Lessons Learnt
GCH are constantly looking to improve and here are some examples of lessons learnt by us by listening to your complaints.
When a Neighbourhood Manager was off sick a customer didn't receive any feedback on how an ongoing issue was being managed.
Team Leaders are now ensuring that work gets reallocated and picked up by another team member.
Engineers were not always aware of the appointment time that had been provided to customers, sometimes meaning that they arrived at a different time than had been arranged.
A new process is in place where our Schedulers clearly communicate to Engineers which jobs have been booked for the morning slot, helping the Engineers to stick to the time slot as much as possible with the jobs they have been allocated.
An outstanding job to complete a repair in a customer's home was not followed up.
Our schedulers now chase post inspection works within 24 hours of the engineer visiting the customers home, to ensure all required jobs are raised and booked in.
A customer felt they weren't kept up to date with progress on a new home they were due to move into.
The Customer Experience team have been trained and now have access to view lettings progress so that they can provide updates to customers when contacted.
Some customers told us that they didn't receive a call back that they had been told to expect.
We have enhanced our CRM system to notify officers if a call back is required. This sits in their task list until it is completed.
We couldn't get through to a customer as we held an old phone number.
Colleagues have been advised to try all methods of contact if they are unable to reach a customer, this can include phone, text, writing and door knock if appropriate. Customers are encouraged to update their contact details in MyGCH or when they speak to us..
Facebook Messenger messages are initially dealt with by one Officer, meaning that the information isn’t available for other staff to view.
All Facebook Messenger correspondences are now being saved to our customer relationship system, creating visibility and working in line with our standard processes for recording customer contact.
There were no notes or records saved from a previous inspection and the Engineer who attended was not available, which resulted in the inspection being repeated.
A new system is now in place to book in required follow up works. The actions are now called through to the team from the site, to ensure that no information is missed and that the work can be booked in without extra delays.
Our repairs team were making multiple visits because some vulnerable customers did not provide access to their homes.
Our new structure aims to enable different departments to work more closely together to seek the best outcome for customers. Where we know customers may be vulnerable, Neighbourhood Managers, Enhanced Support Coaches or Community Safety & Enforcement Managers will help to support appointments and provide relevant support to make them successful.
This page was last updated on 30th August 2023.
Lessons Learnt
GCH (Gloucester City Homes) are an independent registered social housing provider based in the centre of Gloucester and covering sites all over Gloucestershire.
We currently own and manage rented homes, sheltered housing properties, leasehold properties, shared ownership properties, commercial units and homeless units.
We became an independent Housing Association in March 2015 following overwhelming tenant support of 89% for a stock transfer from Gloucester City Council. GCH was originally set up as an Arm’s Length Management Organisation in 2005 to deliver the Government’s decent homes standard.
All GCH homes now meet the Government’s decent homes standard and there is a 30 year financial business plan to deliver around £250 million worth of investment in our existing and new homes.
Highly valued and trusted by our tenants and residents, we are recognised as one of the best housing providers in the country through independent accreditation including being ranked the 40th best company Sunday Times Top 100 non-profit making organisation, the Equalities Standard and the British Standards Institute ISO 9001:2015 recognition for quality management processes.
Our Board, Management and Tenant Panel look forward to continuing to achieve better outcomes for our customers, improving your homes and making your communities better places to live. We are committed to providing valued housing services to all our customers.
Abbeydale, Barton, Cathedral, Chequers, Coney Hill, Elmbridge, Holmleigh, Hucclecote, Kingsholm, Linden, Longlevens, Matson, Podsmead, Quedgeley, Robinswood, Severn, The Lampreys, The Oval, Tredworth, Tuffley, Westgate and White City.
Lessons Learnt
Our mission is to provide a safe, decent home for everyone and deliver services that meet our tenant’s needs and expectations.
Our Vision is to build homes and communities where people can thrive.
Our values are:
Pride: Taking pride in everything that we do – Having a positive mindset and can-do attitude. Doing what we say we will do. Taking ownership and responsibility.
Quality: Continually improving by challenging, listening and learning – Using every opportunity to learn to improve. Working together to get things done. Taking the time to understand others
Integrity: Being fair, inclusive, objective and accountable – Embracing diversity and valuing difference. Trusting each other to do the right thing. Speaking up if its not right.
Innovation: Creating opportunities to change and grow- -Looking for solutions and being productive. Not being afraid to fail and being open to new ideas. Using our own skills and experience to make a difference.
Lessons Learnt