1.1.2 Quick Guide

Manual Version 7, August 2011

Contents

1. Display Options and Printing
2. About this Manual
3. Amendments and Planned Updates (Amended)
4. The Knowledge
5. Terminology
6. Keywords/Search
7. Compliance
8. Alerts and Suggestions
9. Copyright

1. Display Options and Printing

1.1 Display Options

People with a visual impairment may have difficulty accessing this Manual. To change the size of the text/layout - please use these accessibility buttons

The accessibility buttons are found on menu bar on the left side of every screen. Click a larger button to increase your text size, the very largest being high visibility mode.

1.2 Printing

The Manual should normally be viewed on line but can be printed, for reference only.

To print a chapter, click on the icon which is in the top right hand corner of the relevant procedure

Please note, copies may be printed for reference only, they may NOT be retained for more than 3 working days or used for any other purpose (See Section 9, Copyright).

2. About this Manual

This Manual contains Bryn Melyn procedures for children's homes, including Health & Safety and HR procedures.

2.1 Young Adults accommodated by Bryn Melyn:

This Manual primarily applies to children and young people, under the age of 18, accommodated by Bryn Melyn. However, Bryn Melyn occasionally accommodates young adults in transition to adulthood or to adult placements. Where this occurs, the policies and procedures in this manual still apply unless otherwise stated in Chapters or outlined in the young adult's Placement or Care Plan.

In circumstances where a young person is likely to remain accommodated at Bryn Melyn beyond his/her 18th birthday, the relevant Home's Manager will ensure that appropriate planning or review meetings are conducted in good time to review and revise the Placement or Care Plans to reflect the young person's needs beyond his/her 18th birthday.

2.2 The difference between Procedures and Guidance

The manual contains one chapter, summarising Bryn Melyn's key policies, values and principles in relation to consultation, confidentiality and recording.

All staff and managers must ensure they apply procedures in the context of these policies, values and principles.

Procedures:

The bulk of chapters in this manual are procedures, which state how to act in given circumstances. Unless otherwise stated, usually at the top of a chapter, procedures apply to all Staff.

Guidance:

Guidance provides direction and advice relating to procedures. Guidance is sometimes provided in a procedures chapter, e.g. where it is specific to that chapter. In such circumstances, Guidance will be highlighted. However, the bulk of guidance is provided in a separate part of the Manual. Guidance chapters can be accessed via the Contents List, and links are provided from relevant procedures.

3. Amendments and Planned Updates

This manual was significant amended in August 2011.

The recently amended Chapters are highlighted in the table below and on the Contents List; recent and historic changes are also summarised at the start of the relevant/amended Chapter.

Amendments Table

Chapter Name	Details of Amendment(s)
Referrals and Placements Procedure	Amended August 2011: in order to take account of the Care Planning Regulations 2010.
Transfers and Moving On Procedure	Amended August 2011: in order to take account of the Care Planning Regulations 2010.
Placement Plan Reviews Procedure	Amended August 2011: in order to take account of the Care Planning Regulations 2010.
Looked After Reviews	Replaced August 2011: in order to take account of the Care Planning Regulations 2010.
Absent Children Procedure	New Chapter added in August 2011 in place of previous document. This new chapter takes account of relevant amendments in Regulations and Standards.
Contact with Parents and Siblings Procedure	Amended August 2011 regarding considerations to be made when placing children and young people.
Health Care Assessments and Plans Procedure	Amended August 2011: this chapter was amended to take account of the Care Planning Regulations (2010).
Social Worker Visits Procedure	Amended August 2011: this chapter was amended to take account of the Care Planning Regulations (2010) and the Statutory duty placed on a Social Worker to visit a Child in Care.
Children's Bedrooms Procedure	Amended August 2011: this chapter was amended to take account of the Care Planning Regulations (2010) .
Child and Adult Protection Procedure	Amended August 2011: this chapter was amended to take account of the Care Planning Regulations (2010) and New National Minimum Standards.
Advocacy and Independent Visitors Procedure	Amended August 2011: this chapter was amended to take account of the Care Planning Regulations (2010) and New National Minimum Standards.
Allegations Against Staff Procedure	Amended August 2011: this chapter was amended to take account of the Care Planning Regulations (2010) and New National Minimum Standards.
Appropriate Touch Procedure	New - August 2011
Ligature Cutter Policy	New - August 2011
Unexpected Death of a Child Procedure	New - August 2011
Disciplinary Procedures	New - August 2011: This chapter has been replaced with all new content.
Disciplinary Rules Procedure	New - August 2011
Petty Cash Budget Procedure	Updated - August 2011
Security of Money Procedure	Updated - August 2011
Acceptable Internet Use Policy	New - August 2011
Health and Safety Policy	New - August 2011
Buildings, Electricity and Gas Supplies Procedure	New - August 2011
Maintenance Procedure	New - August 2011
Portable Electronic Equipment Procedure	New - August 2011
Security Procedure	New - August 2011
Violence at Work Policy	New - August 2011
Accidents Procedure	New - August 2011
Blood, Bodily Fluids and HIV/AIDs Procedure	New - August 2011
COSHH Procedures	New - August 2011
Fire Safety Procedure	New - August 2011
Kitchen and Catering Procedure	New - August 2011
Manual Handling Procedure	New - August 2011
Office Health and Safety Procedure	New - August 2011
Safe Practice in Homes Procedure	New - August 2011
RIDDOR Procedure	New - August 2011
Smoking Policy	New - August 2011
Emergency Procedures	New - August 2011
Display Screen Equipment Procedure	New - August 2011
Care and Placement Plans Guidance	This chapter was added as new in August 2011 to replace a previously named care plans guidance chapter: All staff must read this new chapter.

All staff must familiarise themselves with the amendments as soon as possible after reading this 'Quick Guide'.

SENIOR MANAGEMENT POST TITLES; Please note: in September 2009, we undertook a tidying up exercise of the post titles of senior managers e.g. we have replaced Regional Manager with Area Manager. It is possible that you will still find some out of date terms, if you do, please report them immediately to us - by using the Alerts and Suggestions' function (available on the left hand side of the screen). Please say where you find the error e.g. in which Chapter, and what the correct title should be.

3.2 Planned Updates

The next planned update is December 2011.

If you wish to contribute to these updates e.g. by recommending a new procedure, amendment to an existing procedure or change to the functionality, please discuss your proposals in the first place with your manager; if your proposals are accepted, they should be passed to Steve Nevitt.

In order to be inserted in the manual, contributions must be approved and forwarded to Steve Nevitt by the end of September 2011.

Urgent updates e.g. emanating from a complaint or post title errors, can be included at any time.  Please report such urgent amends in the first place via 'Alerts and Suggestions'.

4. The Knowledge

'The Knowledge' is to help practitioners and managers reassure themselves that they understand key procedures.

They are a series of 'On-Line' questionnaires which you can complete at any time, or if requested by your Line Manager.

They are not ‘tests’, they are designed to reassure you that you can find key procedures and that they are easy to understand.  Each questionnaire has up to 20 'multi-choice' questions, and all the answers are contained in this manual.

After completing a questionnaire, you receive a 'report' by email, telling you how you got on and which questions were answered incorrectly - you can then retake the questionnaire, as many times as you wish.

To find out more, click on 'The Knowledge' on the left hand side of the screen

5. Terminology

As far as possible, consistent terminology is used in this Manual, which means that some generic terms are used which users may not be familiar with.

Bryn Melyn	various terms are used in this manual to mean the same thing e.g. Bryn Melyn, The organisation', The Group or The Company. Any reference to 'Partners' should be taken as 'Board Directors'
'Home' and 'Resource'	this is a generic term which means all homes
'Resident', 'child' or 'young person'	all these terms are used, to refer to children/young people looked after by Bryn Melyn including young adults over the age of 18, unless otherwise stated in the body of chapters.
'Staff'	means everyone employed or working in a voluntary capacity
'Manager'	means manager of a home or resource.
'Line Manager'	means the first line manager of the home/resource.  More senior managers are referred to by Post Title
'Parent'	means person(s) with Parental Responsibility
'Placing Authority' and 'Social Worker'	Placing Authority means the local authority/agency responsible for placing the child or commissioning the service (usually Children's Services - see below). Social Worker means allocated social worker or person with case responsibility (e.g. Personal Advisor for children preparing to leave care). If there is no allocated worker it means Duty Worker or Children's Services/Children’s Social Care Team Manager
'Regulatory Authority'	Regulatory Authority is the generic term used in this manual to describe the independent regulatory body responsible for inspecting and regulating services e.g. CSSIW or OFSTED.
Children's Services', Children's Social Care Services'	All these terms are used in this manual. In effect they mean the same thing. In some areas, Children's Services still exist but, in most areas they have been replaced Children's Services or Children's Social Care Services - which normally provide children's social care and education services within the local authority. By the end of 2008, Children's Trusts will be established, bringing together various other agencies such as Sure Start, the Children's Fund, Connexions, behaviour and education support teams, children and Young People's strategic partnerships, and youth offending teams.
Placement Plan and Individual Crisis Management Plan(ICMP)	The term 'Placement Plan' is the generic term meaning two plans used by Bryn Melyn: The Placement Plan, drawn up upon admission, or shortly afterward, summarising the arrangements for the care of the child; and the Individual Crisis Management Plan (ICMP).
Placement Planning Meetings	Whilst homes may have different terms for planning meetings e.g. ID Meetings, the generic term 'Placement Planning Meetings' is used in this Manual.

6. Keywords/Search

6.1 Keywords

The manual is accessed by practitioners from varying agencies, who may find terms that they are not familiar with. Therefore, a large glossary (Keywords) of terms such as Notifiable Disease (Try it: click on the highlighted text). We call them 'Keywords'. Once clicked, the definitions will appear in a new window or tab, depending on your browser. You can leave it open for reference, or close it using the "close" button at the bottom.

6.2 Search

We have provided a Search function, available from the relevant button on the left hand menu bar. This will enable you to search for Chapter/Procedure titles and sub-sections within Chapters.

It will provide the best results if you know the title of the chapter or sub section, or if you have a good idea what the title is.

You may have to try different or alternative spellings/terms before you get the result you are looking for.

7. Compliance

7.1 Regulatory Compliance

Every effort has been taken to ensure regulatory compliance. If you discover any errors or mistakes, please alert your manager or contact us – via ‘Alerts and Suggestions’.

7.2 W3C Compliance

This manual meets the double A Standards of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), for example, it can be accessed by people with high levels of visual impairment. To find out more, click on 'Display Options' on the left hand side of the screen.

8. Alerts and Suggestions

8.1 Comments and suggestions

If you have any comments or suggestions to make about this manual please contact us by using the ‘Alerts and Suggestions’ button on the left hand side of the screen, from anywhere within the manual.

8.2 Alerts

If you would like to be notified when this manual is updated, register your contact details in 'Alerts and Suggestions' - on the left hand side of the screen.

9. Copyright

The content of this manual can be accessed, printed and downloaded in an unaltered form, on a temporary basis, for personal study or reference purposes. However any content printed or downloaded may not be sold, licensed, transferred, copied or reproduced in whole or in part in any manner or in or on any media to any person without the prior written consent of Tri-X-Childcare Ltd and Bryn Melyn Care.

End