One of the most positive services I have provided over the
last year to clients has been facilitating and enabling positive engagement
with all stakeholders involved in their service provisions.
I have witnessed on several occasions that when a provider wants
to change service provision or relate information to service users, staff or
external stakeholders, this has been done in a very traditional way with not
much open, person centred and positive engagement.
As an independent working within an organisation VCS has
found that facilitating and enabling positive engagement has be one of the
valuable assets that has been called upon during my time working with providers.
VCS has led positive several engagement processes in the
last year including:
Staff members –
during a complete environment change and change to service provision with a
residential home client, VCS led the continued engagement process with the
whole staff team. Meeting on a regular basis in group settings as well as
giving the team the opportunity to raise points/issues/ideas during one-to-one
sessions created a positive open and transparent process for the residential
organisation.
Positive outcomes
included
- A whole staff team that were kept updated of timeframes and when changes were going to be implemented
- Reduction in anxieties as the staff members felt they could raise points impartially to VCS
- Management communication links with staff members increased
- The organisation now has an external provision of engagement and feedback that is utilised within their quality assurance protocols and CQC standard requirements
Service Users –
VCS has been working with a care provider who wanted to develop a further
service provision to their existing supports. During this period of change
current service users were feeling anxious about what would happen during these
changes and how the service would look following the changes made. VCS facilitated
communication with all service users including service user forums, written
engagement and electronic communication. VCS was able therefore to engage with
all service users in their preferred method to relate on-going change
information and act as a point as the service went through its period of transitional
change. It was highlighted that service users felt it was “Great to finally be
listened too” and that “It’s really nice to know what’s going on around me”,
during this process.
Positive outcomes
included
- Service users were enabled to take full participation and lead on areas of change within their service provider’s supports
- Service users felt their anxieties were reduced due to full involvement
- Management and staff reported that due to the service user engagement process being supported by an external partner (VCS) they were able to continue conversations with the service users during their supports and then relate these back to VCS so that everyone felt supported and involved.
Stakeholders – Recently
VCS has been supporting a service which provides both residential and
domiciliary provisions to a diverse community. Working alongside them, VCS
quickly identified that although there was a high quality service being
provided the organisation lacked a clear focus of what they provided and how they
were unique in their provision to the diverse community they support. VCS has
facilitated a stakeholder’s engagement process to firstly establish how/what
stakeholders see as the organisations service provision and then how
partnership and communication can be positively developed and maintained,
moving forward.
Positive outcomes include
- Stakeholders gaining an increased understanding of what, how and why the organisation provides the supports it does across the diverse community
- More referrals from stakeholders specifically wanting the positive supports supplied by the organisation
- Positive communication lines being established between the organisation and stakeholders, leading to quality partnerships for future development of service
- Management, staff and service users within the organisation stating they have a clearer focus on what service is provided across all the areas supported within their diverse community
As demonstrated there has been great value and positive
outcomes in the various ‘Engagement’ processes VCS deliver within its quality
consultancy/coaching services.
All engagement processes supplied have been greatly received
and one provider stated;
“Having VCS as an
independent within our organisation has really afforded us the opportunity to
gather real views from everyone involved without the fear of things being said
just to agree with management changes that are happening around them. It has
really given us a great ‘Voice’ tool to use across our services…”
Registered Dementia Care Home Manager.
If following reading this blog you feel that the engagement
processes available would be of benefit for your organisation VCS would welcome
the chance to further discuss provisions.
Thank you for reading
Stephen
And remember “With
hope and belief there are no limitations”
