We strive for excellence and believe in robust evaluation and auditing
Social care is a fast changing sector and heavily regulated. This is as it should be, and our teams receive regular training to ensure they’re up to date on the latest legislation and guidance, and what that means for how they work, and how they support the individuals in our services.
We’ve always taken a person-centred approach to the support and wellbeing of the people we support. For a long time the individuals we support have been involved in helping us to enhance our services and processes. We’re continuing to build upon this approach as we implement best practice from the Care Act 2015, The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 and the Transforming Care Agenda.
We continually challenge ourselves. We don’t compromise on support and care, neither do we turn a blind eye if we see something that isn’t right. All of our colleagues receive safeguarding training on a rolling basis so that everyone benefits.
Our Quality and Compliance Team act as our own professional watchdog. Because it’s independent from our Operations Team, it can be objective, but also supportive. It undertakes regular audits of our services – some announced, some unannounced – with each service being audited at least once a year. These audits go beyond what is required of us by external regulators and standards: we push ourselves to exceed expected standards and to continually improve.
Where the Quality and Compliance Team spot an area for improvement, they work with senior operational colleagues, operational teams and the service to ensure their professional advice translates into an improvement action plan. The team then returns at a later date to check on progress and provide further support if required.
As well as our Quality and Compliance Team, we also employ a team of Quality Checkers who are experts by experience. They are all individuals living within one of our services, so are experts in the issues faced by people with learning disabilities as they have a disability themselves.
Our Quality Checkers are employed and paid by Consensus to carry out audits across all 98 of our services across the UK. They are a fundamental part of the Consensus Quality team. Through their regular discussions with people supported in our services and listening carefully to their feedback, the Quality Checkers ensure that their views are fed back to help shape improvements and initiatives that ensure every person we support has opportunity, choice and success in their life.
To operate legally, all social care services should be registered with their relevant regulatory body. All Consensus services are registered. Our English services are regulated and inspected by the Care Quality Commission, our Scottish services by the Care Inspectorate, and our Welsh services by the Care Inspectorate Wales. Our service that supports children and young people is monitored and inspected by OFSTED.
All the regulators perform regular inspections of our services to ensure they’re being run properly and the individuals in the services are receiving the care and support they need. The regulator publishes a report of what they find during their inspection, including a rating of the service. Although rating systems differ between the regulators, any service with a rating we are not satisfied with we will put together a robust action plan to make positive changes ready for re-inspection at a later date
