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STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

CARING FOR CHILDREN

The primary aim of the Wood View Short Break Service is to provide an inclusive, secure and supportive environment which recognises individual needs and abilities. We endeavour to ensure that every young person enjoys equality of opportunity and are enabled to reach their full potential, whilst having fun and enjoying a wide range of activities, when they are in our care.

We work in partnership, with young people, their families, carers and other relevant professionals, to achieve positive outcomes in a safe nurturing environment by:-

 fostering a positive ethos which enhances self-esteem by celebrating and rewarding success and progress.  promoting a culture in which children feel safe, secure and listened to.  providing a high level of care where a personal interest is taken in each child/young person.  recognising the importance of the child/young person’s physical environment by providing attractive and well maintained accommodation, which reflects the child/young person’s need for both privacy and shared activity.  offering full and equal access to opportunities, taking into account developmental needs.  preparing young people for adult life, developing their skills, encouraging a sense of self-worth and recognition of themselves as part of the community.  supporting each young person achieve the greatest possible degree of independence.  ensuring we support parents/carers by signposting to relevant professional information services and through providing support and self-help groups.  provide a smooth and effective transition into Wood View Short Breaks with appropriate Placement Plans in place before commencement of care.  base our working practices on person centred planning within a safe nurturing environment in which each young person can achieve the greatest possible degree of independence within their areas of intellectual, physical, social, creative, spiritual and emotional development.  identify and meet the social and health care needs of all young people accessing Wood View.  encourage young people to grow in confidence and develop a sense of self-worth, so enabling them to celebrate their individuality and know the power of their own voices.  facilitate and support young people’s independence and resilience to a wide range of situations in the home and in the wider community  ensure equality of opportunity to a range of experiences tailored to their individual needs.  develop and maintain links and involve parents/carers in all key decisions about their children’s care.  ensure that we are committed to ensuring that all staff access appropriate training and continue to develop their skills to provide best practice for the service.  Enable the young people to take risks in a safe and secure environment.

1 October 2015 Location

Wood View Short Break Service is situated within Plymouth boundaries, near local facilities and on a direct bus route into Plymouth City Centre. Wood View Short Break Service is integrated into Wood View Learning Community Campus. We are run from the Woodlands School base and our site is shared with several other schools. Woodlands School, Whitleigh primary and Sir John Hunt College are members of the Plymouth North West Learning Trust. Additionally, Barnados operate a Children’s Centre from the campus site.

Due to the central location of our service, there are many places locally that the children can access and enjoy, both outside and indoors i.e. National Marine Aquarium, the Donkey Sanctuary, Plymouth Hoe and Barbican, Paignton Zoo, Central Park, Saltram House, Seale Hayne, Mount Edgcumbe and Dartmoor to name a few.

Accommodation

Wood View Short Breaks is a purpose built facility within a learning community campus. We cater for up to six young people in the first instance, and have a highly trained, dedicated staff that includes twenty four hour nursing care. Each of the bedrooms offer profile beds, overhead tracking, rise/lower sinks with motion operated taps, storage for personal belongings, safety locks on the windows, a blind, a two way intercom system for the child’s safety overnight, two way fire doors, appropriate bedding and pin boards where the children/young people can personalise their rooms. Each child has their own room during their short break.

We also have purpose built bathroom/shower rooms again with overhead tracking and rise/lower baths, plinths, and sinks, safety cords and call systems. Each room has a curtain around the door for double privacy and child protection. We also have bath chairs and specialist toilet chairs and make any adaptations that are necessary to facilitate independence with personal care.

We have a lounge with overhead tracking and kitchen area where all meals are prepared and children/young people can assist within their capabilities. Off the lounge we have a large covered balcony area with specially built table gardens so that the children can access them in their chairs and the young people can grow vegetables and flowers and have meals and activities outside during the summer months.

As we are a part of a large campus, we have access to the hydrotherapy pool, sensory and dark room, soft play, all outside grounds, library, dance studio, trampoline etc.

Every young person who accesses Wood View Short Breaks has his or her own bedroom and has access to fully equipped bathrooms, two of which have sensory lighting, and a shower/wet room. The young people are encouraged to bring in their own personal items, posters, pictures and any items that they find comforting.

A cook will come in and provide a hot meal each day within dietary requirements from the kitchen, this enables the children to be involved in the choice of meal and see how it is prepared. The children are also involved in making snacks for themselves and encouraged to learn some independence skills.

We have two safe play areas that are inaccessible to the public, one has been partially developed into a raised garden and the other is in the middle of the campus and is a large level semi grassed secluded area that we use constantly throughout the summer.

The lounge and bedrooms are all carpeted and we have under floor heating throughout.

2 October 2015 Who stays at Wood View Short Breaks?

Wood View Short Break Service is registered for up to eight children. Our aim is to offer overnight accommodation for six young people and we can also offer up to another two places for tea visits and day care. In exceptional or emergency situations, we can offer an additional overnight (seven places). The children who access our overnight accommodation are aged between three years and nineteen years, after which, they will move on to adult services. Any young person who attends the service and who is over the age of 18 must have a secure educational placement and a transitional plan in place, in which the service is a key partner. We cater for both sexes.

Wood View Short Breaks accommodates children with physical, sensory and communication challenges. Most of the children/young people have additional medical conditions. We also accommodate children and young people with life limiting conditions and longer term palliative care. We do not provide End of Life care; we work with the parents/carers and Hospice South West to support families and young people until such time they will be cared for solely at home or go to a Hospice. We aim to have a 24hr waking nursing team to support all of our children’s medical needs and to support staff with relevant medical competencies. In any eventuality that we are unable to provide a nurse, we ensure contingency plans and risk assessments are in place and a high level of staff trained in medical competencies.

We provide a resource which serves the whole of the South West peninsula; children and young people come from Plymouth, Devon and Cornwall for Short Breaks. These are always funded by their own placement authorities.

We endeavour to provide all the children/young people who access short breaks with a ‘family atmosphere’, if we need to accommodate more than six children, we become an extended family for that period of time.

Each child has an individual All About Me document and Health Care Plan, written in consultation with the family. Information is usually provided at initial visits and will include the young people’s own views where possible. The young person will then attend tea visits by themselves and if all goes well will then commence their overnight stays with us. The transition into Wood View Short Breaks will take as long as is needed. The All About Me documents will be reviewed at least three times a year or more often if necessary due to changes in health care etc. The All About Me’s will include;  a comprehensive Health Care Plan written by the nursing team.  Individual Risk Assessments and Personal Evacuation Plans.  care needs including promoting welfare and safeguarding.  physical and emotional needs  leisure needs  contact arrangements with family/carers.  educational needs and attainment targets  any additional information provided by the parents/carers and other professionals

We work with multi agency professionals to ensure the best care package for the young people in our care. We have dedicated key worker time to involve all the young people to participate in writing their care programmes, wherever possible, within their individual abilities. Where there are young people with communication difficulties, we involve the speech therapy team on site in Woodlands School to offer training in different means of communication and guide us in best practice.

We are able to offer Short Breaks that can be for as little as 3 hour visits from school, to day cares, overnights, 24 hour periods, long weekends and longer holiday block periods. We ensure that the young people keep the same room for the total of their stays and welcome parents sending in any

3 October 2015 personal effects that can help make the stay more enjoyable. As we are a Short Break unit, we do not hold parental responsibility for your child and ask that you always furnish us with an emergency contact number. However we would do everything in our power not to have to use this and work hard to ensure that your breaks are undisturbed.

Our staff promote the highest standards of care, support life skills development and act as good role models to help enable the children and young people to achieve their full potential in a warm and safe environment.

Children’s rights

The Children’s Act stresses the need to meet the child’s welfare, the right to express his/her own views and the right to be free from discrimination, inhumane treatment and all forms of physical, sexual or mental violence and their right to information, education and health care. The staff at Wood View Short Breaks provide a comprehensive service to the children/young people and their families, regardless of ethnicity, ethnic origin, culture, age, disability, gender, sexual orientation or ability.

Everyone is unique and we believe the differences between people should be celebrated and well understood with tolerance and deep knowledge. Through training for staff, we empower them to develop self-awareness and become equipped with the skills and knowledge to challenge discriminatory practice in whatever form it may take, including an awareness of the impact of their own actions when working with the children/young people and their colleagues.

All written communications with parents and children/young people can be made in their own language or pictorial form if requested.

Child/young person’s voice

The children/young people are consistently encouraged and supported to make decisions about their individual lives as well as the ways in which we can provide for them. We will use different means of communication i.e. BSL, VOCA’s, Makaton, PECS whenever necessary when consulting with the young people. If we need an advocate, we will ask the parents to become involved. We currently have 3 staff trained in multi-sensory impairments, one nurse who is trained to level 1 BSL and one member of the care staff who has completed level 2 BSL. Many of the staff have also undertaken basic BSL training to support communication.

We encourage Key Worker sessions termly with the children/young people. Where there is a difficulty in communicating with a child/young person about their likes/dislikes we may speak to school staff and send the Key Worker sheets home to the parents/carers to fill out with them termly, this enables us to overcome any communication, ethnic and cultural difficulties. We have a Support to Individual Children and Young People by Keyworker and Other Staff Policy.

Recently, we have engaged Student Advocate to support the young people to voice their views and wishes of and for their short breaks with us.

Safeguarding

Wood View Short Breaks have detailed policies relating to Child Protection/Safeguarding. These are followed in all cases. We have a designated child protection Officer who will be notified and consulted in the event of any situations which have child protection implications. Clear actions flow charts show staff what is expected of their role and that of the designated persons. Staff are provided with training on child protection and are required to sign that they have read and understood the policies annually. Knowledge is tested out regularly during supervision sessions. All new staff are subject to strict vetting procedures to ensure their suitability for working with children. Enhanced DBS checks are 4 October 2015 undertaken before commencement of work and an annual DBS Disclosure form has to be filled and signed by all staff, anyone who does not comply with these requirements cannot be employed at WVSBS. We also spot check staff’s DBS’s regularly.

All Child protection information is covered in our induction program for new staff with full training in the subject with the Plymouth Safeguarding Children’s Board prioritised at the earliest opportunity. Guidance on the procedures for dealing with allegations, suspicions or complaints of abuse of any kind are found in the Policy folder in the main office, on the intranet and website, also, all staff have guidelines attached to their name tags.

Alongside the Safeguarding and Child Protection Policies, we also have policies on Preventing Extremism and Radicalisation and Anti Bullying.

Our Designated Child Protection Officer is Kathy Carpenter Manager. The Manager is supported by Andrea Hemmens, who as Responsible Individual is also trained in higher level child protection.

Deputy Child Protection Officers are Paula Tucker, Selina Parnell and Hilary Strike.

Staff are trained to be aware of the impact of their own behaviour. Staff are trained to avoid any actions, verbal or physical, with pupils that may be misconstrued and should make sure that they do not put themselves in such a situation unwittingly. Steps are taken to avoid one-to-one contact with young people behind closed doors. All staff are asked to read the following policies and sign to say that they have understood them and will work within their guidelines annually. Their knowledge is tested during regular supervision.

 Safeguarding Children Policy  Child Protection Policy  E Safety Policy and staff acceptable use of the internet agreement  Health and Safety Policy, including Manual Handling.

We will not tolerate bullying by anyone, staff are directed to the bullying policy and children are encouraged to tell a member of staff if they feel unsafe or are being bullied. Emphasis is placed on staff to observe relationships between children and adults. Staff are encouraged to take responsibility and be proactive in responding to and improving situations which may arise. We also provide training on Child Exploitation and Online Safety and ask staff to be vigilant at all times of these additional risks.

All policies can be viewed on request; we also have our core of policies on the Wood View Short Breaks website page.

Activities

Wood View Short Breaks actively promote an equal opportunities policy. Our staff are aware of their responsibility to safeguard and protect the welfare of the children in our care.

The children/young people are encouraged to take part in both group and individual activities which, not only take into account their ethnicity, culture, language, religion, interests, disabilities and abilities, but also widen their experience of diversity e.g. encouraging them to experience new foods and festivals – Birthdays, Christmas, Easter, Chinese New Year, Diwali and other festivals as appropriate are celebrated with the children/young

Our activities include swimming, ten pin bowling, cinema, and meals out, multi skills and tennis clubs.

5 October 2015 Arts and crafts are also promoted within WVSBS and all children/young people have access to the internet with access made as safe, legal and age appropriate as possible, with staff constantly monitoring the risks. A filtering system supported by the Network Manager ensures that unsuitable content is not accessible from computers or other devices and any transgressions are logged electronically.

During the weekends and Holidays, outings are planned with the children/young people. These will include visits to the zoo, aquarium, trip to the moors and even the beach when the weather permits!

Religion

When a placement is made, a child/young person’s religious needs will be identified in conjunction with their carers and every effort will be made to ensure these are met.

All children/young people may pursue their own religious observance and this is facilitated and respected by all people within WVSBS.

Parents/Carers are advised that while staff will encourage religious customs and observances, these cannot however, be enforced.

Admissions criteria

Referral of all Children and Young People will be via the care planning/review process and agreed via a Children’s Disability Resources Panel against the eligibility criteria. Wherever possible, admissions are planned and the child is properly prepared before taking up a position at Wood View Short Breaks.

We are, however, aware that there may be occasions when a local authority/Social Worker may require a place at short notice. In these circumstances, we are prepared to consider emergency admissions in accordance with the conditions and procedures outlined below.

All admissions, whether planned or unplanned, will have an Individual All about Me and Health Care Plan prepared within 24 hours of admission. These documents take into account the personal needs of the child and are reviewed regularly. The All About Me document will differ depending on whether the young person is admitted as a planned or unplanned placement and is designed to meet their individual needs.

Planned Admissions

 The child/young person and their parents/carers are actively encouraged to make an informal visit to the home prior to the placement, preferably for a tea visit. During this visit, a named member of staff with take responsibility for talking to the parents and gathering information for their All About Me’s and sending the parents/carers home with a welcome pack and Any Other Information Forms to be filled in. Also, they will meet with the Duty Nurse to ensure that all medical details and paperwork is in place so that their medical needs can be met.  If all goes well at the first visit, the child/young person will be invited to stay for tea visits on the night that they will access on a regular basis if possible, without their parents/carers. This enables them to meet their peers and see how we all get on and work together in Short Breaks.  In the event that there are no difficulties after these visits and both child/young person and parents/carers feel happy and relaxed about the stay, then they will proceed to access WVSBS in line with their allocation.  We will review the placement regularly for the first year and update all All About Me documents a minimum of 3 times per year, sharing these with parents and carers. Meetings, at the parent/carers request, occur to review any changes will take place with immediate effect. 6 October 2015 Emergency Admissions

Wood View Short Breaks usually only accepts emergency placements from children/young people that already access the provision or attend Woodlands School. This way we can ensure that we have relevant information at short notice and a core of staff that can offer support if necessary.

 The Social Worker should complete the referral form and ensure funding.  Staff will be put in place to cover the extra pressure put on the unit. Preferably someone with previous knowledge of said child/young person.  If necessary, we will support the placement with a one-to-one member of staff, including waking night staff if their medical needs call for this.  The nursing staff are confident that the medical needs of the children can be met and that all parents are able to supply all necessary medication and equipment as per medication policy.  The extra admission does not put any of the existing children/young people in our care at risk from either over numbers or for any other reason outside of our control.

We may consider other emergency placements if they are within our Emergency Placement Risk Assessment guidelines.

Cancellation Policy

In the event that we have to cancel a short break, for example due to infectious conditions or emergency campus closures, we would try to give families as much notice as possible. We would also provide alternative dates within your allocation. We have a separate cancellation policy that can be viewed on request. This is reviewed each year with the Children’s Integrated Disability Team Commissioner.

We request that all young people must have an emergency contact in the event of the above mentioned emergencies and if the need to evacuate the building occurs.

Unauthorised absences

Any unauthorised absence would be a very rare event as all children/young people are escorted to and from WVSBS; however, any report of a missing child must be given serious consideration and, when necessary, prompt action should be taken involving carers, WVSBS, Social Services and police, if necessary. Our protocol provides a consistent framework to ensure good practice and, whenever possible, a positive outcome.

It is impossible to anticipate the nature of every situation. WVSBS staff will use their professional judgment to take any action they feel that is necessary to protect the safety of the child/young person, based on an assessment of risk for each individual child. All staff are clear about the definition of a missing person, and discourage the casual reporting of ‘unauthorised absences’ as missing persons.

Guidelines: Definitions Unauthorised absence

7 October 2015 Some children/young people do not turn up for their residential placement when expected. If no contact has been made about the absence by the parent/carers then the category of ‘unauthorised absence’ should be considered. WVSBS expect to be contacted by parents/carers on the morning of the child/young person’s first day of absence. If we do not have confirmation of absence, we will ring the family to discuss the situation and check on the condition of the child / young person.

Missing child Where a child/young person’s location or reason for absence cannot be obtained and/or there is concern for the child because of their vulnerability, the child shall be deemed to be missing and the police informed immediately.

We have a Runaway/Absent or Missing Child Policy which is written within the Police Public Protection and Multi Agency Missing Children guidance

Guidelines for Visits offsite

WVSBS provides photo information cards for every child/young person. These are kept in the WVSBS Fire Safety Log. These cards contain basic information about the child, any acute medical information and a photo.

When preparing for a trip offsite, a designated member of staff (e.g. deputy/nurse) will take the photo cards for the children/young people who will be going on the trip.

On return to WVSBS, the cards are returned to their storage places.

Notification of missing child Whoever discovers the child’s absence should firstly consider whether the incident falls within the definition of ‘unauthorised absence’ or ‘missing child’, If the child is considered missing the police will be informed immediately.

In the case of a child missing from WVSBS, the details should be recorded and made available to OFSTED in line with the requirements of the National Minimum Standards.

In the case of an asylum-seeking child, Social Services are required to notify HM Immigration Service, the National Missing Person’s Helpline and the Refugee Council.

Surveillance for safety

Wood View Campus has CCTV cameras around the whole of the outside of the campus. We also have some CCTV within the building in school corridors/entrances. Wood View Short Breaks do not have any cameras within the Unit. All the bedrooms have a two way intercom system for the safety of the children overnight. As each child/young person retires to bed, the intercom is switched on and this enables the staff to hear if the child/young person calls or is in distress for any reason, it also enables the staff to let the child know that they are on their way. This is very reassuring for both children and staff. We may have requests from parents for TV monitoring whilst their child is with us overnight. These devices must be supplied and be insured by the parents and must only be used with the named child. We will write an additional -individual risk assessment which covers protection of the child’s privacy.

Fire precautions

Wood View Short Break Service has a comprehensive Fire Evacuation Procedure which is written in a language that is understandable to our children/young people.

8 October 2015 Regular fire drills take place so that staff and children/young people are comfortable and confident to evacuate swiftly and safely. All children/young people who attend Wood View Short Break Service have a comprehensive Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan which is located within their individual Placement Plan. Wood View Short Break’s has trained Fire Marshalls, whose training is updated annually. Emergency Services have our grid reference number to locate and enter the building swiftly and they participate in regular walks around the building, accompanied by Interserve staff. The building is fitted with a sprinkler system, emergency lighting and backup power in the event of an emergency. The Fire Brigade will provide emergency evacuations if necessary. Signage is displayed in an appropriate format to assist the children/young people in an emergency. Appropriate Fire extinguishers are located in certain areas and staff are aware of where these are. Fire doors are kept clear of any obstructions. Night time checks take place to ensure all children/young people have the necessary equipment to evacuate safely and swiftly. The lifts have been adapted to use with a portable generator for all non- emergency evacuations.

Parental contact

Every child has a right to have contact with their family, friends, and other significant adults, providing this does not affect their safety and well-being.

We have an ‘open door’ policy in Short Breaks and inform all parents/carers that they can phone or visit at any time; we also welcome extended family members with parental permission. All visitors are requested to sign the visitor’s book which is kept at the main entrance to comply with Fire, Health & Safety Regulations.

We also enable supervised contact if this is required.

Visitors are made welcome and offered refreshments and facilities are available for them to have private visits if necessary.

Complaints procedure

All the children/young people need to feel able to complain, know how to do so and be appropriately supported when they feel unhappy with any aspect of Wood View Short Breaks.

Complaints are dealt with as soon as is practically possible by the most appropriate person. This may be the Key-worker, or the manager/senior staff.

Wood View Short Break offers Key-worker sessions regularly where the children can take the opportunity to air their views, and staff actively encourage the children/young people to say if they are unhappy. This does not detract in any way from a formal complaints procedure, but is in addition.

Wood View Short Breaks sends out a comprehensive package before placement and a part of this includes a sheet explaining to the children how they can complain, this is also available in picture form.

All staff work within a comprehensive complaints policy and the manager will ensure that all child protection and non-child protection complaints will be recorded in writing, along with any action taken and the outcome of the investigation. It is our aim for the complaint to be resolved as safely and as soon as possible. All complaints will be addressed seriously and be responded to within a maximum of 5 working days

Reviews 9 October 2015 Wood view Short Break staff work within individual comprehensive All About Me documents with information provided by parents/carers/placing authority and input from children/young people where appropriate, ensuring continuity of service and best practice. We request information from other agencies including physiotherapists, speech and language therapists, dieticians and the child/young person’s paediatric consultant. The child/young person will have in their All About Me, a medical health care plan written by one of nursing team. Staff write reports for, and attend all annual educational or other multi-disciplinary team meetings, such as Child in Need reviews or Looked after Children reviews. . Each child/young person has their own Key-worker, where appropriate chosen by the child, who will attend their individual meeting. Each report is written with input from all staff using information from daily evaluation sheets and handovers. Parents are offered individual meetings regularly at their own convenience, to discuss any changes to the placement plan to keep all information up to date and accurate. We also work closely with schools and share any achieved outcomes with them to support a complete and holistic care service for each individual. All information gathered will be passed onto appropriate agencies during the child/young person’s transition from children’s services to adult services, to maintain continuity of care and make it as stress free as possible.

CHILDREN’S BEHAVIOUR

Encouraging Positive Behaviour

Wood View Short Breaks abides by all the local and government guidelines and policies set out for control, restraint and discipline of children/young people.

However, our philosophy is that control and discipline cannot be enforced by staff upon children/young people and is best maintained through positive role models and good relationships. Relationships are best built upon trust, understanding and respect for each other.

While staff on duty take ultimate responsibility for the maintenance of good behaviour within WVSBS, we believe that the most effective way is when the child/young person wants to behave and keep within set parameters. Therefore we rarely use sanctions and prefer to encourage good behaviour with praise and reward.

Positive physical intervention is only ever used in order to protect children/young people from harming themselves or others. If positive physical intervention is required, the Key Worker will discuss this with the child/young person and their parent/carers and record the incident fully in writing. Support is given to staff involved in such incidents through timely supervision sessions. .

We would attend any meetings regarding a young person who may require a behavioural plan and the information would then be shared with staff to give detailed guidance on why we believe the pupil might demonstrate challenging behaviour, steps that can be taken to prevent it occurring, alternative responses that can be taught, steps that can be taken to de-escalate the behaviour as it arises and how to react when it occurs.

Staff will also discourage any form of bullying, either face to face or online.

A full copy of our Behavioural Management Policy and the Anti-Bullying and Harassment Policy are available on request or can be found on the website.

EDUCATION

10 October 2015 All the children/young people accessing Wood View Short Breaks attend either school or college. The majority attend Woodlands School, but we do cater for young people who may attend other local schools and colleges which are within easy reach of the home via arranged transport. We may have children/young people whose education is supported slightly further away, they are transported by either their parents or out of county arranged transport. The children/young people are only able to access Wood View Short Breaks whilst they are still in education, post 18. We have good links with the education providers and attend Annual and Transitional Reviews of all children/young people. These links enable the staff and parents to incorporate aims and objectives into their Care Plans.

WVSBS encourages and supports those pupils who are given homework during their stays with us. We also encourage and support the young people to achieve outcomes for life skills and social skills. We will work with the young people to enable them to become as independent as possible through simple tasks within their own capabilities; for example from making their own snacks and drinks, packing their bags and taking responsibility for their personal items to supporting staff to dress and undress them, learn how to feed themselves, choose their own clothes. Social skills are encouraged with group activities and turn-taking/sharing. For those more able, we might support independent shopping and supported outings into the community. All achievements will be recorded and shared both during reviews and on our handover sheets to the parents.

HEALTH

Protecting and promoting your child’s health Wood View Short Breaks has a highly experienced team of registered nurses who aim to provide 24 hour nursing support, including a waking night nurse every night. Many of the children and young people using the short break service have significant health needs such as having medical intervention procedures such as tracheostomy, laryngectomy gastrostomy and non-invasive ventilation. Children and young people may also experience complex epilepsy, degenerative conditions and cardiac conditions. The experience of our nurses ensures that medical needs can be safely and effectively met at all times. Nurses are supported by close liaison with the Plymouth NHS Trust Children’s’ Community Nursing Team for clinical supervision and training. Close links are also created with the Assessment unit at Derriford hospital. The nursing team  Work as integral members of the short break care team, but with dedicated nursing time.  Provide high standard evidence based clinical care and quality of service consistent with individual need and in accordance with policies and procedures, and to have due regard to the health, safety and well-being of the children and adults who work alongside them.  Monitor the health and well-being of the children.  Write and update nursing care plans and ensure that these are integrated into the child's placement plan.  Maintain up to date, accurate medical records.  Act as lead first aider and provide emergency first aid for the children and staff using the service.  Ensure the safe storage, administration and disposal of medication and keep accurate records in accordance with policies and procedures.  Attend reviews and any clinical meetings that may arise.  Provide information, training, advice and support to non-nursing colleagues within the team to enable them to work safely and effectively with children who have significant health needs.  Liaise and co-ordinate with all professionals involved in the care of the children and young people.  Provide advice and support for parents and other professionals. 11 October 2015 We have several policies in Short Breaks to ensure that the young people’s health and well-being is well care for, this includes a Sick Child policy. If a child’s health needs change and they require treatments/medical care during their stay, the nursing team will liaise with the medical team involved in their care and ensure that any necessary training and equipment is in place before the child’s next visit. We also support families post-surgery so that short breaks can resume as soon as the child is medically fit enough to attend. Some of our young people with significant health needs require major surgery and on-going care and by working closely with the health care professionals involved and the families, we support them through this difficult time, put training and equipment in place and writing comprehensive care plans to ensure that short breaks can resume safely.

We can measure the effectiveness of our approach in meeting the health and therapeutic needs by the confidence and trust that the children and families have in our care as well as through rigorous auditing of our service.

Therapies

Wood View Short Breaks does not employ directly and ‘clinical’ specialist therapists, however, we work very closely with the children/young peoples’ schools and receive updates on their physio, and speech therapy plans. As we are within a special needs school, we also have access to the physiotherapists and speech therapists within the school if we need advice or support.

As we provide chest care and passive stretches to some of the children in our care along with use of standing frames and walkers, staff are trained, supported and supervised by trained physiotherapists.

STAFFING MATTERS

POST NAME HOURS QUALIFICATIONS Responsible Andrea Hemmens Full Time MEd, Educational Leadership, Bed Individual (Hons) Special Education, NPQH, IOSH Child Protection Designated Lead Manager Kathy Carpenter Full Time Diploma 5 Management & Leadership IOSH NVQ 4 Care Level 4 Assessors Child Protection Designated Lead Deputy Paula Tucker Full Time Cert in Health & Social Care Manager NVQ 4 Care Child Protection Middle Management Leadership Course Deputy Selina Parnell Full Time NVQ 3 Care Manager Child Protection Finance/Admin Sonia Parmenter 18 hours per week NVQ 4 Accounting Officer NVQ 3 Administration Personnel Sarah Pain 34 Hrs (Based in BTEC Diploma in Public Officer Woodlands School) Administration (Level 3)

12 October 2015 RCO’s Marie Alford 17.50 hrs per week NVQ 3 Care Alannah Bensaih 7 hours per week NVQ 3 TA Degree Psych Patricia Bottom Full Time NVQ 3 Care Teresa Jones 27 hours per week NVQ 3 Care James Currey Full Time NVQ 3 Care NVQ3 Play work Karen Ecclestone 30 hours per week NVQ 3 Care Lisa Fowell 11.5hours per week Dip 3 Care Teresa Jarvis 20 hours per week Dip 3 Care Valerie Jewell 17 hours per week NVQ 3 Care IOSH Tracy Mitchell 26.25 hours per week Dip 3 in Care Karen Phillips 25 hours per week NVQ 3 Care Michaela Parry Bank NNEB B.Tec Care Victoria Howard Bank Diploma Health & Social Care (Children) Kathryn Statton Bank NNEB NVQ 3 TA Bernice Polly Casual NVQ 3 Care Sharon Carder Casual NVQ Julie Chanter Casual NVQ Pamela Eccles Casual NVQ 3 Care

Nurses Linda Curtain 18.75 hours per week RN Susan Fice 25 hours per week RSCN Sally Ingleby 25 hours per week RN Hilary Strike 34.75 hours per week RN Katarzyna 25 hours per week RN Szymanska Carole Anderson 25 hours per week RN Lindsey Weber Temporary 25 hrs per RN Learning Disabilities week to 31.03.2016

Housekeeper Tracy Edgecumbe 20 hours per week NVQ 3 Care/ NVQ 1 Cleaning ICT Neil Stoddart 0.1 Technician

Independent Helen Starbuck- Listener Phelps

HR Advisor Wolferstans

The staffing for a normal shift with six children/young people will usually comprise of a Deputy Manager, two Residential Child Care Officers and a Nurse. Additional cover is provided dependent on the number and needs of those accessing Wood View Short Breaks at the time i.e. If we have extra children for tea visits, Daycare, children who require 1-1’s or emergency placements, we adjust the staffing accordingly.

It is normal practice for two members of staff to be on waking duty all night; one of those will be a Nurse. The night staff will do half hourly checks as a minimum. They are then supported by sleeping night staff, again, the number dependent on how many are accessing Wood View at the time. There are times when we require an additional waking night R.C.O. for particular children/young people.

13 October 2015 All permanent R.C.O. staff will have or will be undertaking a Level 3 Diploma in Caring for Children and Young People or equivalent qualification.

Sickness and other absences are covered in the main by existing staff or by the use of bank staff; agency staff that are thoroughly vetted and fully trained before they commence in Wood View Short Breaks, may be used if we have exhausted all other avenues.

Supervision

Wood View Short Breaks provides supervision to its entire staff in lines with OFSTED requirements. The requirements state that all staff are given at least one and a half hours of one to one supervision per month with increased supervision for new staff in the first six months of service. All staff will have their performance development appraised at least annually by their line manager. Additional clinical supervision is offered to the nurses by the lead nurse for the Community Paediatric Team at least 6 times a year.

Training and Development

Training within Wood View Short Break Service is centered on a core of subjects including:-

 Child Protection/Safeguarding Children  Emergency Medication Administration  First Aid/Paediatric Resuscitation  Manual Handling  Equal Opportunities  Fire Safety / Health and Safety  Intimate Care  Internet safety  Food Hygiene  Behavioural Intervention  Medical Competency Training – for non-medical staff to ensure they can meet the needs of the children and enable them to access the wider community and leisure activities off site.

We are constantly looking for new and appropriate training courses to improve the care that we can provide for the Children and Young People who stay with us.

14 October 2015 CONTACT DETAILS

The Registered Provider is;

Woodlands School Board of Governors. Woodlands School Picklecombe Drive off Tamerton Foliot Road Whitleigh Plymouth PL5 6ES 01752 300101

The Responsible Individual is; The Registered Manager is;

Andrea Hemmens Kathy Carpenter Head Teacher Wood View Short Break Woodlands School Picklecombe Drive Picklecombe Drive off Tamerton Foliot Road off Tamerton Foliot Road Whitleigh Whitleigh Plymouth Plymouth PL5 6ES PL5 6ES 01752 300101 01752 581601 [email protected] [email protected]

15 October 2015