Vision statement
At Chatting Independently we believe those who have a disability are capable of doing anything which they want to do as long as people around them are prepared to change their attitudes and make changes to the environment in which they live, learn and work.
Our definition of independence, therefore, is to give people who have a disability a hand to be free from the control of others or control by others and to gain the confidence to ask for help with whatever activity in which they wish to participate.
We believe this freedom is best found by sitting comfortably with one’s muscles relaxed as much as possible through physio and hydrotherapy, communicating effectively using high-tech and low-tech augmentative communication and having regular training in how to use these forms of communication, continuing basic education skills and learning life’s skills in real life situations rather than role plays.

Staff
When both of our establishments at The Bungalow and Orchard View in March are full with 12 residents, there will be 24 full-time facilitators providing 1 to 1 support with service users in two shifts. Each shift will last 3.5 days with three days lasting from 10.00-22.00 and the half day on a Tuesday lasting from 10.00-16.00 or 14.00-22.00 on alternate weeks. There will also be some part-time staff working from 7.00-10.00 in the mornings while others will work tthe hours they have arranged with Management. Once a month there will be a meeting for all staff, residents and the Management team lasting about two hours after which the full-time staff will change over. When required or asked for specifically, the staff will also hold a meeting for themselves to discuss issues affecting them and their performance. Some of the full-time staff will also be asked to sleep-over which will be four nights each in every month.
Prior to starting, there will be 5-6 days for induction training of staff covering such topics as the ethos of the Chatting Independently, cerebral palsy and other neurological causes of physical disability, moving and handling, giving service users a hand with personal care (eg eating, drinking, toileting and washing) and information about Augmentative, Alternative Communication (AAC). During their employment, there will also be an opportunity for staff to have NVQ training in Health and Social Care. Such training is overseen by an NVQ assessor with relevant experience and qualifications. At present, our NVQ training is carried out by the Colelge of West Anglia. The Registered Manager has completed his City and Guilds qualification of Registered Manager of a Care Home.

 

Organisational Structure

 

 

 

Age Range

The age range of the service users at The Bungalow is between 18-45 years of age while at Orchard View the age range is 18 upwards. There are both males and females and a diverse group of service users.

 

Range of Needs and Criteria for Admission

There will be a specific range of needs of those who live at Chatting Independently. The range of needs include:

people who cannot speak or whose speech is significantly unintelligible and require help from various augmentative communication systems;
people with physical disabilities;
people who require help with personal care either total or partial.

Nursing

District Nurses visit Chatting Independently, when necessary, in particular, to give advice about, among other issues,pressure sores and the maintenance of catheters.

Hobbies, Leisure and Interests

Since both establishments are within a mile of the town centre of March and close to Peterborough, Cambridge and Huntingdon, service users will be able to carry on or develop hobbies, interests and leisure activities by attending football matches, theatre, cinema, church, pubs, restaurants and so on.

If service users have to travel to these bigger towns or cities to carry out these leisure activities, there will always be an adapted vehicle available for the service user and his/her facilitator to go to wherever they need either provided by Chatting Independently or the Fenland Association of Community Transport. There will be a mileage charge. The railway station in march is accessible.

Service Users and Operation of The Bungalow and Orchard View

Since one of the main aims of The Bungalow and Orchard View is to promote the notion of independence, the service users will be encouraged to take as big a role in running both establishments as is possible. Thus, they will organise and prepare their own meals as well as the cleaning of their bedrooms and the public rooms. Even if the service users can not physically carry out these activities themselves, they will learn to direct their facilitators to carry out the activity.

It will also be easier with just a maximum of six people in each establishment to consult with them on a regular basis about issues or concerns with giving them a hand with running The Bungalow and Orchard View.

Fire Precautions and Emergency Procedures

All internal doors for bedrooms, lounge and sleepover room are fire proofed and all smoke alarms/heat detectors are linked to each other running off the mains with battery backup to British Standard. 2 water extinguishers and 1 powder extinguisher in the kitchen are kept serviced and there is also a fire blanket for use in the kitchen. Three staff are trained in First Aid and all are trained in life saving techniques such as mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Service users bring their own call systems which they use at their family home or at school/college as they may not have the manual dexterity to use a regular call system.

Attendance of Religious Services

There are different religious denominations represented in March which service users can attend at any time. However, if there is a denomination or religion which is not represented in the town itself, the service user and his/her facilitator will be able to use a vehicle to travel to one of the bigger towns or cities nearby to attend the religious service of his/her choice.

Arrangements for Contact with Relatives, Friends and Representatives

Service users will be able to meet their relatives, friends or representative whenever they would like.  However, it would be helpful if relatives or friends could contact staff to inform the service user when they will be arriving so that arrangements can be made around training and/or therapy times. There will be a separate room for meetings or they can meet in the service user’s own bedroom.

Dealing with Complaints

The following procedure for dealing with complaints is proposed:

Initially, the resident will be encouraged to bring any problem or complaint to the weekly Bungalow Meeting, where, in discussion with all residents, staff and Management team present, it is hoped the problem or complaint will be resolved.
If it is not resolved after the  meeting, the resident is encouraged to speak to his/her 1 to 1 facilitator to try to sort out the complaint or a senior member of staff.
If the complaint can not be resolved by the facilitator or senior member of staff, it is either discussed verbally with the Manager or put in writing and taken to the Manager where it is discussed and, hopefully, resolved.
Failing this, the complaint will be discussed by the Management.
All complaints will receive a response within 28 days of the initial complaint being made.
All details of the complaints or issues raised made by service users and of any investigation, action taken and outcomes will be recorded and checked at least every 3 months.
Residents will not be victimised for bringing complaints.

 

Reviews of Care Plans

There will be an annual review meeting for each service user to discuss their care plan and progress with their family or representatives. It may also be that the Care Plan will evolve as the service user learns new skills and develops new abilities.

However, such changes as are made will be discussed with the service users’ family or representatives.

 

Number and size of Rooms

The Bungalow	Orchard View
Reception Hall	Reception Hall
Kitchen 3.28m x 2.69m	Kitchen 5.66mx5.56m
Dining room 3.35m x 3.20m	Lounge 9.80mx4.88m (open plan to Dining Area)
Lounge 7.24m x 4.11m	Utility Room 3.66x1.63m
Second hallway	Sleepover room 3.02mx2.18m
Bedroom 1 3.76m x 3.66m	Bedroom 1 4.42mx3.68m leading to ensuite shower room (ground floor)
Bedroom 2 4.01m x 3.48m	Bedroom 2 4.42mx3.68m (ground floor
Bedroom 3 3.45m x 3.m	Bathroom (ground floor)
Bathroom with WC 2.03m x 2.27m	Bedroom 3 4.60mx4.10m with ensuite
Staff Cloakroom with WC	Bedroom 4 6.43mx3.12m access to bathroom across landing
Accessible shower room 1.74m x 2.0m	Bedroom 5 4.83mx3.76m (right of lift) shower room
Bedroom 4 5.10m x 2.53m	Bedroom 6 4.52mx4.84m (left of lift) shower room
Bedroom 5 5.03m x 2.6m
Bedroom 6 4.6m x 3.7m
Ensuite 2.7m x 3.5m
Physio Room

 

 

Privacy and Dignity of Service Users

The service users’ bedrooms will be lockable as will be bathroom doors. Service users can also decide how much time they want to spend with their 1:1 facilitator. All staff will be asked to knock on the service users’ doors before entering a room. During their training, the staff will be given a list of “do’s” and “dont’s” with people who use AAC and have a physical disability.

Details of Therapeutic Techniques

The therapies, all of which will happen at The Bungalow, are as follows:

Assistive Technology Training
Physiotherapy
Literacy and numeracy training
Independent Living Skills

Assistive Technology Training is overseen by David Morris, a registered speech and language therapist specialised in Neurology, the use of AAC and in making computers accessible for people with physical disabilities. He is also supported by Sally Garford-Taylor. These sessions take various forms depending on the existing skills of the resident and a personalised programme is created:

Assessing either for an AAC system or the best means of accessing the AAC device or a computer including the use of switches or headpointing.
1 to 1 sessions where a person may just be learning their new system, means of accessing or finding the vocabulary.
Encouraging continually the use of an AAC system either to back up different forms of communication or as the main means of communication.
Encouraging the use of the system in the real world.

Physiotherapy is provided,at present, by a registered physiotherapist specialised in Neurology who provide 2 sessions per week for most service users. Physio sessions include both dryland physio and hydrotheraapy on site..

Specialist seating is provided by a registered physiotherapist specialised in special seating. She will carry out an assessment to find out if the service user requires new seating and provide continuous reviews.

Independent Living Skills Training is overseen by Anthony Robertson who holds discussion groups about what it means to live independently. Residents are given a £40 weekly budget to go out and buy their own food so that they learn about shopping for food and working out how much they spend and the resulting balance. These informal courses will be followed up, it is hoped, by residents studying for some of the qualifications offered by the Award Scheme Development and Accreditation Network (ASDAN) or by going to a local college with their facilitators.

Literacy and Numeracy is overseen by Anthony Robertson and supported by Sally Garford-Taylor and Nicola Osborn.