We would rather show you the process than make a claim about it.
There is no rating to display and no accreditation badge to put in a corner. What there is, is a sequence of things that either happened or did not — so here it is, in order.
Eight things checked before a worker reaches a service.
The same list whether the work is a single shift, a permanent placement or a Personal Assistant role in someone's home.
Identity
Verified from original documents or a valid share code. Not taken on trust, not taken from a CV.
Right to work in the UK
Checked and recorded before any work is offered, and rechecked where a permission has a time limit.
Enhanced DBS
At the level appropriate to the role, either obtained by us or verified where a current certificate is held on the update service. Type, date and reference recorded.
Employment history
Reviewed in full. Gaps are asked about rather than passed over — not because a gap is suspicious, but because an unexplained one is a question left open.
References
Sought for recent employment, from an employer rather than a friend, and followed up rather than filed unread.
Professional registration
Where a role requires it, confirmed directly with the register as current and unrestricted. A screenshot is not evidence.
Mandatory training
Confirmed as complete and in date, with expiry dates recorded so nobody arrives lapsed.
Role suitability
A conversation about whether this person is right for this setting. Availability is not the same as suitability.
Records, not assurances. Organisations can request the compliance record for anyone we supply, and we would encourage you to. Individuals and families employing a Personal Assistant through us are shown what has been checked and when it needs renewing.
Checks at the start are the easy part.
Most of what goes wrong in this sector goes wrong after the paperwork was completed correctly.
- Briefing before arrival
- The service, the role, the hours, where to report and who to ask for. Arriving unbriefed is a failure on our part.
- Working within competence
- Workers are told explicitly to decline anything they are not trained or competent for, and to tell us if they are asked.
- Clear lines of responsibility
- On shift, a worker follows the service’s policies and supervision. We remain responsible for their employment, checks and briefing.
- Renewals tracked
- Training and document expiry dates monitored by us, so compliance does not quietly lapse mid-placement.
- Feedback in both directions
- We ask services how a shift went and we ask workers the same. Both answers change what we do next.
If something is wrong, here is exactly where it goes.
You do not need to be certain and you do not need evidence. Raising a concern that turns out to be nothing is always better than staying quiet about something that was not.
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If someone is in immediate danger
Call 999. For urgent medical advice that is not an emergency, call NHS 111. Do not wait to contact us first.
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If it concerns someone supported by a care service
Use that service’s safeguarding procedure. They are registered and responsible for the setting, and they must act. Tell us as well if the person involved was supplied by Oakline.
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If it concerns an adult at risk anywhere
Contact the adult safeguarding team at the local authority for the area where the person lives. You do not need proof and you do not need to be certain — a concern is enough, and you can raise one without being a professional.
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If it concerns a regulated care provider
Concerns about a service registered with the Care Quality Commission can be raised directly with the CQC, in addition to the provider and the local authority.
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If it concerns Oakline, or someone we supplied
Tell us directly — by phone on +44 7572 245085 or by email to info@oaklinehealthcare.co.uk. We will acknowledge it, look into it properly, and tell you what we have done. We will also support it going to a local authority or regulator where that is appropriate, rather than trying to keep it internal.
Oakline is not an emergency service and not a safeguarding authority. We are not a regulator and we cannot investigate on a local authority's behalf. What we can do is act on what we are told, cooperate fully with any safeguarding process, and make sure a concern reaches the people who can act on it.
Complaining about us should be easy.
If you are unhappy with something Oakline has done, tell us. You do not need to label it a complaint or use any particular form of words.
We will acknowledge it, tell you who is looking at it, look into it properly and come back to you with what we found and what we are changing. If we got something wrong we will say so plainly.
If your complaint concerns a care service rather than Oakline, we will tell you who to raise it with and help you do it rather than leaving you to work it out.
Data minimisation, in practice.
- We ask for less than you might expect
- Our public enquiry forms do not ask for diagnoses, medical records, medication or detailed care plans. A first conversation does not need them, and collecting sensitive information we do not need is a risk to you rather than a service to you.
- Consent is separated
- Agreeing that we may use your details to respond to your enquiry is not the same as agreeing to marketing. The two are separate on every form, and the marketing box is never pre-selected.
- Documents are handled properly
- Identity documents, DBS certificates and registration details are requested at the appropriate stage through appropriate channels — not uploaded through a general web form.
- You can ask what we hold
- You have the right to ask what personal information we hold about you, to have it corrected, and in many cases to have it deleted. Contact us and we will deal with it.
What we are not regulated to do.
Oakline is not registered with the Care Quality Commission and does not provide CQC-regulated personal care. We do not hold a CQC rating, and we will not display a badge or a rating we do not have.
Our personalised care service is administrative, employment and recruitment support around an arrangement you hold. The care itself is provided by the Personal Assistant you employ, or by a registered provider you commission. Our staffing service supplies workers into services registered by their own providers, where they work under that provider's policies and registration.
Oakline Home Care is in development as a future regulated service. It is not available, we are not accepting bookings for it, and we will not advertise it — or describe any registration as pending — until the position is confirmed.
Ask us anything about how we check people.
Organisations are welcome to ask for our compliance process in detail before placing a booking. It is a reasonable thing to ask and we will not be evasive about it.