Unit 501 Nvq 1
Unit 1: Use and develop systems that promote communication
1. In my line of work there are many groups of people that I have to communicate with, for instance the service users receiving our services, their advocates and their close family and friends, current candidates, new potential candidates and service users, outside agencies such as Care Quality Commission, Social workers, Health Professionals also my employees and managers. Although I have not yet needed to communicate with POVA/SOVA, ISA or the local child/adult protection services I would know who to contact if I needed to and all of the relevant information is held in our office, my manager is currently taking charge of these.
There are different ways in which I communicate: face to face conversation, using e-mail, using the computer to send SMS messages, using the telephone, fax, Makaton signs, gestures, picture cards PECS (picture exchange communication system), and the use of Google translator on the internet to translate word documents to other languages.
How I …show more content…
communicate depends on the group I’m communicating with and their specific needs, for example communicating with a service user who has learning disabilities whose communication is very limited is very different as to how I would communicate with a Social worker. Communication with the Service user I would use short simple sentences face to face in a quiet environment. I would use Makaton signs, PECS, ensuring my body language gestures and tone of voice are appropriate, I would allow plenty of time for the service user to absorb the information before replying.
Whereas communication with a Social worker will often be over the telephone or by secure email and I am able to use more complex sentences, meetings can be arranged with social workers in a quiet environment to share confidential information and to have discussions regarding the best quality of care for the service user, confidential information can only be shared via email if it has been verified that it is highly secure. Outside agencies and health care professionals will also be communicated via telephone, email and fax in a similar manor to communication with a social worker, a meeting can be arranged for any discussions and to hand over any written reports. All meetings are to be in a quiet room, the people present will only be there if they need to know the relevant factual information that is to be discussed, and this is to ensure that confidentiality is always being kept.
Communicating with potential and current candidates, firstly I would contact a new candidate by email or telephone, they are then invited in for a face to face interview and to fill in the written registration pack, copies of their documents are taken and scanned. All candidates will need to complete a three day induction, once their references and DBS/CRB are with us they are then required to complete shadow shifts and later able to work independently. With the current candidates that are already cleared and working I communicate face to face at training, spot checks, supervisions, appraisals and meetings to discuss new care plans, new service users, and to update them on any changes, this has to be done face to face to ensure confidentiality is being kept. I communicate by email, telephone and SMS messages regarding any shifts, changes of their personal details, their availability, and time sheets and inviting them to the office to complete training.
3. I have had to review the communication method of the care plans, risk assessments, regular meetings with the candidates and the daily logs. I started with the care plan, due to the CQC inspection I was now aware that the care plans that were in place before were not of a high standard and were not person centred. The care plan template and risk assessment template was then scrapped and a new template was then designed for each. The new templates took almost a week to finalise before I could put them to the test, I made appointments and re-visited the homes of the service users to gather as much information as possible. I filled in the new templates starting from scratch as to what they wanted and needed from us as a company and from their care staff.
The new templates allowed me to go in to great detail regarding all risks to both the care staff, the service user, their families, and members of the public, their general health and past medical history as well as present medication, any allergies, likes and dislikes, any challenging behaviour, emergency contacts, contacts for outside agencies for example therapists/social workers, activities they are interested in and what they would like to do as individuals. After meeting with the service users and filling in most of the risk assessment and care plan template I then returned to the office to type all of the information up on to the computer so it was one hundred percent accurate. Using the information received I was able to devise a care plan that was then specific and catered only for their needs and interests, I was able to make short term, medium term, and long term aims for each service user, make a timetable with pictures of the different activities they are interested in for them to be able to point and choose throughout the day, the current MAR charts were checked against the new care plan and new information from the visit although no updates were needed at this time as all medication was the same.
Whilst these visits were taking place one of our service users were being assessed for the use of a hoist, I was able to meet with Kevel Gumbs an Occupational Therapist he filled in his risk assessment at the same time as myself and he commented on my template and said how in detail it was, I explained that it was important that all information was recorded to eliminate any mistakes occurring when it came to transferring the information on to the new care plan.
The Occupational Therapist (Kevel Gumbs) requested that once I had completed the risk assessment and care plan type ups that I could send them to him via secure email (to protect confidentiality). The company had feedback from Mandy Whitehouse the psychologist for Ealing she said the new care plan/risk assessments were impressive. This has given me great confidence that the new care plans in place are now in fact person centred and catering for their specific needs as
individuals.
Once I had typed up the risk assessments and care plans I made appointments with the service users to re-visit and let them look at the new care plan to ensure all information was present and correct before asking them to sign a copy to say they agree with all of the information, in most cases it was their main carer/immediate family that signed on their behalf due to some of our service users to being known to lack the mental capacity to be able to read through the care plan and agree with the information. A copy of the signed care plan and risk assessments were left in a new folder in the service users home along with new log sheets for the daily recordings made by the care workers, the old ones taken from the home to avoid confusion and put into their files and locked away in the cabinet to ensure they could not be accessed by any one. The daily log notes were also collected and new ones left in their place, I read through them before filing them away in the same way as the old care plans.
I then had individual meetings with the care staff to go over the new care plans and risk assessments with them, discussed the importance of the daily logs and how they need to record everything and that the notes needed to be readable. Training was discussed for medication and the new hoist which was put in to place shortly after to ensure that only trained staff administered medication and that care workers were trained in the use of the new hoist before it arrived. It was also discussed that the new care plans would be assessed monthly and that the daily logs would be collected on a monthly basis and replaced with new ones, communication with the care workers happens over the phone on a very regularly basis and will now would be seen in the office for a monthly meeting. I will also now be phoning the service users on a monthly basis for general feedback on the care they are receiving, and having monthly meetings where possible and any changes required by telephone or meeting will be immediately looked at and put into place as quickly as possible. New staff are always being trained in case of covering the regular care staff to ensure that high quality care is provided, and any new staff are always briefed on the needs even at short notice and asked to look at the care plan on arrival of the service users home.
With the care plans, risk assessments and collection and monitoring of the new daily logs in place I then designed a feedback form for each service user to complete at their leisure so I could see if they were happy with the care they/their loved ones were receiving, if they felt anything was not up to a high enough standard and if there is any changes they would like to make, or if felt that anything wasn't working how they first thought when the care plan was first completed. The feedback forms the service users were positive, I aim to send these forms out every 6 months to ensure that the feedback continues to stay positive and also to ensure that the services users are happy and receiving the best possible high quality care that they deserve.
With all of the above now in place the care we are providing is at a very high standard and is person specific for each individual service user according to their needs. The relationship between care staff and office staff has grown which is brilliant as the care staff need to be able to communicate everything, all expectations of them are discussed regularly all changes of the care plan gone through with them in detail and they are not made to feel that they are unable to ask questions and they now feel fully supported. The relationship between the office staff and service users has grown since the visits and regular telephone conversations just to see how they are. I was able to really get to know the different clients and their families, their needs, giving them what they need and showing them that they are important to us as individuals and that we care about their welfare.
Although initially making the templates and getting all of the new information and meetings into place may have taken some time to complete, it was amazing how quickly things changed with the care staff and the service users and how everyone seems to have bonded and the communication has improved all round. The telephone conversations and meetings will continue to happen on a monthly basis with both care workers and service users to ensure we keep up this high standard of care that is now being provided. Care plans will be updated of any changes as and when the changes happen, relevant care workers informed and a new print out made for the office and home, the old care plan will then be filed away securely at the office and the initial template will be reviewed on a yearly basis to see if any changes need to be made in the future. Seeing the improvements of communication since we have changed the care plans, risk assessments, daily logs and are speaking to both service users and care staff on a regular basis has shown that our previous efforts were not up to a high enough standard, however our previous methods were revised due to the CQC inspection and we are now providing a high standard of care and have good relationships with both care staff and service users.
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1. In my line of work there are many groups of people that I have to communicate with, for instance the service users receiving our services, their advocates and their close family and friends, current candidates, new potential candidates and service users, outside agencies such as Care Quality Commission, Social workers, Health Professionals also my employees and managers. Although I have not yet needed to communicate with POVA/SOVA, ISA or the local child/adult protection services I would know who to contact if I needed to and all of the relevant information is held in our office, my manager is currently taking charge of these.
There are different ways in which I communicate: face to face conversation, using e-mail, using the computer to send SMS messages, using the telephone, fax, Makaton signs, gestures, picture cards PECS (picture exchange communication system), and the use of Google translator on the internet to translate word documents to other languages.
How I …show more content…
communicate depends on the group I’m communicating with and their specific needs, for example communicating with a service user who has learning disabilities whose communication is very limited is very different as to how I would communicate with a Social worker. Communication with the Service user I would use short simple sentences face to face in a quiet environment. I would use Makaton signs, PECS, ensuring my body language gestures and tone of voice are appropriate, I would allow plenty of time for the service user to absorb the information before replying.
Whereas communication with a Social worker will often be over the telephone or by secure email and I am able to use more complex sentences, meetings can be arranged with social workers in a quiet environment to share confidential information and to have discussions regarding the best quality of care for the service user, confidential information can only be shared via email if it has been verified that it is highly secure. Outside agencies and health care professionals will also be communicated via telephone, email and fax in a similar manor to communication with a social worker, a meeting can be arranged for any discussions and to hand over any written reports. All meetings are to be in a quiet room, the people present will only be there if they need to know the relevant factual information that is to be discussed, and this is to ensure that confidentiality is always being kept.
Communicating with potential and current candidates, firstly I would contact a new candidate by email or telephone, they are then invited in for a face to face interview and to fill in the written registration pack, copies of their documents are taken and scanned. All candidates will need to complete a three day induction, once their references and DBS/CRB are with us they are then required to complete shadow shifts and later able to work independently. With the current candidates that are already cleared and working I communicate face to face at training, spot checks, supervisions, appraisals and meetings to discuss new care plans, new service users, and to update them on any changes, this has to be done face to face to ensure confidentiality is being kept. I communicate by email, telephone and SMS messages regarding any shifts, changes of their personal details, their availability, and time sheets and inviting them to the office to complete training.
3. I have had to review the communication method of the care plans, risk assessments, regular meetings with the candidates and the daily logs. I started with the care plan, due to the CQC inspection I was now aware that the care plans that were in place before were not of a high standard and were not person centred. The care plan template and risk assessment template was then scrapped and a new template was then designed for each. The new templates took almost a week to finalise before I could put them to the test, I made appointments and re-visited the homes of the service users to gather as much information as possible. I filled in the new templates starting from scratch as to what they wanted and needed from us as a company and from their care staff.
The new templates allowed me to go in to great detail regarding all risks to both the care staff, the service user, their families, and members of the public, their general health and past medical history as well as present medication, any allergies, likes and dislikes, any challenging behaviour, emergency contacts, contacts for outside agencies for example therapists/social workers, activities they are interested in and what they would like to do as individuals. After meeting with the service users and filling in most of the risk assessment and care plan template I then returned to the office to type all of the information up on to the computer so it was one hundred percent accurate. Using the information received I was able to devise a care plan that was then specific and catered only for their needs and interests, I was able to make short term, medium term, and long term aims for each service user, make a timetable with pictures of the different activities they are interested in for them to be able to point and choose throughout the day, the current MAR charts were checked against the new care plan and new information from the visit although no updates were needed at this time as all medication was the same.
Whilst these visits were taking place one of our service users were being assessed for the use of a hoist, I was able to meet with Kevel Gumbs an Occupational Therapist he filled in his risk assessment at the same time as myself and he commented on my template and said how in detail it was, I explained that it was important that all information was recorded to eliminate any mistakes occurring when it came to transferring the information on to the new care plan.
The Occupational Therapist (Kevel Gumbs) requested that once I had completed the risk assessment and care plan type ups that I could send them to him via secure email (to protect confidentiality). The company had feedback from Mandy Whitehouse the psychologist for Ealing she said the new care plan/risk assessments were impressive. This has given me great confidence that the new care plans in place are now in fact person centred and catering for their specific needs as
individuals.
Once I had typed up the risk assessments and care plans I made appointments with the service users to re-visit and let them look at the new care plan to ensure all information was present and correct before asking them to sign a copy to say they agree with all of the information, in most cases it was their main carer/immediate family that signed on their behalf due to some of our service users to being known to lack the mental capacity to be able to read through the care plan and agree with the information. A copy of the signed care plan and risk assessments were left in a new folder in the service users home along with new log sheets for the daily recordings made by the care workers, the old ones taken from the home to avoid confusion and put into their files and locked away in the cabinet to ensure they could not be accessed by any one. The daily log notes were also collected and new ones left in their place, I read through them before filing them away in the same way as the old care plans.
I then had individual meetings with the care staff to go over the new care plans and risk assessments with them, discussed the importance of the daily logs and how they need to record everything and that the notes needed to be readable. Training was discussed for medication and the new hoist which was put in to place shortly after to ensure that only trained staff administered medication and that care workers were trained in the use of the new hoist before it arrived. It was also discussed that the new care plans would be assessed monthly and that the daily logs would be collected on a monthly basis and replaced with new ones, communication with the care workers happens over the phone on a very regularly basis and will now would be seen in the office for a monthly meeting. I will also now be phoning the service users on a monthly basis for general feedback on the care they are receiving, and having monthly meetings where possible and any changes required by telephone or meeting will be immediately looked at and put into place as quickly as possible. New staff are always being trained in case of covering the regular care staff to ensure that high quality care is provided, and any new staff are always briefed on the needs even at short notice and asked to look at the care plan on arrival of the service users home.
With the care plans, risk assessments and collection and monitoring of the new daily logs in place I then designed a feedback form for each service user to complete at their leisure so I could see if they were happy with the care they/their loved ones were receiving, if they felt anything was not up to a high enough standard and if there is any changes they would like to make, or if felt that anything wasn't working how they first thought when the care plan was first completed. The feedback forms the service users were positive, I aim to send these forms out every 6 months to ensure that the feedback continues to stay positive and also to ensure that the services users are happy and receiving the best possible high quality care that they deserve.
With all of the above now in place the care we are providing is at a very high standard and is person specific for each individual service user according to their needs. The relationship between care staff and office staff has grown which is brilliant as the care staff need to be able to communicate everything, all expectations of them are discussed regularly all changes of the care plan gone through with them in detail and they are not made to feel that they are unable to ask questions and they now feel fully supported. The relationship between the office staff and service users has grown since the visits and regular telephone conversations just to see how they are. I was able to really get to know the different clients and their families, their needs, giving them what they need and showing them that they are important to us as individuals and that we care about their welfare.
Although initially making the templates and getting all of the new information and meetings into place may have taken some time to complete, it was amazing how quickly things changed with the care staff and the service users and how everyone seems to have bonded and the communication has improved all round. The telephone conversations and meetings will continue to happen on a monthly basis with both care workers and service users to ensure we keep up this high standard of care that is now being provided. Care plans will be updated of any changes as and when the changes happen, relevant care workers informed and a new print out made for the office and home, the old care plan will then be filed away securely at the office and the initial template will be reviewed on a yearly basis to see if any changes need to be made in the future. Seeing the improvements of communication since we have changed the care plans, risk assessments, daily logs and are speaking to both service users and care staff on a regular basis has shown that our previous efforts were not up to a high enough standard, however our previous methods were revised due to the CQC inspection and we are now providing a high standard of care and have good relationships with both care staff and service users.
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6.