My Rights and Responsibilities when using Consortium Services.
The Consortium will support me to have my rights:
I have the right to:
Get involved in the local area where I live.
Maintain my relationships with friends and family if I want to.
Learn the skills I need to become as independent as I can.
Feel good about myself as a tenant and as a member of the general public.
Have a service that meets my needs as an individual.
Take as much control of my life as I can.
Hold any personal belief and have it respected.
Feel safe in my home.
If I do not think that these things are happening I can speak to a Consortium staff member or manager, or use the Complaints Procedure.
The Consortium will only change the way it supports me with my agreement or that of my Social Worker or Community Nurse.
When using Consortium services I must:
Not treat other tenants unkindly or hurt them in any way.
Not treat the staff who support me unkindly or hurt them in any way.
Not take or break property that belongs to the other tenants or the Consortium.
Not offend or upset other people who live in my area.
Share with Consortium staff the information that they need to provide my service.
I will work with the staff who help me, unless I am unhappy with the support I receive (please see the section on complaints).
If I don’t do these things the Consortium may stop being my Support Provider.
This could in some cases affect my Tenancy, as the landlord expects me to receive the support I need to live in my home
Key Consortium Policies
The Consortium has a number of policies. Policies are written so that staff know what they have to do and how to do it.
Here is some information about our most important policies:
Procedures/Policies in Place to Safeguard Service Users and Staff from Abuse
The Consortium provide support to many adults who are considered vulnerable adults under the vulnerable adults act. It is therefore important that we have clear policies and procedures in place to safeguard the people we support.
The Consortium have policies in place to ensure staff are aware of their duties in relation to ensuring service users are safe from abuse either from themselves or the people they work with. The policies make it clear that each staff member has a duty to report any instances of actual or suspected abuse and provides clear guidelines for reporting.
The Consortium operates a complaints and compliments procedure and provides this in an accessible format and audio CD, for service users or their representatives to make a complaint or compliment about their service.
Procedures/Policies in Place to Safeguard Service Users and Staff in their Service
It is the policy of The Consortium to seek to provide a safe and healthy home and work place for its employees and service users. To that end it is committed to removing hazards as and when they arise.
The Consortium provides adequate procedures and training for those hazards which by their nature cannot be completely guarded against. This will help to reduce the possibility of hazards occurring.
However, the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, recognising that this is such an important area, lays down certain duties on all employees working at every level within The Consortium. The duties are to take care of their own safety and that of other workers and to co-operate with the Consortium and its officers to enable it to carry out its own responsibilities.
Procedures/Policies in Place to Safeguard Service Users Property
Procedures/Policies in Place for Providing Assistance with or Administrating of Medication
Agency Charges
The Consortium provides services under a contract from the Local Authority thus any charges service users are required to pay are agreed by the Local Authority commissioning the support.
Service Users are required to pay a charge for their personal care by the Local Authority, when receiving personal care service users will be financially assessed by the Local Authority who will set a charge for the service.
The Consortium may also to provide additional support to service users beyond that funded by the Local Authority, it maybe that the local authority do not see some activities as a priority need for the person, however the person and their supporters wish to pay for this support. The Consortium will charge the individual directly for these services at an hourly rate. This will be agreed as part of the service users individual care plan.
The Consortium may also arrange transport for an individual or group of service users. Arrangements will be agreed with service users and documented in an Individual Transport Plan. This plan will agree the charges or contribution a service user will make to the transport that they use. The charges or contributions that are agreed at a level to represent a maximum of 75% of the individual's Disabled Living Allowance Mobility benefit.
Where the Consortium is providing Housing Related Support to service users who are tenants they may also need help ensure that their rent is paid, the Consortium will also ensure that the tenant understands the how their rent has been calculated and any charges that they are paying for services that are being provided by the Landlord. The Consortium will support the person to claim the cost of their rent from Housing Benefit where they are eligible for this.
All charges that the tenants has to pay either to the Consortium or other agencies to maintain their life in the Community are set out in their Personal Financial Support Plan which is there to help the tenant and their supporters to successfully manage their financial life.