Oliver Platt has certainly made his mark on the Tristone community in a short space of time. Since joining ProCare Wales as managing director in October 2023, he has quickly demonstrated the skills that have served him so well in adult social care over the last 20 years.
It’s little wonder that, within 12 months of joining, he was appointed as group managing director, taking on the responsibility of steering both ProCare Wales and fellow Tristone community business, Next Steps. The move not only demonstrates the speed at which he has settled into the community, but also the confidence bestowed on him to lead teams in a very people-centric way.
It’s this person-centred approach that he believes so wholeheartedly in as a leader –describing himself as ‘passionate’ and ‘committed’ in order to achieve the highest possible standards in quality of life for people in his care.
Bringing a raft of experience in everything from recruitment to retention, HR, KPI delivery, budgetary management and service growth, he was a natural choice to take on the dual role. As he continues to settle into the group leadership position, we caught up with Oliver to find out more about what it means to be part of Tristone community and what he sees as the main challenges facing the adult social care sector in the coming months and years.
You’ve built up significant experience working with a range of organisations within adult social care. What attracted you to Tristone? “What appealed to me was the genuine willingness to create fantastic lives for people by focusing on positive outcomes.
“For a business looking to secure further investment and build an ongoing partnership, you’ve got to explore whether it’s a fit culturally and the outcomes that everybody wants are aligned – and that’s what you get with Tristone. For me, personally, I’ve always felt that developing positive cultures focused on good outcomes for people is fundamentally a strong business model on which to grow from.”
Since joining the Tristone community in October 2023, Oliver has quickly seen the benefits that come from a collective environment where everyone shares the same values and ambitions.
“We’ve definitely benefited from having access to additional resources,” he explains. “Whether that’s group buying power for certain contracts, or resources to further develop the quality proposition and what the organisation can offer, it’s there at our fingertips.
“But it’s not just about shared resources,” he continues. “Being part of the Tristone community means that it shares the responsibility and it also shares the risk. Sometimes when you’re leading an organisation or a service, you can feel quite isolated when things aren’t going well. That might be cash flow issues, trying to meet payroll, or trying to get debtors to pay up. As such, tapping into the extensive experience of the wider group is a real valuable resource to be able to lean on.”
It also helps with growth aspirations. While Oliver doesn’t have a set number, or figure, what he is clear about is the ambition to help as many people as they can.
“As a member of the Tristone community, we have access to more experienced investors, especially when it comes to acquiring properties and developing the number of sites that we have as a business,” he explains. “That knowledge and expertise will be vital as we look to support and care for more people and increase the impact we have on the local communities around us.”
For Oliver, the Tristone community is ‘unique’ in a sector that continues to face growing challenges and external pressures.
“For me, it’s group of morally strong people coming together to provide an even greater impact in the sector,” he says. “In my experience, many organisations understandably prioritise themselves, rather than focusing on collaboration and shared experiences. It’s a breath of fresh air to see a group of like-minded people come together to further strengthen what we’re trying to achieve.”
When it comes to those challenges and external pressures, what does Oliver see as the main factors at play in 2025?
This year brings a number of exciting opportunities for us to develop the quality and scope of impact that we deliver for the people we support. At ProCare Wales we are 100% focused on ensuring we are a gold standard, sector leading provider of complex care for adults with learning disabilities. Development of our ‘ProCare Way’ brochure has been a significant, yet hugely inspiring piece of work with a buzz of excitement around its implementation throughout 2025.
Within Next Steps, our vision and commitment to support people out of hospital services and into community homes under specialised, clinical care and support is stronger than ever. Engagement with senior commissioners within local authorities and the NHS, regarding our vision to provide services that are person-centred, robust yet can flex around the fluctuating presentation of our residents, has been overwhelmingly positive. Our commitment to break the cycle of people needing to be re-hospitalised is strong and the development of services around the needs of people makes 2025 a very exciting year for everyone at Next Steps.
2025 also brings a number of challenges for both organisations. The impact of increased Employer National Insurance Contributions (NIC), our desire to ensure good pay rates for our wonderful staff teams, combined with the challenging landscape of fee uplift rates from local authorities and NHS, is profound. However, our desire, commitment and expertise to navigate such challenges, while ensuring we remain on course to achieve the aims for our people is one we are wholeheartedly embracing.
