Merry Christmas and a Successful Future
Hello all, its
that time of year again and much has happened in the last year.
As you all probably know we received three stars for providing an
excellent service from the national inspectorate, C.Q.C. We are
very proud of all the staff in achieving this.
We have continued to grow as a company, and perhaps we are sometimes not the same small cuddly company that we started off with five years ago!
In order to meet the changing needs and challenges that this brings for people, we are about to introduce a new regular staff liason meeting. (Emilia has written an article about this below.)
In the new year we will also be starting End of Life work. This will be a separate piece of work with staff specifically employed to work in this area. The work will entail providing care to people who have been diagnosed as being in their last year of life. This diversification comes through a request to work in this area, but also because we see that the Supported Lives values are very transferrable to this area of work. Consistent and respectful care is what people with terminal conditions and their carers also require.
We will also be taking new referrals from the childrens' disability and complex health needs team. In the new year Mandy Corby will be co-ordinating this work ably assisted by whover gets the new job! (See below for more details.)
As finances become tighter for everyone ,we are glad to be able to say that our work appears quite secure, although the constraints placed upon us through funders means we cannot be in any way complacent.
Meanwhile we hope you have a joyful Christmas, with all good wishes for the New Year., to all clients, carers and staff
John Drury
Changes
Sally Benn, like a lot of politicians, decided to spend more time with her family and left Supported Lives in October. Unlike most politicians though, Sally actually did want to spend more time with her family. Sally joined the company right at the beginning and her experience, knowledge and general wit and wisdom helped us become the strong organisation we now are, and she will be much missed.
Luckily for
us, we have Emilia Troc on the team, and we have now revamped her
role so that she has taken on much of Sally's work plus a few
other important bits. She is now our Human Resources and Quality
Assurance Manager. Her role includes lots of personnel stuff,
recruitment and selection, training, etc. and ensuring Supported
Lives achieves the Investors in People award next year.
Jon Wright
New Job Opportunity
Internal applicants are invited to apply for a sessional senior support worker post for working with children.
This post has arisen in response to the recommendations made to Supported Lives following a Serious Case Review Report. One of the key functions of this post will be to assist the Team Leader in implementing the recommendations of the review.
The successful applicant must:
- currently work for Supported Lives
- be experienced in child protection and safeguarding environment
- have a good understanding of child protection and safeguarding legislation
- be able to produce written reports to a high standard and maintain written records to a standard required by safeguarding legislation
- be flexible in working hours
This post will be awarded on an 'as and when required basis' through a sessional contract, and hours will vary dependent on the needs of the service. The hours worked will be paid at the Senior Support Worker initial rate of £8.25 per hour. The post will be reviewed annually or when any major changes in the work with children requires a review.
If you are interested in this post speak to Owen Jones or Emilia Troc and ask for a job description and application pack. Interviews will be held in the week leading up to Christmas.
Jon Wright
Staff Advisory Committee
In June this year we told you about our commitment to Investors In People, which is a quality assurance method based on the simple idea that the success of every organisation depends on the continuous involvement, improvement and development of its people.
As a result we've started a process of changes in the company structure and in some systems we operate. It also inspired us to think more about how to get staff more involved in the managing and planning process.
Given the size of Supported Lives (66 staff and 80 clients) it is no longer easy to maintain satisfactory level of communication between the management team and individual employees. So, at this point we would like to create a Staff Advisory Committee.
What will it look like?
The committee will be a group of about six people (preferably two from each team), who will meet to discuss the current situation, problems and maybe to bring some ideas for improvement. It will be a link between all support workers and management team. In fact a lot will depend on the dynamic of the group, attitude and initiative of people involved.
The Staff Advisory Committee will be an independent body in the company, coordinated by Emilia Troc. All people involved will be paid for their time.
At the moment we are looking for individuals interested in being a member of the committee. If you would like to be a candidate, please contact Emilia at office, as soon as possible. All staff are welcome to apply.
Emilia
Staff Diaries 2010
Can now be picked up from the office.
Emilia
Staff Training 2010
Training sessions will take place on Tuesdays, 5:30-7:30pm. All staff are encouraged to attend and they will be paid. Each session will be offered on two different days. We will provide more information before each training session.
Training Schedule
19/26 Jan: Keeping Clients Safe
16/23 Feb: Culture, Diversity & Values
20/27 Apr: Communication
11/18 May: Personal Care
Emilia
