THE ORGANISATION
Walsingham provides care and support to people with learning disabilities to live independent lives in houses in the community. The organisation began in 1986, and has been providing support to people in their own tenancies since 1999.
OUR SERVICE TO YOU
We are committed to treating all service users and staff openly, equally and with dignity and respect. We have a Diversity Policy that makes sure that there will be no discrimination in our services.
This is our promise of how we will provide your service :
- we will work with you to develop your individual plan, which includes how you will be supported to do the things you choose.
- we will make sure that all staff know what your plan says and will make sure that your plan is regularly reviewed to keep it up to date.
- we will make sure that you have as much control as possible about how you lead your life and that you make decisions about your life.
- we will make sure that staff are trained to support you and encourage you to make choices.
- we will give you a statement of what you can expect from your service and the cost.
- we will make sure that information is given to you in the way that you best understand it.
- we will keep written records of the care we provide and will make sure they are kept securely.
- we will involve you in choosing the staff who will support you.
- all staff will be trained and their work will be supervised by experienced people.
- you will be asked about your views and about what you like and don’t like about the services you get.
- we will make sure that we provide services that meet the law and standard
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
We have a statement of purpose which outlines our service and the principles within which we work. It gives an overview of the organisation as well as specific details of how you may contact us. It also contains information about our services locally and how you may access these. The statement of purpose also tells you more about Walsingham and explains our ethos. Walsingham was formed in 1986 to provide small, locally-based, Christian-run homes for people with learning disabilities. We are a Company Limited by Guarantee (2016251) and a registered Charity (294832.)
AREA COVERED
This office covers the City and County of Swansea area. Currently we only provide services to people who meet the City and County of Swansea’s eligibility criteria. Our vacancies are usually allocated in partnership with the local Community Support Team.
SERVICES PROVIDED
Services are provided in accordance with individual needs. We currently provide support to adults who have severe and multiple disabilities, sensory impairments, specific health needs and physical disabilities. Staff working with people who have specific needs will receive training and support from a relevant professional, eg, staff working with people who have epilepsy will receive training and support from the Service Users community nurse. Personal care is provided if necessary. The detail of how this will be provided will documented in your Person Centred Plan.
PAYMENT OF FEES
Fees are paid in accordance with the Local Authorities Charging Policy. You, or your representative will be invoiced monthly for these charges. Specific details of individual fees are given in the Service User Agreement. When fees change you will be informed in writing.
CIRCUMSTANCES WHERE SERVICE IS NO LONGER PROVIDED
There are some occasions when Walsingham are no longer able to continue to provide a service to someone. These situations will be clearly explained to you should this situation occur. Walsingham staff will not continue to provide a service to someone:
- Who does not allow staff to comply with agree risk assessments
- Who does not pay agreed charges
- Who has not been assessed as requiring that level of support through the Care of Management assessment process.
ARRANGMENTS FOR CANCELLATION OF SERVICE
Any cancellation of a service will be fully discussed with you prior to the service being cancelled. This will also be fully discussed with the relevant Care Manager if necessary.
TIMESHEETS
Timesheets are co-ordinated on a monthly basis by the relevant line manager. These are completed and authorised and are forwarded to Head Office for payment on a monthly basis.
STAFFING STRUCTURE
The local Swansea management structure is headed by a Regional Manager (Debbie Edwards). She manages a Service Manager (Donna Kerslake) who has a responsibility to ensure the smooth running of each of the services. Individual managers manage each of the services. We will provide full details of the relevant manager and team when you receive a service from us. A full organisational structure can be found on our website: www.walsingham.com. The Registered Manager and Service Manager have to be approved by the CSIW. Both of them have several years of experience of working with people who have a learning disability and of managing staff.
WHAT TO DO IF YOU ARE NOT SATISFIED
We have a policy on complaints that says what to do if you don’t like something in the service. We want to know if things are going wrong for you and we want to make sure that we put things right as soon as possible. There is a full copy of our complaints leaflet available. Here is a summary of what it says:
Sometimes you can discuss the problem with your support worker, at other times you will want to talk with someone else. We have a list of different people you can talk to. You can also have help from someone else to make your complaint.
When you make a complaint, we will listen carefully to what you tell us and will make sure that we have a clear picture of the problem. We will write this down. We will investigate your complaint then let you know what we find and what we plan to do to resolve the problem. If you are not happy with what happens, you can ask for someone else to talk to. This could be a more senior person in Walsingham, your care manager or someone else from Social Services, or someone from the Care Standards Inspectorate in Wales (CSIW). The address and phone number of the CSIW is at the end of this guide.
We will make sure that your service is not affected because you have made a complaint.
HEALTH AND SAFETY
Walsingham has a Health and Safety policy which all staff are required to follow. Specific individual risk assessments may be put in place if your needs require these. All risk assessments are agreed with you and your representative where necessary. You must agree to keep your house a safe working environment for staff otherwise your service may be stopped. Walsingham has the necessary employers liability cover and provides certificates showing this in each of the buildings where staff teams are based.
CONTACTING MANAGERS
You will have access to a list of managers who are contactable for advice or to hear any complaints. All staff will be able to support you if you wish to contact a manager. This list is available 24 hours per day 7 days per week.
ABSENCE OF A WORKER
If a specific worker is unable to attend your home as agreed then Walsingham will try to provide an alternative member of staff who is known to you. If this is not possible then an agency member of staff may be used if this is in agreement with you.
SERVICE USERS VIEWS
Walsingham have a Quality Group which is seeking to involve service users in measuring the quality of Walsingham services. This group visits services to talk to service users and gain their views. Senior managers, Directors and Trustees also visit service users and seek the views of service users while they are there. Service users are also invited to the AGM where their views are sought. By working with standards and underpinning principles, we aim to ensure that what we do is overt, measurable and person centred. Senior managers of the organisation regularly visit service users in their homes, to ensure that they are satisfied with the service they receive and that standards are being maintained. The services and the service that is provided is regularly monitored and reviewed by the Local Authorities Contract Monitoring Officers. They also write to relevant relatives and Care Managers for feedback. Reports are provided in relation to the outcome of this monitoring.
USE OF AGENCY STAFF
Occasionally Walsingham contracts with another agency to provide additional staffing. Walsingham meets regularly with these other agencies to ensure that they comply with the CSIW standards.
OUR AGREEMENT WITH YOU
We will provide you with an individual agreement which tells you the hours of service you will receive, the cost of your service and shows how much you will have to pay. We will review the cost of the service every year and will inform you of any changes to the amount you pay.
OTHER RELEVANT INFORMATION
Walsingham holds policy documents on Human Resources, Health and Safety and Operations at each of its staff bases. If you wish to see any of these please ask any member of staff who will make them available to you.
Contract Monitoring Reports and Inspection Reports can also be found in each of the staff bases. You can see these at any time you wish.
More detail about Walsingham can be found on the website at www.walsingham.com.
KEY ADDRESSES AND TELEPHONE NUMBERS
Swansea Office:
Suite 3
RVB House
New Mill Court
Phoenix Way
Swansea
SA7 9FG
Telephone: 01792 312980
Head Office of Walsingham:
Walsingham House
1331-1337 High Road
Whetstone
London
N20 9HR
Telephone: 020 8343 5600
Address of Care Standards Inspectorate in Wales:
Unit C
Phase 3
Tawe business village
Phoenix Way
Swansea
SA7 9LA
Telephone: 01792 310420