health and social care providers.
With over 20 years of experience in health care and recruitment the management of
Knockdene HealthCare understands the importance of consistency and continuity when
placing staff. We are committed to placing experience and competent staff quickly,
efficiently and cost effectively. We aim to do this by ensuring:
• Our Registered Manager interviews all new staff face-to-face
• Detailed references are sought and checked
• Professional and vocational qualifications are confirmed
• Nurses are registered with the NMC
Knockdene HealthCare Ltd/Statement of Purpose/October ’17 Page 2
• Nurses have professional indemnity
• Gaps in employment explored and explanations recorded
• Staff undergo an induction programme to ensure that they can undertake tasks
competently and to identify any further training needs
We provide a 24 hour service with on-call arrangements in place for out-of-hours.
Knockdene HealthCare operates robust monitoring systems which allow us to continually
evaluate and improve our services. Risk management, audits, compliance and clinical
governance is at the forefront of our organisation, giving our clients and staff confidence
when using our services.
Settings and Qualifications
Knockdene HealthCare will provide nurses and HCA to:
• NHS Trusts
• Nursing and Residential Homes
• Private Healthcare providers
• GP surgeries and treatment rooms
• Occupational Health Departments
The range of staff we provide will be able to work in a wide variety of settings depending on
their skills and qualifications. We can provide specialist nurses as well as general and
mental health nurses.
The qualifications held by our nurses may include, but are not limited to:
• Primary nursing qualifications registered by the Nursing and Midwifery Council
(NMC)
• Secondary (post-basic) nursing qualifications in general or specialist practice
• Certificate, Diploma or Graduate level study in healthcare or social sciences
• Training for specialist provision, where appropriate
The qualifications held by our HCA may include, but are not limited to:
• National Vocational Qualification in Care
• Induction training; including manual handling, basic life support, food safety and
hygiene, health & safety, fire safety, infection control, child protection and vulnerable
adult protection
• Training for specialist provision where appropriate
Ciara Osborne RGN, MBA in Health & Social Care Management
Ciara has over 30 years experience working in the health service. 20 years in hospital trusts
as a staff nurse and sister and 10 years as a senior nurse in performance management and
service improvement at the Health & Social Care Board.
Eileen McCann, CIPD Certificate in HR Practice (Level 3)
Eileen has worked in the field of Healthcare Recruitment for 21 years for two privately
owned nursing agencies playing a key role in setting up and overseeing the growth of their
business.
Organisational Structure
Roles and Responsibilities
Registered Manager/Responsible Person
• Assume overall responsibility for Knockdene HealthCare
• Ensure the financial viability of the company
• Adhere to the NMC Code of Professional Conduct
• Undertake training and development to keep up-to-date with legislation and best
practice
• Interview all potential applicants who are registered nurses
• Conduct annual appraisals for all nurses and identify any training needs. The
appraisals will be linked to NMC Revalidation
• Manage identified lack of competence and poor performance and reporting in line
with DHSSPS and NMC guidance
• Implement quality management and improvement systems. Effectively manage
complaints and incidents. Carry out investigations relating to the quality of the
service and use the findings to improve the service
• Ensure arrangements are in place for dealing with alert bulletins
• Liaise with Directors of Nursing • Conduct site visits to potential service users
• Keep Statement of Purpose and Service User Guide under review and notify RQIA of
any changes
• Update all policies and procedures as required
• Notify RQIA in the event of the Registered Manager being absent for more than 28
days informing them of the temporary arrangements put in place
Healthcare Manager
• Accountable to the Director/Registered Manager and reports directly to her
• Responsible for the daily running of the agency – ensuring accounting and financial
controls are in place
• Act on behalf of the Responsible person as and when required
• Undertake training to keep up to date with legislation
• Conduct regular staff meetings
• Accompany Registered Manager on site visits to potential service users
Healthcare Consultants
• Accountable to the Healthcare Manager/Registered Manager
• Responsible for servicing existing clients and securing new business for Knockdene
HealthCare
• Attract Registered Nursing and Healthcare staff by effective advertising and
promotional methods
• Responsible for placing Nurses and Healthcare staff into assignments on a daily
basis
• Interview prospective Healthcare Assistants
• Report all complaints and incidents to Registered Manager
• Ensure all applicants files are compliant with RQIA regulations and Knockdene
HealthCare policies and procedures
Ethos and Philosophy of Care
Our philosophy and ethos is to provide quality care you can trust. We are committed to
working in partnership and building strong working relationships with our clients and staff.
Knockdene HealthCare will endeavour to provide the highest level of support to both our
staff and clients. We will continuously strive to provide a premium service, making ourselves
available 24/7, 365 days a year. Our rigorous pre-employment compliance and background
checks on all nurses and HCA who join our agency will ensure they have been recruited to
the high standards in line with all relevant legislation.
Our logo is the butterfly, the embodiment of gentleness, compassion and positive change.
This is the ideal emblem for our nursing agency that strives for the same goals in
our provision of care.
At Knockdene HealthCare we welcome feedback from our staff and service users and will
examine our operations constantly to ensure that we are successfully achieving our aims
and objectives. We have a clear and transparent complaints policy which will be freely
available to all our staff and service users. We will comply with all the requirements and
regulations issued by the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety
(DHSSPS) and The Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA).
Confidentiality
All staff must adhere to Knockdene HealthCare’s confidentiality policy at all times,
respecting and protecting information and confidences shared. If information needs to be
disclosed we will seek permission before doing so except when required by legislation or
the need to protect the wellbeing of others.
Complaints
At Knockdene HealthCare we believe that compliments and complaints are an important
way for us to learn and improve our service. If for any reason you are not entirely satisfied
with any aspect of the service you have received from Knockdene HealthCare, then we
would like you to let us know.
Our commitment is that all complaints will be taken seriously and acted upon with fairness
and impartiality, acknowledged within 2 working days and will be fully investigated
thoroughly and confidentially within specified timeframes.
General Principles:
• Knockdene HealthCare’s Branch Manager will handle all verbal and written
complaints, reporting to the Registered Manager who will investigate the complaint
• The complaints system is subject to Knockdene HealthCare’s quality assurance audit
process
• The Registered Manager is responsible for monitoring the complaints and adhering
to the response time detailed in this policy
• Complaints will be monitored for emerging patterns, as detailed in this policy
• Records will be kept of all complaints detailing the investigation, outcome and any
action taken. Summaries of these will be made available to RQIA for inspection if
required
Complaints raised by Client/Service user and agency worker:
• The client should raise the concern/complaint immediately with the agency worker
and where possible investigate and try and resolve locally
• If the matter is not resolved or is of a serious nature then the client should contact
Knockdene HealthCare
• If the agency worker has a concern/complaint then they should raise it immediately
with the client/Nurse-In-Charge. If it cannot be resolved then the agency worker
should contact Knockdene HealthCare for advice
• All complaints will be acknowledged within 2 working days
• We aim to respond fully to complaints within 28 days to address concerns and let the
complainant know of any actions taken as a result. Where this is not possible,
complainants will be kept informed of any delays.
• Knockdene HealthCare shall ensure that in the event of the complaint being against
an agency worker that the agency worker is fully informed of complaints relating to
him/her. The agency worker shall be entitled to receive a copy of the complaint
• The agency worker will be afforded the opportunity to state his/her version of events
and will be given 7 days to respond to Knockdene HealthCare in writing
• The agency worker may be represented by their professional body or trade union at
a meeting to investigate the complaint • All responses will be shared with the complainant and if appropriate, Knockdene
HealthCare will take demonstrable action to ensure there is no reoccurrence of the
act or omission complained of
• Where serious complaints are upheld, the agency worker will be taken off the agency
register, and the appropriate action taken in terms of notifying statutory bodies
• When a complaint relates to Knockdene HealthCare’s failure to comply with statutory
regulations then we will refer it directly to RQIA
• Where a complaint relates to abuse, exploitation or neglect, the Regional
‘Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults’ Policy and Procedural Guidance and the
associated Protocol for Joint Investigation of Alleged or Suspected cases of Abuse of
Vulnerable Adults will be activated
Knockdene HealthCare will co-operate with any complaints investigation carried out by the
Trusts, RQIA or NI Commissioner for complaints.
All efforts will be made to resolve the complaint however if having received our reply the
complainant is still unhappy they can contact the Northern Ireland Public Services
Ombudsman.
You can find out more about the services of the ombudsman by contacting:
The Patient and Client Council is your independent voice in health and social care. If you
would like to seek independent advice and support then you can contact them on:
Tel: 0800 9170222
Email: info.pcc@hscni.net
The regulatory body for Northern Ireland is RQIA and they can be contacted at:
The Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority
9
th Floor Riverside Tower
5 Lanyon Place
Belfast
BT1 3BT
Tel: 02890517500
Manage Cookie Consent
This website uses cookies to order to offer you the best experience. Please accept cookies for optimal performance.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
