In her book Labour of Love, Madeleine Bunting interviewed employees in a variety of ‘care’ settings, from care homes to GP surgeries and even in the back of an ambulance. She describes how the essential qualities of care are about the relationships between people, the bonds of interdependency that unite us, and the essential values of kindness and

What about the wider social infrastructure of communities that affect the needs that people have? Who should be accountable for how well social care works in meeting people’s needs? These are questions about organisation and delivery.

The resulting close-knit, mutually-supportive relationships heighten the company’s ability to weather challenges as well as to learn and adapt over time.

For people operating from this perspective, relationships are valued above outcomes.