Just like our Chair of Trustees John, I have never blogged before; I don’t have a Facebook account and only joined twitter to see how it worked for our new website LINKS. So I am very new to all this but hope that you will find some interesting information within my blog and I welcome questions and feedback.

So here’s an update on what’s on

• Our Friends of Independence group are meeting here on the 13th – they are currently planning a Bingo evening for the 30th March at 7pm which will include the draw for our Easter raffle with some great prizes. Tickets are available at Independence just phone or email, we’ll sell to anyone.
• The  Friends are also planning the Independence Golden Jubilee/Olympic celebrations for the 5th June. We will be working with the Special Olympics Plymouth District to organise a great day for all. Our intention is to invite all our friends and neighbours around not just to celebrate the Queens Diamond Jubilee and the upcoming Olympics but our Golden Jubilee as well. The Charity was founded on 15th October 1951 by a group of parents and carers. We hope to be able to display some of our archive of photos and film that day. Anyone interested in local history will find it fascinating.

We’ll keep you posted on our plans for the day.

Independence South West is a small Plymouth based charity who support adults with severe physical and/or sensory disabilities to live as independently as possible. For more information on who we are and what we do, please checkout our About Us page.

Karen is 33 years old and says she’s always wanted to Skydive. A few weeks ago she booked a jump with UKSkyDiving in Cambridgeshire for Saturday 3rd March 2012, a spur of the moment decision she made before she lost her nerve.

“I come from a large family and am known to have the worlds most amazing, handsome, funny and happy big brother Mark Headon (not just my opinion, honest!) We are a very close family and Mark is at the very heart of everything we do together. For years my parents have strived to find him the best possible day centre that would provide for not only his physical needs, keeping him mobile by walking and swimming etc but also his emotional needs, keeping him happy and always smiling through entertainment and interaction.

“We feel we have found that in Independence South West. My Brother visits every day Monday – Friday for a few hours which allows my mum and dad some time to get on with work and running a house (preparing for his home time lol) as well as giving my brother a well needed break from “the oldies” as my mum would say, his harem of sisters, and his adoring nieces and nephews.

“You only have to look at his pictures on the website to see how much he loves spending time with his friends and how happy he is with the interaction he receives from the dedicated staff at Independence house.

“I wanted to use my skydive to say Thank you and to help you to continue the great work.“

We would love you to support Karen in her parachute jump by downloading the following sponsorship form to help raise money for her chosen charity, Independence South West.

From everyone at Independence South West, have an amazing (and safe) Skydiving experience, and thank you for supporting us in helping to continue supporting amazing individuals such as your brother.

The Results

Well just one week after Karen completed her amazing Parachute Jump in support of Independence South West, I can report she landed safely and had an amazing time. Just checkout the following video and pictures to see her acheivement. Thanks for your support, Karen!

Karen managed to raise a whopping £175 to support Independence South West. Thank you very much Karen.

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Mark Headon Photos

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All enablers within the Centre are appropriately qualified to deliver the highest standard of care.  A continuous staff training programme is implemented to ensure that these high standards are maintained in line with the latest developments in Care Practices as may be laid down in appropriate Legislation, Regulations and the regulatory bodies. Staff  are trained to preserve and maintain the dignity, individuality and privacy of all people , and in doing so will be sensitive to ever changing needs.

All users of our services and their families and carers are associated members of the Charity and have a voice within the management and direction of the Charity.

There is no comparable service provided in Plymouth or the surrounding areas of West Devon, South Hams or South East Cornwall.

Independence South West is not in competition with any other service provider, but is a complementary alternative service. Other providers operate differently and do not provide the same services or skills and opportunities for individual users and their families.

As potential customers will be receiving Individual Budgets; the main thrust of our personalisation agenda means that:

• More people supported to live at home rather than residential care.
• Helping people retain and gain their independence contributes to improved health and well-being.

In line with government policy, we will develop service to enable users to take advantage of social and educational opportunities within there local community. In order to do this we will develop an enabling service to provide these services with the potential of providing weekend and evening support to individuals as opposed to traditional day service placements.

We will further develop the service to provide a specialist environment and support to individuals with profound multiple and complex needs, offering them the opportunities of intensive assistive and creative sensory environments.

Public benefit statement

“Independence South West” provides services to individuals with physical and associated sensory and or learning disabilities, their families and carer’s.

Independence South West operates a 3 bedded respite service “Rockville House” and a day service that provides for up to 21 individuals these services cater for people between the ages of 18 and 65.

As our name implies we are located in the South West, In Plymouth we offer and provide services and support to individuals within Plymouth, South and West Devon

and South East Cornwall.

“Rockville House” and Independence South West aim to provide people with a secure, relaxed and homely environment in which their care, well being and comfort are of prime importance.

We strive to preserve and maintain the dignity, individuality and privacy of all people within a warm and caring atmosphere, and in so doing will be sensitive to the their ever-changing needs.  Such needs may be cultural, psychological, spiritual, emotional and social, and people are encouraged to participate in the development of their individualised Service User Plans in which the involvement of care managers, advocates, family and friends is greatly valued.

This is achieved through activities designed to encourage self-esteem, social interaction with others and with recognition of the Core Values of Care which are fundamental to the philosophy of our Services.

Welcome to my first Blog of the year, well actually my first ever blog!

As Chair of Trustees here at Independence South West, I have seen quite a few changes over the last couple of years. We, that is the Trustees, Staff and most importantly our very special Service Users now consider ourselves to be holding the reins in a more involving and beneficial way. The Trustee Board has an active, fully involved and committed membership including a Service User and co-opted advisors.

We have worked exhaustively to reshape our service, and are now proud of the fully inclusive ethos that we have established.

We are all working very hard to facilitate and enable the wide and varied needs and desires of our current and future Service Users. We are focusing on Enabling, whether that is simply assisting our Service Users to join in with activities that they would not achieve on their own, or the development of new skills and routes to be included in the wider community.

There are now firm links in place with several external organisations, where we are investigating the potential to increase the service we provide.

We have a new and updated website and a greatly improved I.T. system in place for 2012, the Transport fleet is also being updated for 2012 and most importantly we are soon to welcome some new Service Users.

John Brooks

Some Key Quotes

It was also encouraging for our dedicated and professional staff members to hear what the CQC had to say about them and they way in-which they work…

“The home’s policies, procedures and training for staff ensures that people who use the service are kept safe and protected from abuse.”

“The staff are well trained and sufficiently supported to care for the people who use the service.”

“People are supported by enough staff to meet their assessed needs and the staff have the necessary skills to meet these needs”

For Independence South West to continue providing great quality care to it’s service users, it’s not enough for the staff and carers to be well trained and professional. It’s important that we have a management team who can efficiently manage and ensure standards are met by all people who come into contact with service users.

“We have confidence that the management of the home is able to critically assess the quality of the service and that systems are in place to consider and make improvements where identified.”

“The services good record keeping practices support the safety, well being and effective care of the people who live at the home.”

And finally, on the topic about the level of care we provide to our service users:

“People’s privacy and dignity are respected and they are supported to make informed choices about their care and lifestyle.”

“People receive care and support that is personalised to meet their needs. The unit has good care planning systems that provide clear details about people’s needs and risks.”

“Suitable support is provided to ensure that people have access to a healthy and balanced diet.”

“People who use the service are provided with suitable, clean and well maintained equipment to meet their needs.”

“People who use this service benefit from access to a wide range of services to meet their needs.”

]]> http://independencesouthwest.org.uk/what-the-care-quality-commission-thinks-of-isw/feed/ 0 http://independencesouthwest.org.uk/service-user-and-staff-comments/ http://independencesouthwest.org.uk/service-user-and-staff-comments/#comments Wed, 01 Feb 2012 01:05:11 +0000 Andrew MacDonald http://oneshotmedia.co.uk/isw/?p=166 Independence South West is a charity dedicated to providing the best level of care to our service users, offering family members and carers a break, but we also offering a happy work-life for our staff members.

We asked the following question to a whole range of people who use or work at Independence South West. Here is what they had to say:

Why do you like coming to Independence South West?

Service User Responses:

Patrick: “Because I like watching some TV and Jigsaws. I like staff helping me and I like trips and coffee out and I like swimming when the water’s not too cold!“

Russell: “Because I can choose what I want to do each day; I like helping with cooking and peeling vegetables. I like going out for coffee, sometimes I have one to one with staff or they will take me to the pictures.“

Lee: “I have been coming to Independence for over 20 years and I love coming because the staff are nice and friendly. I like trips and I make lots of friends. Staff are happy and helpful and we have lots of laughs together.“

Angie: “Love it because staff are nice and helpful and they help me. I like cooking on Fridays and I help do hoovering. I like trips out too.“

Staff Responses:

Josie: “I enjoy my job and the people I work with, both service users and other staff. Jo and Susanna are always supportive and this is the best job I’ve ever had and I enjoy coming to work.“

Chantelle: “I always dreamed of becoming a police officer but since coming to work at Independence my dream has changed and I want to stay here and continue to work with the service users. Probably the most rewarding job I could do.“

Susanna: “This job fulfils me and I love it. I can’t imagine doing anything else.“

Teresa: “I love working at Independence with all the other staff and service users. It’s a very happy and friendly place to work. At the end of the week I am exhausted but it’s all worth it and I wouldn’t do anything else.“

John: “It’s the most satisfying job I’ve ever had. It’s a lovely friendly environment and I go home with a smile on my face every day.“

Rusty: “Working at Independence South West is like being payed to have a great time with people I consider to be family, staff, service users alike. Being rewarded for enjoying my job is a day-to-day occurrence.“