support worker

children's residential team leader

registered children's manager

deputy manager

home care worker

Cambian Group

You soon learn that the company does not really have a universal ethos or culture. Each home operates differently with staff breaking rules and boundaries to keep the young people happy so that they do not "kick-off". A kick-off is the young people expressing bad behaviours, such as physically assaulting staff, smashing up the home, refusing to go to bed and forcing staff to work a waking night. A waking night means you do not go to sleep, this can be extremely damaging to staff health after a 15-hour shift and then going straight into a 16-hour shift the following day, which could again result in a waking night. You work from 08:00-23:00 with no break, unless you have a kick-off or waking night. A typical shift is the first day 15 hours and sleep-in, the second day 16 hours and sleep-in and the third day is handover in the morning for 2 hours, you're finally free to go home, after working 33 hours with no breaks except sleeping, if the young people didn't kick-off or have a waking night. 

Management is a take the money sort (do what they have to, to ensure they keep the job whilst only their for the money). Lots of freedom with work-life balance for management, with them, mostly deciding their work hours. The culture of each home is different, with staff left with the responsibility to enforce rules that management themselves do not, this causes huge conflict with the young people. They do not respect rules enforced by staff and only care for what comes from the mouths of management. Management passes the book telling staff that you're the adults and you're in charge out here (out here meaning outside of managements office). 

There will be situations where you are put at risk by management, sent out with a young person who is a known run risk or has a record of making accusations against staff (whilst you are not made aware of this). Young people should be at least 1 to 1 (1 staff with each young person at all times), some are even 2 to 1. Management will bend these rules which are there to not only safeguard the young people but also staff and you will be left responsible for 2 young people on a 1 to 2 basis! This is something I have experienced and heard happened with inexperienced staff in another home, putting both the young people and the staff in danger.

You can look at staff from a managers perception as simple as this, stressor or de-stressor. You are either a stressor to them and this does not mean you're doing anything wrong but you just may not be picking up every extra shift available (they will have you working 4 days on with no care for your health), if you're not picking up all the extra shifts you're a stressor to them because they become stressed having to do their job and find staff to cover (staffing is a HUGE issue). A de-stressor is someone picking up shifts, doesn't matter whether they are good at their job, just pick up shifts and you become a favourite. You better keep on picking up shifts because the moment you don't the favourite status shifts. The way management will be toward you is dependant on this and it's obvious.

You will also be discriminated against for time off and this includes isolating for COVID. Having been to various homes I can confidently say that the homes maintained their own rules for COVID, with very the very minimum was done to ensure safety for staff and young people. Staff are sent between homes with little to no protection. 

Care workers essentially become security guards, carers, cleaners, management, therapists, all whilst being verbally, physically, and psychologically abused by the young people. I cannot speak for all houses but my home did absolutely nothing for my mental health. In supervision, I mentioned that I felt as though I could relapse with my mental health and at present are in a depressive episode, my manager giving me the supervision at the time changed my words and did not mention anything I said about my mental health. 

I cannot speak for all of the homes but in my home, inappropriate jokes/comments of adult nature from management made toward staff is a common occurrence. Conversations of adult nature between management and staff. Management fancying staff and giving them job advancements over the staff that are equally qualified, equally committed and have been there longer also happened. 

I worked for this awful company in North Yorkshire. I now work with a U.K. Police force. I’d just like to say that never in my entire working life have I ever worked with so many untruthful, incompetent, lying ignorant members of staff and managers as I did with this company. There is no word to describe how bad it was. Every single month I worked there my wages were wrong and then when I was due money I was owed from the previous month I still didn’t get payed what I was owed and was told I’d have to wait till the next month, that clearly didn’t happen because I don’t take being mugged off by any organisation especially when it’s a matter of employment law and I’m due money I’ve already waited an extra month for. If my wages were wrong when I was in the military which in 15 years they were wrong only twice I’d have been payed what I was due immediately. The arrogance and complete ignorance shown by home managers and senior managers in this company is unreal, and I mean unreal. They talk to people like some of their staff have never managed anyone themselves or conducted risk assessments or completed work rotas or had any business sense. I use to have young recruits in the military who could have done a better job of managing a children’s home with no experience than the drivel this lot would produce. They are a terrible company driven greed and profit for their shareholders and I’m amazed that they haven’t been closed down by OFSTED. Some one isn’t doing their inspections or job properly. Come to a home to inspect it and actually interview all the staff in private and the children and you’ll get a real picture of what goes on. I never came across one of my senior members of staff/ team leaders who was actually capable of conducting a set of induction shifts for a new staff member, everything was nonsense or too much like hard work to actually show someone what they were meant to do with things like the kids finances or where certain folders were kept that people didn’t even know existed so it’s not like they could go and ask because they didn’t know about them and hadn’t been told.  The place I worked in and the company as a whole is a complete shambles with idiots for managers, their managers also didn’t work particularly long hours and if a problem arouse with staffing managers would not come in to fill the void and they expected staff to stay on duty even if they had been there over 24 hours, it was highly dangerous because usually staff who did a sleep over had been up all night and were usually exhausted. They do not understand health and safety and safe working practices and the company tried their damndest to bully me as did my manager but when I stood up to them they tried different tactics to undermine me, that didn’t work either. As a company they don’t even follow their own guidelines and procedures or follow risk assessments that they have completed, Cambian make the rules up as they go along and then when someone picks them up for it they lie and get their managers to waffle nonsense and invent things or they try to pretend that the employee has got the wrong end of the stick and they’re mistaken when they were clearly told something or told not to do something. Serious incidents are swept under the carpet by managers and also senior management. Very funny when someone with no medical qualifications starts telling someone who has got in-depth medical qualifications all about injuries and bruising and how bruising is created and time scales and different patterns of bruising and that person says what your saying would not stand up in court, well believe me I’d take my chances because my knowledge was  far better than that idiots was. A Cambian investigation is not an investigation when it’s conducted by a manger who is not trained or capable of asking questions without putting words into the mouth of the person that they are interviewing (best leave that to people who’ve actually done that training and got that experience eh Cambian) never Met such a twisted and corrupt bunch of lying self rewarding people as I did within this company. Should be shut down immediately because it wasn’t just where I worked that was bad as I’ve spoken to numerous Cambian employees and the stories are the same everywhere. The children and staff are promised so much at interview but it’s all lies and smoke and mirrors.

What can I say. There is no transparency regarding farer charging. Two people using the same service and getting the same level of care, pay vastly different rates. The poor person using direct payments for their care was paying substantially more. I feel this is hugely unfair. Cambian Commissioners can't get away with this with Councils as there are thresholds in place, so they make money by unethical charging. Beware if you are paying for care using direct payments. They may be ripping you off. I know this as my manager told me that she had broached it with her manager but got nowhere.

Occupancy. The big buck is all that really matters, (which is odd as the share price is plummeting) The number of people in any given service is what matters most. It matters less if the service users is in the best place, if the care is good, if staff are supported. God help anyone who challenges the focus on occupancy. The commissioning managers are deemed far more important as they fight to bring money in......once in they wash their hands of  the operational stuff and leave staff unable to meet the persons needs as packages are priced too low. Not to mention the secret deals done to win the business at all costs. 

When I was there I had excellent support for the first 6 months....then a huge change in management occurred across the board and then abandoned. Staff don't stay as they don't feel appreciated by the company. Simply seen as serfs that are easily replaced for other unsuspecting newbies. Sadly it means the dedicated and excellent staff that do stay are under constant stress to do lots and lots of hours to cover shortfall. Not paying staff on time and not paying overtime when they should also makes us anxious.

A  job we love is also made harder by the fact that Cambian don't pay contractors on time. Bins don't get collected, hoists don't get repaired, stops are put on various other accounts.

Nepotism
On many application forms there is a question asking if you are related to anyone already working for the Company. I don't remember seeing this on Cambians paperwork. If it was then I missed it. It is not uncommon to find several members of the same family working in key positions in a single area. These families are untouchable and many, including area managers, are undermined by this. Support workers belonging to these families are not disciplined when they do wrong as no one has the backbone to take  on the operations director (who is closely related) from another area......those that do seem to disappear. 

Cambian is beset by trauma. Service users on suicide watch escaping and throwing themselves off bridges.(I think that was Wales) Service users climbing out of unprotected windows and sliding down drainpipes to escape, breaking their leg as they go. Service users mutiny and lock staff up in a room (police needed to go in there to get staff out) Service users not being checked for very long periods of time and found dead in bed. The lists goes on and on.

From two perspectives. 
People who need care or organise care for loved ones may do well to chose another company! There are lots. 
From a job perspective. If you want to feel valued, want a sense of achievement at the end of a shift, a fair and even playing field amongst your peers (no matter who they are related too) then Cambian may not be the best carer move for you.  If the biggest perk of the job is the free meal once a day and you can think of no other positives, is that really job satisfaction?.....Voyage care also offer free meals (not an advertisement...more a point of note)

My experience with this employer was unfortunately not what I expected. I completed the full two-week induction, including training at the Stockport head office and first aid training, despite already holding a recognised first aid qualification. I also completed three shadow shifts before starting my official role.

The main reason I decided to leave was that the role I accepted did not match what had been advertised or discussed during my interview. I only discovered during training that I had been assigned to what the company referred to as an "Embrace" home which involves working with very high-needs children and young people, a crucial detail that should have been disclosed upfront.

While the initial 2-week induction and training in Stockport were structured, the experience completely changed once I arrived at the home. On my first official shift, the communication was incredibly poor.  The team leader, whom I had never met before, did not introduce themselves or acknowledge my arrival. There was no proper handover or welcome, as conversations in the office appeared to take priority. As the senior member of staff on shift, I expected a more professional approach to introducing new colleagues and ensuring they were settled into the team, and no one offered to show me the house systems or routines. Fortunately, I have two years of prior experience in this field, otherwise, I would have been completely lost.

I was then informed on my first full shift that I would be regularly redeployed to work at other homes, despite only just beginning to build relationships with the children and staff in my assigned home. When I raised my concerns with the manager, I was told this was part of my contract and something that happened regularly. While I appreciate that flexibility can be required in this sector, this was never discussed during the interview or recruitment process. I believe this is important information that should be shared with candidates before they accept a role.

After considering everything, I decided the position was not the right fit for me and chose to leave during my shift. My decision was based on the lack of transparency during recruitment, poor communication once I started, and the significant difference between my expectations of the role and the reality.

I hope the company reviews its recruitment process and onboarding procedures, as being open about the nature of the role and providing better support to new starters would benefit both employees and the young people they support.

I worked with some great dedicated staff who were a credit to themselves and the local home management but as i found, my workplace was an exception in high standards generally compared to the ' norm ' - The Company really did not deserve them or their loyalty.

I wanted to be a carer not just a ' safe adult ' who could make a difference. Despite Cambian's claims, this is an institution centred on profit making and is very much the culture and values felt from senior management.

You were often left in unsafe situations with inexperienced staff leading to serious safeguarding issues because of the nature of the environments you were put into. Staff turnover was incredibly high and use of constant agency staff meant unsettled culture despite the efforts of the team.

Ticking boxes, protecting yourself & concentrating on focus for various Ofsted reports & visits took priority over all else and ultimately the genuine care of those in your responsibility.

Access to various training was in place,the initial induction of high quality & relevance but most was a one day course here and there which had little direct relevance or help with the daily battles & struggles you faced ( and then if the rota allowed you to attend ) 

This is NOT and easy environment to work in and often a shift ( including a very poorly compensated sleep ( lol ) -over is over 27 hours with little time between the next shift. Work / life balance is poor and you need to be very mentally & physically fit to survive. If you are single and have no social life other than the team you work with, you will love it, otherwise intrusion and sheer exhaustion on family life will have serious consequences 

More a prison guard ethic sadly rather than autonomous career due to the institutionalised nature of the business / Ofsted accountability and self protection & constant report writing . you WILL get battered,bruised and hurt both mentally & physically. If you can accept this and thrive in this type of environment then you will have all the support to suit you but so many genuine loving caring folk are burnt out far to easily & quickly despite having so much to offer which is a constant theme of so many reviews here.

I learnt a lot from my time with Cambian and had the benefit of a genuine exceptional team who I will always value & think highly of from a far now with genuine appreciation,but please do your research on exactly what you can cope with and expect form this Company before hand .It's NOT babysitting Children and NOT for everyone & the remuneration for what you give, responsibility & hours maybe industry standard but for the expectations of you to thrive, and in reality; exceptionally poor. 

I have tried to give a balanced honest overview as there are some excellent people working within this Company

The school was taken over by Cambian Group. A typical day would be covering teachers lessons and monitoring children around the site who could be either smashing windows or climbing on the roof of the classrooms or the gym.  With the exception of the bursar, Cambian brought in a senior leadership team who were cheap, proven incompetent and  out of their depth in day to day management, leadership and keeping children safe. No decent managers would consider working for this company when they see the reviews as it would be career suicide, so you end up with the second rate ones who are flawed characters and obviously have had issues in their previous employment. .Many of the boys were very unhappy as were their parents with conditions, safety and wellbeing. . This included the residential side of the school that was also rated inadequate with parents bringing in their own meals at times because conditions were so bad.. Management  also have very little understanding of the medical conditions of the students and how to support them. We regularly had new students join with serious Mental Health issues who were  a huge danger to other students and ourselves.with countless incidents. Cambian bring in these children because they make the most profit but it is totally unfair to children who want to learn and the school is not set up for this with no boundary fencing and multiple ways for children to abscond in the day.. . We had totally inadequate and often zero training to deal with serious Mental Health issues working with  children who you could not trust with any sharp objects.as they could stab you or other children.   All of this led to both an inadequate Ofsted rating for both school and residential.. The LSA's worked really hard every day and many were the nicest people, but it was draining as their was little praise for hard work and often lunch could be spent chasing children round.. Some staff often got punched and seriously injured and many staff members left because they didn't want to work for inadequate managers who did not know how to manage or lead effectively, Before Cambian, the school was a charity, it was well run and pupils and staff were happy.  There were some good times and there were many great children, but since Cambian it is entirely run for maximum profit, and Cambian managers have failed to see the value in maintaining good support staff to the detriment of the wellbeing of the children. Do not work at Potterspury Lodge or any other Cambian / CareTech company unless you have a good friend who works there and can tell you how it is. It is regular to see staff members crying and upset over conditions and what managers have said to them. In summary I made lots of great friends, most of the children were lovely, but managers are inadequately skilled to run this type of school and manage people.

I have worked for the company for over two years and it has been a terrible experience. I have read the other reviews and they all tend to point out low staff morale, low salary and money-focused approach. From my experience:
- STAFF MORALE - Very and I mean VERY low. Frontline staff tend to be very motivated and passionate when they first join the company, however this doesn't last long, as everything that goes wrong is blamed on them and management show absolutely no support or appreciation for their hard work. 
- MONEY - For the hard work and responsibility that is put on support staff, as well as the dangerous patients who are not suitable for the level of care provided, the money is one of the worst things about the job. Permanent staff get paid national minimum wage and go home stressed, physically and mentally drained, sometimes after being physically assaulted or hours of verbal abuse, just to come back for the next 5 days/nights, which brings me to the next point. ..
- STAFF SHORTAGES- The unit i work in has been open well over two years and the management have still not figured out how to take care of their existing staff or provide a safe environment for both staff and service users. The unit is very frequently left with no response team and sometimes not even enough staff to cover all observations. Good permanent staff leave, as there is nothing to stay for, the get burnt out because they are required to work more than their basic shifts to help their work colleagues and cover shortages.
- SERVICE USERS - beds are filled with service users who are not only not adequate in terms of needs and personal requirements, but also pose dangers to staff and other sercice users. As long as the company is getting money for a filled bed - thats ok. Frontline staff suffer for it when they get beat up and then get pressure from management not to press charges. 

There is just so many bad points to make about this company that its a wonder how it is still running.

And yes - maybe you do get meals provided on the shift, however night staff have to either bring their own food or eat leftovers from dinner/tea times.
Oh, and if you aspire to progress within the company you have no chance, unless you are willing to take on massive responsibilities for absolutely nothing but more grief from the management.
MDT members spend the absolute minimum time with patients, because they are afraid of them and do not engage in on-the-unit life.

Horrible place, i wouldnt recommend it to anyone.

It was a major mistake to accept a senior post with this company. The complex remit of a new manager was never made sufficiently clear and issues and concerns went unmentioned until they became serious and, in my experience, impossible to resolve in the time available. It was clear that your face had to fit and mine did - for a while. Instead of honest appraisal following the emergence of concerns, I was sidelined, victimised and marched down the path of wanting to leave well before I was even aware of a problem. Don’t misunderstand - I would have accepted a fair process which led to us going our separate ways, but what happened was a nasty little trap that in my naivety; I failed to see coming.

Apart from my own bad experience, a review of Cambrian would be incomplete without the following concerns and observations. The pay and conditions for main grade staff are poor for the type of work they do, made worse by the lack of sick pay and broken promises around the use of discretion in this respect. Some relatively  young people are expected to work in very challenging situations without adequate training in managing conflict, understanding trauma or the origins and precursors of disregulated behaviour. In fact, most staff appeared to have neither training nor useful experience in autism in young people, which was a stunning realisation considering the eye-watering fees charged to local authorities on the basis of declared expertise. On the whole, it was very impressive that many of the support workers were as effective and dedicated as they were considering this context. 

I could go on, (and on), but will only add that I suspect that other sites within Cambrian are different and perhaps less difficult to work in. However, many issues do seem to be due to a national culture and obvious focus on the ‘bottom line’ amidst sickly platitudes about genuine care for young people and a contradictory approach to staff.

I have worked for Cambian for a good few years, it has slowly gone downhill. 

Staff are not supported, you can run really short on shift to the point when young people cannot even go out or do activities unless you are doing it within home setting, most shifts are running on unsafe levels when even the managers are having to make up the numbers or agency are booked in who don't know the young people and make the shift even more difficult. 

Some young people are not suited to the placement the company just want to fill beds, other young people are at risk of being injured by them and staff are being injured sometimes on a shift by shift basis. There doesn't seem to be any real support after incidents you are told what you want to hear then nothing is done about it. 

You are constantly faced with deadlines you can't meet because of staffing levels or staffing levels in other departments that you have to cover when you should be doing paperwork. You are expected to drop everything and do overtime and a lot of the time you are made to feel bad if you don't do it. 

Experienced staff are not treated well you just get given more jobs to do like mentoring staff that won't stay, workload is impossible at times and you end up working with the more challenging young people so you end up burned out or injured/hurt. 

Morale is low staff are deflated, exhausted and emotional because of the staffing levels and support that never seems to be put in place but is promised, false promises are made to keep you happy but nothing really comes of it and it's the same cycle that never seems to change. 

There is no pay progression there is no incentive to achieve more as you get paid the same at the newbie that has just walked through the door, no cost living for 5/6 years. 

The company come across as there main outlook is to make money for their investors, nothing to look after the staff who are hands on with clients/young people who make the company. To focused  on buying more schools/hospitals and less on looking after the work force who carry the company 

The only positives is colleges, you form close friendships because of the working environment and make friends for life!

Avoid at all costs

I worked at a residential home  (LD) for about 2 years, startin rate of pay = same as finishing rate of pay despite promises of pay rise, promotion etc etc.
Management are awful, they bring with them their old mates and promote them immediately, everyone else is used as cannon fodder. If you get hurt in the course of your duties..... tough! No company sick pay despite obvious dangers of the job.
Residents whos local authorities are paying for 1 to 1 care dont get it, only if CQC is looking, the rest of the time if you are a quiiet resident.... they forget about you. The level of care from frontline staff is excellent, but morale is unbelievably low, constant back bighting and favoured staff runnung back to managers with nothing more than gossip which then forms the basis of formal disciplinary action.
If you stick up for the residents by pointing out shortfalls in the standard of their care you are put on probation for having a negative attitude.
Food standards apalling! All to save money, hit budget and get a fat managers bonus!
It was so bad at the 1st home i worked at i asked for a transfer, the next home was no different. In
 have worked at several sites in the midlands since then and with few exceptions they are all the same, poorly managed, no consistancy and if you have any ideas or oppinions - disciplinary action follows. They are generally unaware of their own policies and proceedures.
Payroll is also extreemly unreliable - many staff not being paid their full hours, some staff not paid at all some months due to "computer error"
As far as i know The company is owned by an american investmant company and the whole idea is to make as big a proffit as possible for the shareholders, which is basically taking someones care allowance, giving them a bare minimum of care and keeping the rest, which some may possibly considder to be financial abuse.
If you are a mate of the manager and you like saying YES to whatevr they say, and you dont care too much about the standard of care your service users recieve.... This is the employer for you.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Support worker 23 salaries reported	£13.69 per hour
Children's residential team leader 10 salaries reported	£25,938 per year
Registered children's manager 31 salaries reported	£38,194 per year
Deputy manager 7 salaries reported	£14.61 per hour
Home care worker 4 salaries reported	£12.79 per hour

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