|  Aims
for Service Delivery
› to offer people supported by the Trust
a consistent good quality and value service in accordance
with their needs
› to act as a caring, fair and responsible employer
offering choice, rights and furthering independence for
service users
› to encourage the development and training of all employees
and individuals
› to encourage a philosophy where dignity and respect
are fundamental in our everyday lives
› to encourage participation, involvement and integration
within the community in line with the nationally accepted
O’Brien principles
› to manage the Trust business effectively and efficiently
› to maintain sufficient surplus funds within the Trust
to ensure its continued development
› to act at all times with honesty and integrity and
within legislative and regulatory requirements
› to work in partnership with Social Services, care
agencies and housing providers to ensure quality standards
are continuously achieved and improved upon
› to work with hope
Background
to Coquet Trust
Coquet Trust was established in January 1995,
receiving registered charity status in May of that year. The
Trust's aim is to provide good quality day and domiciliary
care and support in the community for people with learning
disabilities.
Coquet Trust currently provides a domiciliary service to people
within their own homes, located within Tyne and Wear, North
Tyneside and Northumberland and outreach support for a number
of individuals within those areas. This has been made possible
through the recruitment of experienced Support Team Managers,
who, along with the Trust Senior Management team , select a team of multi-skilled
support workers, who enable individuals to have a worthwhile
and enjoyable life within the local community.
To support this effort, the Trust currently employs 160 staff
in direct support, a General Manager, 2 Quality Assurance Co-ordinators,
Training Co-ordinator, Adults Outreach Co-ordinator,
Children's Outreach Co-ordinator and an Admin
Manager with small admin team. The management team are fully
committed to the ongoing provision of a service which, whilst
providing ‘best value’ is also needs led.
Trust Expansion and Growth
Now in its tenth year of operation, the Trust
has continued to expand and develop. From its first contract
to provide 20 hours per week support to a client in 1995,
the Trust now supports more than 100 people living in the
community within four local authority areas. Support is provided
with Independent Supported Living, outreach services and
short break holiday and respite services.
The Model of Care
Coquet Trust believes in order to implement
and maintain an effective service for individuals, the following
factors are essential:
An ethos in which the experiences of the individual
is paramount, and any systems of quality assurance will be
linked to such experiences.
The experiences of the individual must never
be overlooked, and the person centred plan is the starting
point which will ensure this.
A model of service provision based on the O’Brien
Five Accomplishments. This will ensure the service provided
by Coquet Trust will always strive to achieve:
› Presence in the Community
› Promoting Choice and Protecting Rights
› Developing Competence
› Promoting Dignity and Respect
› Community Participation - growing in personal relationships
The employment of high quality appropriately
experienced first line managers i.e. Support Team Managers.
The employment of support staff who will be
able to acquire, through formal and informal training, the
essential concepts and skills necessary to provide the effective
support for people with learning disabilities. A problem solving
approach is actively encouraged.
The employment of staff who believe that people
with a learning disability have the same rights, needs and
responsibilities as others.
The Trustees
The Trust has a board of six trustees; four
of whom have a background in the learning disability field
and two have many years senior management experience
in industry and local government.
Malcolm Johnson RNMH Dip TMH , Chairman
Former NHS Manager and Trust Founder
Paul Smith MA Msc PhD,
Clinical Psychologist
Susan Welsh MBA LCST, Secretary
Speech & Language Therapy Manager
Janet Bewick BA, Treasurer
Teacher - Adult Basic Education
Ian Hinson BSc CEng
Further Education and Local Government
Ian McArthur
Education and Local Government
The Trustees meet on a regular basis to discuss
future development of the Trust. Each trustee possesses a
wide range of skills and experience that can be called upon
to ensure the Trust's objectives are successfully achieved.
The trustees are committed to ensuring the quality of the
service and welcome advice from local authorities or independent
organisations on quality issues and measuring the effectiveness
of services provided by the Trust.
Training Plan for 2005/20006
The implications of Valuing People, Supporting
People and the Domiciliary Care Standards have all brought
training implications with them. However, because the Trust
has continually trained its employees to a high standard,
these requirements will be readily met by the Trust.
Priority areas of training for Coquet Trust
Staff include:
1.0 Learning Disability Awards Framework Induction
Training
The Coquet Trust wishes to help new employees
settle down and develop their potential as swiftly as possible
and to this end has developed an internal induction process
which will be carried out by employees’ own line managers.
This induction complements the LDAF induction training. If
possible, a mentor will be selected to be responsible for
the employee in the early weeks of employment. Induction will
be carried out using an Induction package for new employees.
All staff will receive instruction in the mandatory training:
- First Aid/Health and Safety
- Food Hygiene
- Fire Safety
- Safe Moving and Handling
2.0 Foundation
After successful completion of the LDAF induction
program, employees will continue to add depth to their learning.
This increased level of skill will be monitored by their line
manager, and discussed and recorded within their Personal
Development Portfolio. Coquet Trust will provide in-house
training which will offer underpinning knowledge for all employees
during their foundation period on key topics essential to
their roles in working with people who have a learning disability.
3.0 Care NVQ - National Vocational Qualifications
Coquet Trust currently has five managers qualified as NVQ
assessors, and two managers as Internal Verifiers. The target
for 2006 will be to have every manager qualified as an assessor.
Currently 26 staff have an appropriate NVQ qualification
and a further 30 staff are progressing in the relevant NVQ.
Coquet Trust will continue to support this level of training
to ensure we meet the Government National Training Targets
and fulfil any training requirements from the newly formed
National Care Standards Commission.
All staff will be appropriately trained in Person
Centred Planning and Advocacy as recommended in ‘Valuing
People’.
4.0 Management Qualifications
Four managers have achieved the Registered Managers
Award, and a further sixteen managers are currently undertaking
this two year programme. The Trust will continue to support two managers
per year to join the programme, to ensure we continue to have
appropriately qualified managers employed throughout the Trust.
5.0 Personal Development Portfolios
All employees have a personal development portfolio
which includes annual performance reviews. Employees' training
and development needs are identified within this review process
and this determines, along with the Trust Mission Statement
and Business Objectives, the annual training and development
plan. Examples of this include:
› Bereavement
› Managing Challenging Behaviour
› Literacy
› Drama
6.0 Before setting up any new services the staff
team will receive instruction in the following
* the Aims, Values and Direction of Coquet Trust
* Person Centred Planning/ Care Planning
* Team Building
* Communication Skills and Speech Therapy programmes
* Challenging Behaviour
* Drug Administration
* First Aid, Health & Safety and Fire Safety
* Risk Assessment
* Food Hygiene
* Values/Normalisation
* Observation and Assessment
* Safe Moving and Handling
All staff training needs are identified through
the individual Training and Personal Development Plan which
incorporates a pre and post training review system.
The Trust has enough resources to ensure that
training is responsive, as well as planned. There is an expectation
that there may be some significant training requirements from
the National Care Standards Commission, and this has been
included within the training budget allocation.
Resource Plan 2005/2006
The Trust supports and promotes staff training
and development and is a recognised 'Investor in People',
a prominent National Award.
The process required to become and remain an
'Investor in People' reinforces the importance of staff contribution
and development; pre-requisites to successful, expanding organisations,
and this is reflected in Coquet Trust’s staff development
and support strategy which involves:
› reviewing existing training and development
within the Trust
› planning training and development to ensure the Trust
meets its business goals
› implementing the training to agreed, objective standards
› evaluating the training and modifying goals and priorities
› continuously improving the quality of training to
ensure staff and householder needs are met
The individuals, their care managers, relatives
and advocates are encouraged to become actively involved in
the process of appointing staff, especially recruitment of
Support Team Managers. These appointments are paramount to
the service, so job and personal specifications are carefully
designed to address the types of qualities required.
Before any new \Independent Supported Living service is established all concerned
parties are involved in the detailed planning.
Prior to each person relocating, a professional
multidisciplinary approach is pursued in the development of
a comprehensive programme of staff training. Training includes:
- team building
- self-awareness regarding personal attitudes and values
- principles of behavioural support
- observation and assessment of people
- goal planning
- principles of accomplishment
- task analysis
- risk taking
- drug administration
- health and safety; first aid and fire drill procedures
- food hygiene
- management and staff development
- person centred planning
- advocacy
- tenancy support
The effectiveness of the service is maintained
by regular reviews in which individuals, care managers, relatives,
advocates etc are involved.
The introduction of a staff personal development
and training portfolio will ensure all staff’s training
needs are provided effectively.
Some of the resources required to fulfil these
needs are within the current management team’s portfolio
of expertise. We have a room ‘in house’ which
is available to be used as a staff training venue, along with
associated training aids. The budget allocated to identified
training needs which arise from the personal development and
training portfolios for the current year, outwith mandatory
requirements, is £30,000. This budget will enable the
Trust to fulfil these training requirements by the use of
external training sources.
Targets 2005/2006
› sustain and continuously improve on current
standards of support provided
|
ongoing
|
› implement ISL tenant quality
monitoring tool, and provide ISL tenant outcomes and
feedback |
March 2005
|
› expand contracts in various local authority areas
|
ongoing
|
› maintain the programme of NVQ training with an aim
of at least 50% of staff completion
|
March 2005
|
› continue short-break holiday/respite service
|
ongoing
|
|
BUSINESS
PLAN YEAR 2005/2006
