During the challenging times of COVID-19 we have been committed to helping keep the people who live in our services safe, as well as supporting people with learning disability, autism and complex needs to come and live in our services. Our Referrals Team have continued to work in partnership with commissioning authorities to assess new referrals and plan a safe and successful transition into a Consensus service.

Whilst many restrictions for the general public and to an extent in health and social care have now eased, we are still continuing to be cautious to that people can transition into our services as smoothly and safely as possible.

During the pandemic we adapted our referrals and placement process to ensure everyone’s safety and where at each stage of the process we considered the individual’s unique needs and what would work best for them. This included carrying out virtual assessments and virtual tours instead of these being in-person which proved in a lot of cases very effective. Our overriding ethos is still to ensure that the individual will be compatible with others living in the service and the service will be 100% right for them.

We can now consider the option of in-person assessments and visits to services OR this can be done virtually if this is the preference and is more suitable for the individual and their family members. This would also be the case if there had been an outbreak of COVID-19 in any service of interest.

Contact us by phone 0808 223 5320 or email referrals@consensussupport.com or through our website contact forms which you can find here. Our Referrals team is the first point of contact for families, individuals, local authority and healthcare professionals who wish to make an enquiry or referral into a Consensus service. The Referrals team collate all the relevant information to assess whether we can meet the needs of the individual being referred and where they are compatible with the people already supported in a particular service.

Assessments are likely to be most effective when they take place face to face. The assessment process requires the coming together of the individual who is being referred, their family, a member of our Referrals team, the manager of the service and often requires involvement from the commissioning authority, local community disability team and mental health team to name a few. These can also take place virtually if this is the preference.

For most commissioning authorities and for the individual and their families, visiting the service in person is essential to being able to make a final decision. Our policy for visiting our services in person is still monitored on-going, although all visitors to the service must be LFT tested with a negative result. In some instances, an individual may not be able to tolerate a test, in which case, we look to implement alternative safety protocols to facilitate the visit. In the event of an outbreak in a service, visiting would be restricted.

If an in-person visit to the service is not possible, an alternative is a live visual tour of the service. Led by the service manager, our live tours provide an opportunity for everyone to ‘view’ the prospective accommodation; both the individualised living space available and the setting as a whole and ask any immediate questions.

Transitioning into a service is vital to allow the individual to experience life in the service and meet the support team and other people living there to ensure there is compatibility and they will be happy there. This could be a series of short visits or an overnight stay. Prior to these visits individuals and any person supporting them during visits must be LFT tested with a negative result. If there has been an outbreak of COVID-19 in the service these visits are likely to be restricted. In some instances, an individual may not be able to tolerate a test, so we would look to implement alternative safety protocols to facilitate the transition.

We want to ensure for people moving into a service it is a positive and happy experience. If there have been any changes within a service since an assessment or transition visit, for example an outbreak of COVID-19, move in dates will be considered carefully and discussed with all parties involved.

To view the latest guidance, news and updates from the Government please go here >

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