Our long-term community neuro-rehabilitation service at 144 Boughton Green Road has been re-accredited as an Approved Provider by Headway. The specialist service for 14 males with acquired brain injury and complex needs was deemed ‘Outstanding’ in two categories and ‘Good’ in the remaining four categories, achieving an overall grade of ‘Good’.

The categories and grades are as follows:

• Governance, leadership and management & quality: Outstanding
• Workforce development: Outstanding
• Culture: Good
• Systems & Processes: Good
• Service Delivery: Good
• Environment: Good

Good governance

Headway’s criteria for assessing governance is that: “Good governance is at the core of service provision to ensure that the highest quality care is provided to service users and their families. All staff should be aware of their responsibilities in relation to this. Transparency and accountability are evident at every level within the organisation. Effective quality assurance and monitoring systems are in place to measure success in achieving the aims, objectives and philosophy of the service.”

Headway concluded that all standards were fully met in this category, commending our service “on its high standards” and strongly recommending that we maintain our “exceptional practices.”

We were also highly commended on our workforce development practices, which ensure that staff receive ongoing relevant support, training and supervision so that they can carry out their roles effectively. This also leads to recruitment of qualified staff and high staff retention levels, enabling continuity for service users.

Clear service philosophy

Headway concluded that Richardson Care has an identified service purpose/philosophy that is clear, understood by staff, service users, family/carers and visitors and to which staff adhere. Headway added that the philosophy of the service is evident in the working practices of the team and clearly underpins our six core values: community presence, choice, dignity and respect, community participation, competence, and a positive environment.

The report stated that: “These values were at the forefront of discussions with the two established staff members spoken with, both of whom emphasised the importance of having a choice about how [service users] would like to spend their days and acknowledged the crucial role of maintaining dignity and respect in all interactions.”

Family support/ provision

During the Headway assessment we demonstrated the ability to provide appropriate facilities to enable our service users to meet with their family, carers or visitors in a safe and appropriate environment. We also support service users to maintain contact with their family wherever they live. We achieve this by facilitating FaceTime calls, organising family visits, and meeting families who live further away or are elderly. We support service users to make regular visits to family homes – including overseas.

As no family members were visiting at the time of the assessment, Headway assessors spoke to the relative of a service user on the phone. They reported: “[The relative] had nothing but praise for the care their son received at 144 Boughton Green Road, stating care was ‘excellent and wonderful’ and received ‘full marks’ from them. They had no complaints, nor anything they wanted to improve. They stated that Management and all staff were responsive to any concerns raised, and were particularly impressed with the amount of activities on offer saying [their son] was always busy.”

Spiritual, cultural, social and sexual identity

The Headway assessors considered that staff recognise, value and show appreciation of the differing backgrounds and needs of service users; this was evidenced in care plans, observation during the visit and discussions with staff and service users.

The report added: “The service clearly fosters and celebrates the individuality of each service user. This is evident in the personalised approach taken during activities.”

It went on to describe some of the “vast array of activities and outings” that are available to service users. These are planned at the beginning of each month during the house meetings and prompted by looking through a folder with pictures of places to visit, etc. Some of the activities include:

• Fortnightly indoor bowls sessions at The Richardson Mews – this has brought out the competitive nature in some of the guys with the team from Boughton Green Road also making t-shirts with slogans on to ignite team spirit. Headway assessors felt that this highlighted how staff expand on interests by creating further opportunities to participate in meaningful activities.
• Three service users volunteer at Spencer Contact twice a week where they work alongside members of the public repairing/restoring and cleaning old furniture, etc. They are also involved in the twice annual sale to the public.
• One service user attends an animal care/grooming session weekly as he grew up with horses and this provides him with a sense of calm.
• Theatre and pantomime trips
• Music classes
• Lively daily quizzes
• One service user attends Northamptonshire Association for the Blind (NAB)
• Whole house trips to the local pub
• Bingo
• Karaoke
• Visits to museums and exhibitions, such as the National Space Centre in Leicestershire
• Attending local Headway

We would like to thank everyone for their time during the Headway assessment. To find out more about the Headway Approved Provider scheme go to: https://www.headway.org.uk/about-brain-injury/professionals/approved-provider-scheme/