As Service Quality Director for The Camden Society I am responsible for speaking to the people that we support. I do this through home visits but also through our Being Heard events. Being Heard events are where we get together with the people we support and they are able to speak to us. It’s to try and gather people’s views and opinions on the support in a safe and friendly space amongst their peers. That’s the idea behind it. My Executive Assistant, Jay Patel, puts in lots of work to organise them:
I check with local community support leaders and team coordinators prior to doing anything and getting their feedback is invaluable what dates and times would suit them. Check around the area for what is accessible. Then I go through contacting each venue and book them for the dates that have been agreed then we get the invoices and work with the communications team to develop publicity and send that publicity out once it’s been created.
The ones we’ve been holding recently have been good, in areas like Oxford we’ve had brilliant turnout. We are promoting the importance of managers and senior executives getting more involved in the community and letting us know what the people they support want to do. This enables us to ensure that we are building an organisation that puts people first and utilises our experts to ensure we are delivering the most appropriate events and support, and helping people to live their best lives.
Building this culture is a vital part of the Thera philosophy. As a Service Quality Director I am responsible for monitoring the support we provide. I am also part of the management structure and provide strategic input into the direction The Camden Society takes. Helping staff, parents and carers, and the people we support to understand the benefits of this and why it is important to work in this way is vital to us creating a more open and supportive community where people have a direct line to senior leadership and can discuss their support in a safe space. We look forward to welcoming more people to our future Being Heard events and hearing their views and opinions.
To learn more about The Camden Society, visit: www.camdensociety.co.uk