Introducing Pobl’s Experts by Experience
Have you heard the term “RI Visits” before? Perhaps you have and you’re not quite sure what it means… Basically, “RI” is short for “Responsible Individual” – at Pobl, that’s James Wadlow. James is our Director of Care and also the Responsible Individual. As part of his role as RI, he visits our Care services, making notes of his observations, so that the group can work to share best practice and make any improvements or enhancements required.
However, it came to our attention that the individuals who live at our Care services, weren’t necessarily being completely honest with James when he visited. Some individuals said that they didn’t think anyone would complain, for fear of upsetting colleagues and not everyone would tell the whole truth.
PICTURED: James Wadlow (centre) with Experts by Experience, James & Scott.
Valuable Insight
That’s where our “Experts by Experience” come in… our individuals.We’ve brought together a group of willing volunteers who, of course, all have first-hand experience of what it’s like to live at our services and can give us valuable insight into how we’re performing and how our policy and procedures impact them.
Our Experts by Experience accompany James on his visits, enabling him to get a fuller perspective on the quality of care and support being provided. The idea is that our experts will have a look around the service, think of the décor, ask individuals questions and report back on their interactions with colleagues.
Positive Involvement
As you’ll see from Scott’s video above, playing an active part in RI visits means that his voice is heard. The process is enjoyable and satisfying for him – which is clear to see. Alongside this, Scott also mentions the fact that he is involved in a Facebook group.
This is part of the Pobl Fun Finders initiative – where a group of individuals get together to plan events and activities across their services. Last year, they planned a Pobl Picnic, where a large number of individuals met up in the sunshine to enjoy a picnic together. More plans are in the pipeline, with increasing numbers of individuals looking to get involved.
Inclusive Quality Assurance
Experts by Experience is part of a bigger picture which deals with quality assurance. Our HEARTS framework of service delivery places the individual at the centre of their care by designed strengths-based, person-centred services. Our Quality Assurance Framework builds on this by ensuring that individuals have a meaningful voice in our operational and quality assurance activities.
Individuals are experts in their own experience, and can quickly identify and inform us what ‘good’ looks like for them. There are a number of ways that individuals can participate in our framework, and individuals are welcome to choose which elements they would like to be involved with.
Some of the inclusive quality assurance activities being rolled out include…
1. Engaging with our strategy and policy development and review through consultation and focus groups.
2. Participating in audits as part of our ‘experts by experience’ programme.
3. Participating in our peer survey programme.
4. Contributing to their own service improvement plan.
5. Involvement in recruitment and induction of new colleagues to Pobl.
With all of these activities on offer, we hope that more and more individuals will take up the offer of becoming Experts by Experience, offering their unique and valuable perspectives so we can enhance our services even further.
