Customer story: Esmere Gardens

With Carecentre.io, this Gloucestershire care home transformed staff management, reduced shift gaps by 85 per cent, and brought their whole team together.

Esmere Gardens is a 70-resident care home in Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire, delivering residential, nursing, respite, and emergency care. As a privately run, family-led care provider, they face high staffing demands and constant coordination between teams. Before Carecentre.io, rota clashes, missed updates, and low staff visibility created avoidable stress for both management and carers.

The challenge

When Kimberly, the Registered Manager, first assessed their operations, she knew they faced significant challenges in staff management and communication.

Esmere Gardens had good people, but not the right systems. They couldn't afford to lose staff because of burnout or miscommunication. The team faced:

• Frequent shift gaps due to poor rota visibility
• Staff frustration with scattered communication across WhatsApp and paper rotas
• Lack of insight into staff wellbeing and sentiment
• No structured way to recognise great work or share key updates

"We had good people, but not the right systems. We couldn't afford to lose staff because of burnout or miscommunication."

The solution

Esmere Gardens implemented Carecentre.io across their entire operation, focusing on both efficiency and team culture. The platform provided exactly what they needed: a comprehensive solution that could handle their complex staffing needs whilst building a stronger team culture.

With Carecentre.io, Kimberly can now build rotas in minutes, auto-fill empty shifts, and track attendance with mobile check-ins. The HR & Leave Manager provides live leave balances, sickness logs, and easy approvals — all synced to the rota.

"Carecentre.io has completely transformed how we manage staff, communication, and wellbeing. It's not just about shifts — it's brought the whole team together."

The CareCulture features have been particularly transformative. AI-powered Pulse Surveys help detect early signs of disengagement, whilst the Recognition Wall allows team members to celebrate each other. Real-time Team Chat provides secure, structured communication, and the Digital Policy Hub means no more lost printouts.

Since implementing Carecentre.io, the impact has been remarkable:

"Carecentre.io gives us early insight into how our team is doing. If someone's morale dips, we know before it becomes a problem. That's invaluable."

The impact on individual staff members has been equally impressive. Zac, a Care Assistant at Esmere Gardens, shared his experience:

"I was mentioned in the Recognition Wall for helping a new resident settle in. It meant a lot. We all feel more seen here now."