Ladies in Waiting

Andrew Crabtree, Managing Director

After 25 years in business, Ladies in Waiting are a part of the landscape in West Yorkshire. These angels’ reputation for caring is well established, but the current leadership team took over in 2008 and have driven the agency from success to success.

Currently Ladies in Waiting have 35 team members in the field, five in the office and over 70 private clients in their care.

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Found a partner, not just a software provider

The Problem

As with any enduring business, Ladies in Waiting were concerned with future proofing their processes. When current management took over they implemented a digital management system. However over the years this system did not update its features, as Director Andrew Crabtree explained to us.

“[The software vendor] weren’t running with it. So there was never ever going to be any updates or there was never going to be any changes to it. So the system was what it was always going to be without any ability to adapt or modify or improve, and that worked for 10 years. But we were just very mindful that if our servers went down here at the office, that was it. So what we had to do was future proof, and this is where you guys came along.”

“What we had to do was future proof, and this is where you guys came along.”

“[A] direct solution, simple, easy to interact with.”

The Solution

In 2018 Ladies in Waiting began shopping around for a new software solution. They wanted to prioritise a system that would be easy to use in the present and would work alongside them to go forward into the future together.

“We looked at many competitors,” Andrew explains. “We had a great many people come in. And all of them were surprisingly, too many bells, too many whistles, overly complicated. And then we came across yourselves.

“[A] direct solution, simple, easy to interact with. Whereas with the other ones that you were multiple clicks on multiple tabs to get to where you eventually needed to be. With [CarePlanner] it’s incredibly easy to use.

“Being mindful of the system that we were in, we were effectively trapped in [it], and there was absolutely no opportunity there to adapt or amend. Whereas with your system, I think of the half dozen things we’ve asked to be looked at and they’ve all been seen to immediately.”

The Result

CarePlanner’s hands-on customer support has helped Ladies in Waiting to get more out of their system and their teams than ever before.
“In terms of our interaction with you guys, it’s instantaneous, it’s brilliant, it’s responsive,” Andrew says. “It’s very positive, in terms of saving time, the system itself is that much easier to use, and again, if we encounter something the after-sales care or the customer service aspect is just extraordinary.”

When it comes to the system itself, Ladies in Waiting have enjoyed the range of additional features CarePlanner affords them, as well as the CQC.

“The diary entry [function], it’s invaluable,” explains Andrew. “[The] CQC, they love it. They can come in, and they obviously want to get a picture of ‘Mary’, what’s happened with Mary over the last three months. If they identified three incidents that have happened to falls and something else, then what they really need to see is where is that here at the office? And what reasonable actions have been taken? And for that, the diary entry is just the ticket, it’s brilliant.”

Ladies in Waiting started by looking for a software solution that would help prepare them for the future they saw developing. What they found is a partner who will help them develop the future they are preparing for their clients.

Summing up his team’s experience, Andrew told us said: “It’s very positive, genuinely so, we are in bed with a team that we can go forward [with] together.”