Striving for Excellence

It is made up of the following:

• A series of seminars for key staff and people using services to promote a more personalised and inclusive approach
• A shared sense of what excellent services could look like, captured in an Excellence Framework
• Learning exchange visits between members which lead to individual action plans for each service.

Below you can access stories of how services are striving for excellence that capture and share ideas for service improvement.

(Please note: NDTi was commissioned to deliver a staff development programme promoting a more personalised and inclusive approach for those living and working in locked rehabilitation services in the English East Midlands. While the current inspection routine has a focus on risk prevention, our work in this project is to focus on sharing positive practice and innovation. The framework, stories and case studies have arisen from members of the Striving for Excellence programme and NDTi has not independently verified what we have been told. The overall purpose is to stimulate reflection and celebration for every step forward, whether large or small.)

We have created a reflection tool that poses questions for you to think about when reading through the stories below. You can download the reflection tool here.

Getting to know the person:

• Respond to ambitions
• Support carers
• Write in the first person
• Write a biography
• Co-design the Spectrum Star outcomes measure
• Individualised behaviour rating scale
• Consult people

Design and architecture:

• Individual apartments
• Personalised apartment
• Personalise my bathroom
• Decor and furnishings in communal areas
• Perimeter security

Staff role and development:

• Choose staff
• Team around the person
• Staff in role as a patient for a day
• Explore diversity

Therapeutic environment:

• Get used to new things
• Create a DBT culture
• Share therapeutic meals
• Design the therapeutic programme
• Spend time alone on the unit

Valued roles:

• Accredited education on site
• Volunteer onsite
• Get a paid job in the service
• Access the internet
• Take decisions together
• Attend the Board

A life in the community:

• Map the community
• Build a positive reputation in the local community
• Build capacity in mainstream health services
• Walk the dog
• Attend college
• Live in two places