Author information
Produced by: Registered Managers
Date created: August 2010
Approval by: Senior Management Team
Last updated: May 2024
Updated by: Director of Care and Support Services
Audit date: May 2026
Version history
June 2022 updates
Updated to new charity name
Policy to include both adult care home and residential specialist college
April 2021 updates
Policy title amendment/s.
Methodology amended to ‘Process’ and 52 weeks changed to ‘all year round’.
Updated to new accessible format.
Term ‘client’ (used to describe those who access the service) changed to ‘people’ to align to CQC referencing.
The Statement of Purpose outlines a framework of systems and documents in place which accurately describes the residential provision at InFocus Charity.
InFocus Charity is registered with CQC (Care Quality Commission) for the
Introduction
The organisation (the charity known as ‘InFocus’, the Vision Impairment and Complex Needs Charity) has a written Statement of Purpose, which accurately describes its residential provision.
This statement is supported by other documents.
Compliance regarding registration for provision of accommodation with nursing and personal care and treatment of disease, disorder or injury, with the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
Scope
This document applies to all employees of the organisation and to people residing in our adult care home and residential specialist college.
The Senior Management Team of the organisation will be responsible for the implementation and review of this statement.
The organisation does not discriminate against any party based on Gender, Race, Disability, Sexual Orientation, Religion and Beliefs and Human Rights and meets the organisations commitment to Equality and Diversity.
It is recognised that some situations may need additional consideration due to specific individual cultures, beliefs and protected characteristics. The organisation will ensure support provided meets identified individual needs.
Responsibilities
All employees are responsible for the implementation of the Statement of Purpose.
It is the responsibility of the Senior Management Team to ensure that the Statement of Purpose for this provision is reviewed annually. It is the responsibility of all staff in the organisation to engage positively in that review and ensure implementation.
It is the responsibility of the Senior Management Team to ensure that the other documents supporting the Statement of Purpose describe accurately the organisation’s residential provision and that these are also reviewed within the agreed structure.
Implementation
All employees are responsible for the implementation of the Statement of Purpose.
Senior Management Team will be responsible for the implementation and review of this statement.
Policy Text
Objectives
To provide a document which clearly states the purpose of the provision and accurately describes how this will be delivered by the organisation.
To make this document available in formats that are accessible to and understood by the residents and their family, as well as staff, visitors and funding agencies.
Process
Description of the organisation
The Charity called ‘InFocus’ is situated on the edge of Exeter and provides a specialist college and adult care home for young people with vision impairment and other disabilities. The young people are aged between 16 and 35 years and are funded through Local Authority SEN, Social Services, Continuing Health Care, and personal contributions. There may be occasions where a younger person may need to attend the provision. This will be no more than 189 days annually. A risk assessment must be completed for the younger person to ensure that the needs of both the young person and current residents, eg social mix and emotional maturity, can be met.
The organisation has a Head of Commissioning responsible for ensuring that all prospective attendees have a full and detailed assessment of their needs before a placement is offered. The Head of Commissioning leads a multi-disciplinary team through a 2-day assessment and compiles a written report. Placement reports are discussed by the admission team at regular meetings and a multi-professional decision is taken whether the needs of the potential new student can be met by InFocus (within the current statement of purpose/ staffing/ expertise/aims and provision) and whether a placement will be offered. The Admissions Procedure gives further information.
The organisation runs social enterprise which provide opportunities for young people to experience the world of work and develop skills to promote employability.
The organisation employs a varied range of staff including the following professionals; Qualified educational specialists in vision impairment and multisensory impairment, care and support team, Mobility and Orientation Specialists, Health Team professionals including Nurses, Occupational Therapy, Speech and Language Therapy, Music Therapy and Physiotherapy, (referred to as the multi-disciplinary team). The organisation also has access to a clinical psychologist.
The Health Team at InFocus is based on the campus and situated in a separate building. This makes it easily accessible to young people residing on campus. The centre is adapted for easy access for people with mobility difficulties and staff have a specialist knowledge of how to engage with young people with vision impairment and other difficulties and disabilities. Clinics are held there by the local GP, the optician and ophthalmologist and other visiting specialists.
The Health Team will work with people, multi professional staff and other stakeholders to promote and support independence and understanding with regards to individual people’s health needs. They will ensure that people receive information about health-related issues to allow choices where appropriate and work with clinicians to ensure that best interest decisions are reached when the person lacks capacity.
The registered nurses working under the direction of a clinician would provide support in relation to treatment for disease, disorder or injury which may include gastro feeding, bowel management, administration of medication, some vaccinations and, if appropriate, post-operative care.
Using a multi-agency approach the Health Team will develop and promote individualised Health Action Plans and assist with implementation.
As required, the Health Team will seek support from community teams to meet the person’s requirements. This provision is a regulated activity (Treatment of disorder, disease and Injury) as is registered with CQC.
The Charity has a Board of Trustees, an Executive Committee and a Senior Management Team.
The residential provision will be led by a registered Manager(s). Monthly inspection visits are completed by a member of the Board of Trustees of the organisation to support their governance of the charity.
The Charity number is 1058937
Company registration number 069 38379
InFocus Charity, Topsham Road, Countess Wear, Exeter, EX2 6HA
01392 454200
info@infocus-charity.org.uk
www.infocus-charity.org.uk
The residential provision will be registered and inspected by CQC – contact www.cqc.org.uk or 03000 61 61 61
Our Residential Specialist College
Students attend the college from different authorities throughout the United Kingdom.
The campus includes residential, educational and recreational areas which are maintained to a good standard and are equipped to meet the individual requirements of the young peoples’ vision impairment as well as any other impacting disability.
The charity also provides educational support to young people with vision impairment in the community by outsourcing qualified professionals to work within the mainstream education provision. The Charity also has a training department offering training opportunities to both their own staff and external clients/ organisations.
Our Adult Care Home – St. David’s House
The organisation provides all year-round residential accommodation for young adults with vision impairment from the age of 18 years and who have been assessed as appropriate to this provision.
Through the adult provision we aim to encourage independence, working with the young person to understand and minimise their disability. The multi-disciplinary support team will develop programmes to assist the development of the individual and their skills to enable them to reach an appropriate, sustainable and safe level of independence. They will be encouraged to access the community for pleasure, employability and health needs as appropriate.
The Organisation will provide:
The aim of the adult provision is to support and develop skills which will promote independent living. To assist young people to achieve their potential and be able to live in the community with minimum support appropriate to their needs, if appropriate.
We provide an environment where all people will be treated with consideration and respect and where dignity, privacy and independence will be promoted. The person will be engaged in decision making and be involved in developing their care and support programmes, and as far as reasonable and practicable InFocus will accommodate these views and wishes. People will be encouraged to engage in the community for social, health and employability opportunities. The Equality and Diversity procedure will be applied to all aspects of living. All activities on and off site along with the residences will have current risk assessments. Each person will have an individual risk assessment to which they have contributed.
People will have access to an advocacy service, where required, provided through Social Services, an independent agency or independent visitor.
People will be able to have their say in different ways using the key worker system, the house team meetings or arranged meeting with managers or the independent visitor. They will be encouraged to have an open dialogue regarding the running of the provision. The organisation will also work with families and other agencies involved with the care of people.
Accommodation
Three Lodges, Ash, Maple and Mulberry make up our adult care home – St. David’s House.
Seven ‘flats’, Burrington, Morley, Naylor, Nell Arran, Powley, Shephard and Slade provide accommodation for students of our residential specialist college.
The accommodation sits within a 14-acre safe and adapted site which is close to the city of Exeter and enjoys easy access by public transport or by use of the organisation’s own transport.
The accommodation will have shared facilities in which people will be supported to develop understanding and the skills needed to maintain a satisfactory living environment.
The accommodation will be of high standard and consist of individual bedrooms with access to shared facilities for bathing and toileting. There will be communal access to living and kitchen areas to promote living skills and socialising in each home.
People will have their own individual and lockable bedrooms which will be furnished to a high standard. They will be encouraged to personalise their rooms. People will be supported to develop the skills to manage their environment.
People are encouraged to bring their own personal belongings with them and to insure any items of value. TV’s will need to have a licence. All rooms have internet access.
The accommodation will be suitably adapted to meet the varying needs of people and will include good contrast and lighting, hoisting as required and specialist equipment matched against the individual’s assessed needs.
People will be assisted to plan, budget, purchase and prepare their own meals with support from staff as appropriate. Meals will be eaten in their own home and will reflect their individual needs. Catering staff are available to support this if required.
Facilities
People will have access to the onsite facilities which include water therapy centre, hydrotherapy pool both with hoisting facilities, multisensory suite, gymnasium, running track, adapted cycles, trampolines for rebound and sensory garden.
People will be encouraged to go off-site using transport to access facilities in the community such as shops, pubs, fitness centres, theatres, cinemas, river, country, seaside and moorland activities including sailing, horse riding, kayaking and walking.
The organisation has a fleet of vehicles which have been adapted for the use of wheelchair dependent people. This transport meets health and safety requirements.
Local train and airport facilities are within easy reach. People will be encouraged to use the off-site health facilities such as the doctor, dentist and the local hospital.
Staffing
The accommodation will be staffed by support workers who have been employed under InFocus’ Recruitment Vetting Procedure.
Support staff will have completed the Care Certificate and have achieved or be working towards The Diploma in Health and Social Care/QCF 3 or equivalent. They receive regular training in all mandatory areas.
Each person will have a key worker who will know about their care and their individual needs and wishes. The key worker’s responsibility will be to work with the person, family and other agencies as appropriate and develop their care package. The key worker will be supported by the multi-disciplinary team at InFocus.
All staff will have safeguarding training and the Registered Manager(s) will have level 3 Designated Officer training. Staff and people will have a clear understanding and pathway to report or disclose any concerns regarding their safety.
A team of registered nurses are available to offer support and advice to people and staff. People are requested to register with a local doctor of their choice and the Health Team have strong links with the community teams and the local hospital.
Management
MCA and DoLS will be followed and adhered to and people’s choices will be considered in line with their ability to understand and make safe and reasonable decisions.
The person will be assisted to make informed decisions about all aspects of their life, when this is not possible InFocus will work with other agencies to ensure that the person’s best interests are maintained.
The management will promote healthy lifestyles by encouraging people to make informed choices and by giving opportunities for taking an active role in their personal health promotion.
The Health Team is managed and led by a registered nurse. All nurses have a current registration and meet the requirements of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).
Each person will be provided with an outline of the service provision which will include information on how to make a complaint and how to access an advocate or independent visitor.
Forums and house meetings will provide a platform to voice people’s opinions. Each person will be supported by a key worker or independent advocate to do so if required.
People will be supported to develop relationships. Staff will be alert to the possibility of the person’s vulnerability and work with individuals to understand their rights within relationships.
Opportunities to develop employability skills will be in place through our local partnerships and InFocus owned and managed social firms.
Appropriate behaviour management plans will be in place contributed to by the Clinical Psychologist, the young person and others as appropriate. There is a zero tolerance of bullying and any incident will be quickly and effectively managed with due regard to both parties.
Regular fire equipment checks and practices are undertaken in line with health and safety requirements.
All manual handling and height adjustable equipment and any equipment used to support people is maintained to health and safety requirements.
All Health and Safety requirements will be adhered to in line with the InFocus policy.
There are a number of policies and procedures which support the principles, aims and practice of the whole provision. These include
Associated documents
References
It is recommended that this statement is read in conjunction with the following related documents
- Strategic Plan
- Website
- Charitable Status
- Annual Report
- Improvement Plans
- Self-Assessment Report
- Information to parents/carers
- Young Person’s Guide
- Staff Handbooks
- Policy and Procedure Documents
Further Information
Registered Manager – Director of Care and Support Services
Person with responsibility for provision – CEO
Care Quality Commission (CQC) can be contacted on www.cqc.org.uk 03000 616161
Access to this document
This document is stored on the InFocus Intranet and is accessible to the public via the InFocus website.
Please contact the MIS office if you would like a copy of this document in an alternative format such as Braille or large print.