The members of the Board discuss issues that are of importance to individuals with a learning disability; their family and friends; as well as their carers. These issues touch on aspects such as:

• being treated with respect and dignity;
• having the same chances and responsibilities as everyone else; and
• the same rights and choices.

In 2008 the Government updated the way in which people with learning disabilities are “valued” – from the way they have been valued since 2005. The central idea of the Board is to ensure that everything that was written in this Governmental Paper is happening here in Northamptonshire; as well as including making sure that the  individuals, their family and carers, are involved in the changes and plans that will directly affect them.

The Board has a representational element from the three realms of people involved: the person with a learning disability; a family member/carer and anyone working or volunteering in the community. These people’s roles are to ensure the partnership board hears the voice of the local group and vote on decisions that have been made.

Brian Binley, Northampton’s MP, attended the February 2012 meeting held at The Richardson Mews to answer our questions and raise our issues in Parliament. The Northamptonshire Police Force were present as well.

“In my present role I find that it is very important to voice the concerns of service-users and family members that reside at our Kingsthorpe Grove Homes within this forum.” – Jackie Mann, Homes Manager and NLDP Board representative.

We arranged for all of our Homes and Specialist Support teams to be available to speak to the visitors on the day, as well as answer any questions they had.

The feedback we have received already from the attendees about The Richardson Mews remains as rewarding as ever. Hearing things like  “I can’t believe the quality of this care home” from a care manager in particular is something that really warms our hearts and reaffirms what we set out to do as a business and a caring service provider.

We invited many different people to the Open Day – including a large number of influential professionals from all areas  of the care, medical and charitable professions. We welcomed them into our home and gave them a first hand experience of what it is that we do at Richardsons. Needless to say we were pleased to have them all attend and to get their direct feedback on the work that we do as well as the quality of our facilities at The Mews.

We also presented a talk during the day (morning and afternoon)  which was entitled “Fast Flowing, Slow Stream: Rehabilitation and Psychological Therapies at RPC” – to give some further insights into our approach to rehabilitation. Look out for a blog post on this to come!

Our table top displays were laid out to give a focus on the holistic approach we offer our service users. The different displays showcased the specialist areas of Occupational Therapy, Speech and Language Therapy, Physio, Beauty Therapy, Art Therapy, as well as various other trainers from our team giving glimpses and insight into the person-centred approach we choose to take with our service users.

Not to be outdone – we also provided a musical element to the day! We had Martin-The-Music-Man play during the day, as well as Simon Moxman, our saxophone player. It provided a great backdrop to the day. We strongly believe in the power of music in the rehabilitation process and our visitors got to meet and hear our musical team first hand. We regularly have Simon and Martin play for our service users as part of the repertoire of activities which the services users are free to choose to engage in during the year.

Lastly, we would like to thank all of our staff and support teams in helping make the day such a success. We had a wonderful time talking to everyone and really enjoyed having the opportunity to showcase all the work we have put into getting The Richardson Mews’ doors open – its been a long 5 year development project that really has been one of the most rewarding and ambitious dream projects that we have ever embarked on at Richardsons.

And now…we are back doing what we do best – providing the best all-round residential care for adults with acquired brain injuries or learning difficulties.

If you didn’t manage to come and see us on our Open Day – we are more than happy to speak to you at any time or give you a personal tour whenever is convenient for you, so please do call us on 01604 791 266. For more information – please visit our website at www.careresidential.co.uk.

From a therapeutical perspective, our multi-disciplinary team have noticed some significant improvements in the service users’ rehabilitation. In particular, this is evident in how it has given them a greater feeling of worth and positive energy.

The difficulties we as individuals face trying to fit in and find positive relationships is tricky enough – the benefits of a place like The Mews is that the service user gets the independence they need without feeling isolated…knowing that they are part of a community that is positive, like minded, caring and supportive.

Rehabilitation at The Mews continues to be a truly joint effort with the usual trials and frustrations that come with such a sensitive part of the support we provide. This is made all the more positive due to the input from the wider circle of support givers such as the case managers, social workers and of course family members.

If you would like to visit The Mews, please contact us on 01604  791 266 and we would be more than happy to book a personally guided tour.

As avid Guardian readers, we were interested to read an article published on 11 Nov 2011 about a recent ruling on a court case  between two disabled people who won a case they brought against the Isle of Wight coucil which planned to reduce its adult social care budget.(The article is here if you would like to read it.)

We are finding that the current global economic downturn has highlighted the ever difficult conflict between financial pressures of those buying care (the purchasers) and the level of quality care provision.  Much like many other providers, we are frequently asked to justify or quantify our fees in detail for the purchaser.

We understand that this is process which helps the purchaser make their decision on using Richardson Partnership for Care which is a valuable and necessary process for them (especially in this climate). As a management team we have been more than happy to highlight the elements which make our homes the homes of choice for families struggling to manage their family members who are rehabilitating from an acquired brain injury or have a learning difficulty. What we can not negotiate on…is our price. As a family business with values steeped in providing the kind of care that allows a service user to live the life they want to (not forced to) and achieve their own personal goals – this is one point we will not negotiate on.

If we did diminish the level of investment needed to retain our level of care – this would mean that resources are being used in a tighter manner which has some benefits, however the biggest pitfall is that potentially our service users’ needs will be overlooked. As a business with a mission to attend to the social, health and life needs of our service users – this really sticks in our throats and consequently is something we avoid completely.

In a time of massive professional accountability it must be very difficult for purchasers to balance the costs of care versus the “needs” battle.  In the same breath, we are not afraid of justifying where our fees are being spent and we continue to give a valuable professional service to our service users and their families.  As registered and regulated care providers we also ensure that our homes abide by the Health and Social Care Act 2008, Health and Safety and other relevant legislation and doing this on a budget is difficult…so we welcome hearing that care budgets are not going to easily be dropped as this is a positive for all within the care sector.

It has to be said though…it is a shame that money has to be wasted on taking these issues to court! We’d love to hear any of your thoughts on the subject or any experiences you have had with your local council on this subject.