Bronze ReSPECT award for Gloucestershire
Following an Outstanding rating by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in August 2019, Brandon's Gloucestershire supported living service has been working hard to further improve the quality of their support and they have just been awarded a Bronze certificate for engaging in the ReSPECT programme - Recommended Summary Plan for Emergency Care and Treatment.
Brandon locality manager, Francis, took the lead on the project so we spoke to him to find out more.
Over the years, there has been ongoing discussion about healthcare inequalities and barriers that people with a learning disability, autism, or both, can face when accessing treatment.
One initiative, which is already in place across Brandon, is the hospital or healthcare passport – a document which gives hospital staff information about a person’s health, but also lists their likes, dislikes, and things that make them feel comfortable. The aim of the scheme is to improve people’s experiences of care.
In March 2020, we found out about a new scheme that the NHS was encouraging support providers to join. ReSPECT is a process which helps to create personalised recommendations about someone’s care and treatment. The main aim is to improve emergency care and treatment for people who are unable to express their choices.
People who require immediate emergency care, can have a ReSPECT form containing important information about them, made available for paramedics, A&E staff, and ward staff. It’s like the hospital passport but focusses on critical and possible end of life care.
Seeing the benefits
Seeing the potential benefits, the Gloucestershire team were quick to engage with the project. Given the situation with COVID-19, we felt it was even more important that people we support who are older or have serious health conditions, and therefore more at risk to the virus, had the opportunity to have their choices recorded.
To gain ReSPECT accreditation, certain criteria must be fulfilled. The first, and logistically most challenging, was for staff teams to complete a training course. Brandon managers and team leaders were hugely proactive in making sure their teams had the time and necessary resources to complete the course. It took a while – that’s a lot of people – 181 to be exact!
Confident in our training, we then began the sizable task of completing the ReSPECT process for each person that we support in the area – 101 people in total.
Working closely with them, their family, and their GP, we recorded the individual’s wishes about what treatment they would, or alternatively, would not want to receive in the event of an emergency.
It took six months to complete the whole process, but we are pleased to be able to say we did it – a summary of recommendations to help health and care professionals to make immediate decisions about a person’s care and treatment, is now available for every person we support in Gloucestershire.
Achieving the bronze award
To gain a bronze certificate, we needed to evidence that at least 75% of our permanent staff had completed the training. We achieved 92%! We also had to demonstrate that the forms were available and accessible, and that any old documentation had been destroyed.
We were thrilled to gain recognition for furthering the high-quality support we pride ourselves on, but we won’t be stopping there.
Unwavering positivity
I’d like to say a personal thanks to locality manager, Rachel Stone, for initiating the process, and all our locality managers, team leaders, and support workers for their involvement in the project, and their unwavering positivity and commitment to providing the best quality support possible. Congratulations all of you – this award is extremely well-deserved!
Francis O’Ryan
Locality Manager
Join our team
If you have a positive attitude and a focus on quality, find out more about joining us as a support worker by visiting the jobs section.
