Training is key to enhancing lives and happier care staff

Lives of young people with complex difficulties are being enhanced at an "outstanding" residential care home.

And CQC watchdogs who have given the top rating to OneNineFive in Burton-on-Trent have singled out staff training by NAPPI uk for special mention in the success story.

The home deals with people, aged around 18-25 with issues including autism, learning disabilities and mental health problems whose behaviour can be challenging.

But techniques, taught through NAPPI training to more than 50 staff, to identify triggers and diffuse situations before they arise, are making a big difference to the lives of service-users and carers alike.

And the home, which has risen from a good ranking at its previous inspection, is being used as a role model shining example for other services.

Manager of the OneNineFive home, Jamie Thomas, said: "We are a transitional home helping our residents gain skills to improve their quality of life".

"Some go on to voluntary work, further education and independent living. One young person who initially needed support staff in our home went to college unsupervised which was a phenomenal achievement" said Mr Thomas.

NAPPI's PBS Cloud-based online portal for client data was also enabling staff - and visiting clinicians and therapists - to access and analyse patterns of behaviour more quickly than previous paper-based systems. It helped identify triggers for challenging behaviour and providing the right support.

Training to Level 3, the Cloud system, and an emphasis on rewarding positive behaviour were all contributing towards a reduction of restrictive practices.

"We had one young lady who went into crisis, rising from 7 to 47 incidents a month, who needed to be restrained and potentially needed moving to a secure unit. But through good support, dealing with her triggers, giving her symbol cards to show rather than hitting out and rewarding positive behaviour - such as a small gift for putting her pots in the washing up bowl - we saw a reduction to just one incident in two months" said Mr Thomas.

"It also means we have a happier, healthier staff team and low staff turnover" said Mr Thomas.

OneNineFive is run by the SENAD Group, which is a NAPPI uk Centre of Excellence and has 40 NAPPI trainers group-wide.

The Group Health and Safety Manager, Martin Bradder said: "NAPPI UK's support for OneNineFive and the rest of our Homes has been excellent. They have always been there to support us in our work with very challenging young people."

It also showed Senad placed the needs of service users at the forefront of its approach.

Mr Bradder added: "Jamie is an excellent example of with the benefit of the NAPPI Train the Trainer programme the skills gained gives them the foundation for our potential and existing Managers to develop into the Leaders of the future."

NAPPI uk operations director Scott Edwards said: "The team at OneNineFive and others using PBS Cloud across the SENAD Group have demonstrated the highest level of determination to learn from even the finest details recorded."

"Having identified trends and patterns, and learning from particular outcomes, they strive to enhance the quality of life for each individual supported. The team at NAPPI uk are incredibly proud to be a part of this greater success. A well-deserved outstanding CQC rating for sure."



Bullet points from the CQC report include:


See the full CQC Report here.