Finding a solution to recruiting and retaining staff has been a key driver in Cornerstone Healthcare’s becoming the UK’s fastest-growing specialist care start-up, its CEO has said.
Founded in 2018, Cornerstone Healthcare has seen turnover increase 91.6% from £12m to £23m.
The Hampshire-based firm runs three specialist nursing homes in the south of England for people with challenging behaviours associated with complex neurodegenerative and mental health needs, and is due to open two more in the south west later this year.
CEO, Johann Van Zyl, has credited much of this success to the provider’s ability to both attract and keep good staff at a time when much of the care sector has been crippled by an unprecedented recruitment crisis, with vacancies currently totalling 165,000.
“While our primary focus is to provide excellent care via our own care model, what has been instrumental in helping achieve this – and consequentially our growth – is finding a recruitment solution via building a team culture that is both attractive to new applicants and entices them to stay,” said Johann. “This recruitment strategy has been underpinned by developing in-house training tailored to the specific needs of our residents. Together with a 17-day induction period, this has meant our staff feel supported and invested in.
“Our strategy has enabled us to cut recruitment agency spend by almost 50% in the last six months, and our annual staff churn is just 20.8% compared to a national average of 29%. This has in turn allowed us to increase our rates of pay for nurses and healthcare assistants by 40% over the last four years.”
Consistently high rates of occupancy, which for 2022/23 averaged 98.7%, have also contributed to the fast growth of Cornerstone Healthcare. This has been achieved despite the bulk of its operation being during the COVID-19 pandemic which caused widespread devastation to the sector. More than half of the private equity-backed provider’s residents arrive as result of other providers being unable to meet their needs.
“We are immensely proud of the fact that we have 0% placement breakdowns once people come to live with us,” added Johann van Zyl. “This model of care is our sole focus and, as a result, we are experts in our field.”
Cornerstone Healthcare is the UK’s fastest-growing specialist care start up, and the sixth fastest-growing specialist care provider overall, according to international financial services firm, Alantra’s Specialist Care Fast 50 report.
The company, which currently has fewer than 10 vacancies across its entire team, is on target to provide 350 specialist care beds by 2024 and anticipates that when its new services open in the autumn, they will be close to 100% occupancy within 12 months.
“From the beginning we identified this type of specialist care as a growth area,” Johann van Zyl said. “There are currently only 5,000 beds in England with an estimated demand three times that number.”
Its first purpose-built home will be in south Bristol.
