2.14 Lone Working |
POLICY
For reasons of good child care practice, one-to-one work is the preferred way of working with young people at Bryn Melyn.
The majority of young people at Bryn Melyn have experienced frequent changes of placement within the care system and are finding it difficult to form trusting relationships with adults.
The model of work at Bryn Melyn has been designed and developed to enable these young people to build significant relationships with adults, in order to help them change their thinking and behaviour and move forward positively in their lives. It is considered that relationships between staff and young people are most effectively forged in a one-to-one environment.
Bryn Melyn takes extremely seriously its responsibilities to ensure that staff are properly, trained and supported to carry out their work with young people safely within this ethos. The following procedure sets out the way in which those responsibilities are carried out.
This chapter should also be read in conjunction with:
Placement Plan Reviews Procedure
Contents
1. Induction
No member of staff will work in a one-to-one situation with a young person until they have satisfactorily completed an appropriate induction programme, as set out in the detailed Induction Scheme for the specific group within Bryn Melyn where the member of staff is to be employed.
In all cases, the induction programme for lone working will include a period of shadowing another staff member for a minimum specified period.
Upon completion of the induction programme, the member of staff’s progress and his or her competence to start lone working will be reviewed by the manager in consultation with those responsible for the delivering the induction, and with the benefit of reports from those who have directly observed the staff member during the induction programme.
A decision by the manager that the staff member has satisfactorily completed the necessary induction and is competent to engage in one-to-one work must be recorded on the staff member’s personal file.
2. Risk Assessment
No member of staff will be asked or expected to work with a young person in a one-to-one situation unless such a method of working has been confirmed as appropriate and manageable, as a result of a risk assessment carried out in relation to the young person. The assessment of the risk presented to lone workers must also be the subject of regular reviews.
All members of the staff team working with the young person share responsibility for familiarising themselves with the contents of the risk assessment, any conditions attached, whether general or specific to particular activities, or recommendations made, and any other relevant information contained on the young person’s file.
The manager must ensure that arrangements are made to carry out any steps considered necessary to manage any risks presented to lone workers.
Where the risk assessment indicates that a member of staff is likely to be at risk in a given situation, the manager will ensure that a contingency plan is in place should the situation occur, for example by the provision of additional staff support.
If the member of staff has any concerns about the safety of him or herself, the young person or others, the member of staff must draw this to the immediate attention of his or her manager who will consider the need for an urgent review of the risk assessment. Any such concerns will be communicated as necessary to all members of the staff team working with the young person.
If the manager has any reason to consider, having regard to any incident(s), report(s) or event(s), that a young person presents a risk to lone workers, or that an individual member of staff is particularly at risk from a young person or is particularly weak working in a one-to-one situation, the manager must take immediate steps to review the risk assessment and if necessary review the composition or deployment of the staff team, and/or the training needs of the individual member of staff. The manager will keep informed all members of the staff team working with the young person.
3. Training
Each member of staff will receive training in relation to the behaviour management of young people, including the techniques of Therapeutic Crisis Intervention and regular updates on these techniques.
All members of staff are responsible for ensuring that they use such techniques for the diffusion of aggression and the reduction of risk situations to the best of their ability.
Managers must arrange additional training staff teams or individual members of staff as considered necessary.
See Training and Development Procedure.
4. Supervision
At each supervision meeting, there should be an agenda item covering any issues related to lone working. Any concerns, training issues or requests for additional support should be shared and discussed as part of this item.
5. Support and On-Call Assistance
In recognition of the stressful nature of lone working, members of staff are encouraged to use the routes available to them within Bryn Melyn to deal proactively with any early signs of stress. These channels are through formal supervision, training, team meetings and day-to-day communications between managers and members of staff.
Team meetings should be held regularly and used as a forum where a staff team can obtain mutual support and share information, for example, to raise awareness about the shifting dynamics of the relationship between the young person and the staff team.
In addition, support is available to staff teams from senior managers who visit teams on a regular basis.
Members of staff working on a one-to-one basis are supported at all times through an on-call system. The details of on-call assistance are set out in the individual schemes for each group within Bryn Melyn. The details may vary from group to group but all such schemes provide for a manager to be available at the end of a telephone at all times of day and night and additional staff support/Police assistance to be arranged as necessary. See Conditions of Operation Procedure, Section 7.
6. Monitoring
The manager must monitor the appropriateness of the risk assessment through the regular reading of the young person’s file, regular supervision with members of staff engaged in lone working, regular consultation with the young person and Placement Plans Reviews.
See Placement Plan Reviews Procedure.
As indicated above in Section 2 relating to Risk Assessments, where the manager has any concerns that a young person presents a risk to lone workers, in general or to an individual member of staff, the manager must take immediate steps to review the risk assessment and if necessary review the composition or deployment of the staff team, and/or the training needs of the individual member of staff.
Any member of staff who has any such concerns must report them to the manager so that he or she can take any necessary action.
In addition, the visits made under Regulation 32/33 and visits made by senior managers to monitor the quality of care provided to the young people will specifically consider the appropriateness of the risk assessment for one-to-one working with each young person.
See Regulation 32/33 Visits Procedure
7. Review
As indicated above in Section 2 relating to Risk Assessments, the Risk Assessment will be regularly reviewed and, where circumstances require, should be urgently reviewed.
End