National care standards - care homes for people with physical and sensory impairment

7-11 Settling in

7 Moving in
8 Making choices
9 Feeling safe and secure
10 Exercising your rights
11 Expressing your views

Settling in

Introduction to standards 7 to 11

Moving in

People take time to settle into a new home, particularly if the move is going to be long term. You can expect that the manager and staff will be sensitive to your feelings and worries during this period. They will respect your right to make choices about how your accommodation is provided, and how your support and care needs are met.

Making choices - feeling safe and secure

You have the right to make decisions about your life and care in the home, and you can feel safe and secure while living there. You also have the right to choose the risks you want to take, as long as there is a sensible balance between your individual needs and preferences, and the safety of staff and other people living there.

For a few people, however, individual circumstances will limit this opportunity. If you lack the capacity to make a decision, you will come under the provisions of The Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000. Where relevant, you may be safeguarded by the provisions of The Mental Health (Scotland) Act 1984.

Exercising your rights - expressing your views

The staff and manager must always respect and actively promote your rights as a citizen. You keep your rights and you also have a responsibility not to infringe the rights of others. The care home must take your comments, concerns and complaints about the quality of the service and your experience of it seriously. They are your way of contributing to and influencing how the home is run and how the services are delivered.

You have the right to speak for yourself and people may only speak on your behalf with your agreement. This includes your relatives and friends, volunteers, service providers, and social work and health professionals. Everyone may have an opinion, but only you really know what you want and the views of others should never be represented as your own.

Sometimes, people need help in making informed choices or in expressing their views. You may wish to appoint an advocate to help you do this.
An advocate can be informal - for instance a relative or a friend - or can be a formal service provided by an advocacy organisation. Either way, it is important that everyone involved understands when someone is speaking on your behalf or whether they are expressing a personal or a professional view.

Moving in

Standard 7

You are welcomed by staff, and they encourage and support you, helping you through the stages of moving in.

1 You have a named member of staff (key worker), who will draw up your personal plan with you, check its progress and stay in regular contact with you and everyone involved in its review.

2 You can discuss your needs at all reasonable times with your key worker.

3 If you are not certain about whether you are making the right move, or if you change your mind about moving in, you will not be made to feel uncomfortable about this and will be able to speak to the staff or your independent representative who will help you with your final decision.

Making choices

Standard 8

You have the right to make decisions and choices about your life and the support and care you receive.

1 You are able to achieve the aims you have set out in your personal plan with the help of skilled staff where this is necessary.

2 You can decide how much control you want over your involvement in reviews and other meetings about your welfare.

3 You have information about the choices that are available to you while you live in the home, and the effect they will have on you. If you want, you can ask for an independent representative, or a peer advocate or for specialist advice to help you act on your choice.

4 You have time to consider your choices without pressure.

5 You can be assisted by staff to get expert advice on welfare rights to help you increase the resources available to you and which you need to help you carry out your choices.

6 You can employ your own worker or personal assistant as well as using staff who are employed in the home.

7 Unless there are legal reasons for you not to do so, you can carry out your own financial, legal and other business at a time that suits you. You can decide who should know about these matters and who should have access to them.

8 You can keep and control your money and your personal belongings, unless your individual circumstances mean that specific legal arrangements have been made.

9 As an individual and as a member of the group of people living in the home, you can take part in managing the home. This may include contributing to:

• the daily running of the care home;
• recruiting and selecting staff;
• choosing supplies and suppliers;
• planning activities;
• monitoring the quality of care; and
• developing plans for the care home.

10 The manager and staff will tell you if there is anything you cannot take part in, and discuss the reasons with you.

Feeling safe and secure

Standard 9

You take responsibility for your own actions, secure in the knowledge that the home has proper systems in place to protect your interests.

1 A sensible balance is offered to you in everyday events and activities, between the reasonable risks you want to take and the safety of the staff and other residents. This results from the home's individual risk assessment approach.

2 You are fully involved in any formal risk assessment about you, as are any other people you may want to be involved, such as a family member or independent representative. You will receive a copy of your risk assessment report.

3 You can discuss risks with staff and as a result have a clear understanding of how your choice will affect you and others, and take responsibility for your actions.

4 Staff record and investigate any accidents or incidents, including any episodes of restraint, telling those relatives, carers or your individual representative identified in your personal plan unless you don't want them to be told.

5 You are confident that you are living in an environment that is free from bullying, harassment or any other form of abuse.

6 You can contact someone quickly and easily when you need help or in an emergency, using a reliable and efficient alarm system.

7 You are reassured about your safety from intruders by knowing that the home has a system where all visitors need permission before they can come in.

8 You are confident that any disagreement you have about the way in which your support or care is provided will be recorded in your personal plan.

9 You are told by staff about the need for insuring your personal belongings.

Exercising your rights and responsibilities

Standard 10

You keep your rights as an individual.

1 You are confident that staff treat you politely at all times and always respect your individuality.

2 Staff call you by your preferred name or title at all times.

3 If you need help your request will be dealt with politely and as soon as possible.

4 Confidential information about you is only shared with others if you give permission, unless the law requires otherwise.

5 You have free access to any records of your personal information which are held in the home and can have recorded your disagreement of any information written about you in such records.

6 If for any reason, for instance where specific legal provisions apply, you do not have free access to your records or if they cannot be kept confidential, you will be told why this is and who does have the right to look at them.

7 You can see for yourself that records are kept confidential and access to them will only be permitted in controlled circumstances.

8 You are supported in using your civil rights (for example, in voting at elections).

Expressing your views

Standard 11

You can express your views on any aspects of the care home at any time.

1 You can freely discuss any concerns you have with your named worker, other residents or any member of the care home's management, including external management.

2 You know how to make a complaint or comment to the home about the service. You are also aware of the procedure for making formal complaints directly to the Care Commission.

3 The home deals with concerns and complaints quickly and sympathetically, and provides full information about what will happen as a result of the complaint.

4 You are supported and represented if you have a disagreement with another individual, including a member of staff. If you wish to have other people to help you express your views, staff will have information about any independent and confidential advocacy service that would help you in this way and will encourage and support you to use it.

5 If you have an advocate, staff will listen to what he or she has to say on your behalf, as if you were expressing the views yourself.

6 If you belong to an advocacy group, staff will take seriously suggestions or proposals that come from the group.

7 You can play a part in the Care Commission's inspection of your service.

8 The manager of your care home will make available a copy of each inspection report about the home so that you and your representative can look through it in your own time.