CHOICE CHECKERS REACH REVIEW

Presented By:

Alison MillsAmber Support

Services

Marisa Murphy & Greg Mann

Choice Checkers

What is a REACH Review?• Reach is one of the most significant publications in recent times concerned

with Supported Living Services for people with learning disabilities and has a nationwide focus. The REACH standards were founded by Paradigm

• The Worcestershire REACH Review was established in October 2007 and the Worcestershire REACH review concluded in May 2009 after completing sixty individual REACH reviews across sixteen different support providers.

• The team learnt a lot from the Reach reviews. Since then the team has been renamed the Choice Checkers. Our work now involves whole support provider service reviews

• It is where tenants, service providers and other professionals get together to talk about what happens in their service and what needs to change

Choice Checkers Review

• The Learning Disability Service and Supporting People Team want to know if people using Supported Living Services are:

• Getting good support• Like where they are living• Like who they live with• Enjoy their lives

• The 11 Standards, called REACH Standards, are used as a bench mark for the Service Provider

REACH Standards• I choose who I live with

• I choose where I live

• I have my own home

• I choose how I am supported

• I choose who supports me

• I get good support

• I choose my friends and my relationships

• I choose how to be healthy and safe

• I choose how to take part in my community

• I have the same rights and responsibilities as other citizens

• I get help to make changes in my life

What did Choice Checkers do?

They needed information from:

• People who use support services

• Friends and relatives of people who use support services

• People who provide support services

• Other people involved in the lives of people who use support services for example advocates, social workers

The Review Process• To begin with Amber Support Services completed a self assessment

detailing how they felt their service met the 11 REACH Standards

• The Choice Checkers worked in pairs and met with the tenants, friends, relatives and other people, to ask questions using the Standards

• The Choice Checkers, with the tenants agreement, looked around their home to get an idea of where they live and looked through all relevant paperwork - all on a confidential basis. Tenants were in control the whole time and could show what they wished.

• Tenants were able to show practical things that they did, for example involvement in their community, at home baking, gardening etc so the Choice Checkers were really able to understand what happens on a daily basis in the tenants lives.

After the Review

A report of the findings was put together showing:

• What was good• What was not so good• What could make things better against each of

the 11 standards• Observations – things that the team saw

Moving Forward

• The service provider was encouraged to share the findings of the report with the tenants and all relevant parties

• Our report was made available to the joint commissioning unit.

• All learning disability supported living services commissioned by Worcestershire County Council now need to use the REACH Standards to ensure they are delivering a quality service.

Further Information

• Worcestershire County Council Website www.worcestershire.gov.uk under Health and Social Care, Disabilities, Reach Review

• Telephone Laura Westwood on 01905 728826 or email lwestwood2@worcestershire.gov.uk

Amber Support Services

• Amber Support Services was awarded a ‘Good’ by the Choice Checker team as all 11 REACH standards were met

• As a Support Provider we are extremely proud of our tenants and Support Teams for all their hard work

• We are pleased to show you two small clips of two of the tenants who were involved in the REACH review process in October 2009

Contact Details

• If you wish to make contact with Amber Support Services please call 01527 873426

• E-mail: info@amber-centre.co.uk

• Website: www.amber-centre.co.uk

• Please feel free to call for help anytime