Response to the Adult & Community Support Services Quality Audit – June 2007

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Thank you to everyone who took the time to complete the quality assurance questionnaire.

Click here to return to the ACSS Quality Audit 2007.

The re-building has been unsettling and has caused disruption in the way some services are offered; however it was considered that it was better to maintain a service off site, than to close for the duration of the building works. We appreciate that, for some people, the additional travelling has been difficult and some journeys longer, this was unavoidable for us to be able to continue the service. We offered all members attending the Resource Centre the opportunity to attend taster sessions at the new venues in advance of our move. Hopefully the new building will provide a much better environment and enhance our ability to offer more services.

Members and other disabled people have been widely consulted for a number of years on the types of services people would like to see within the new building and we continue to have planning meetings with external organisations to discuss the best use for the new building, which is called ‘Rendezvous’, a name chosen in consultation with everybody.

The plans for the new model of service will include some evening and weekend programmes eg complimentary therapies, at this time we are unable to say when this will start.

There have been times when we have had to change the service provision eg closure of hydrotherapy pool and Church requirements when we had to arrange outings in place of our normal programme, which some people have chosen not to attend.

We have added the following to our normal programme: photography course, building skills and managing choice course, gardening group, ready steady cook sessions and a number of trips including the London Eye.

There has been some disruption in the IT service during the building works, but we have been able to offer a reduced number of courses from Woking Resource Disability Centre, Staines Library and the Egham Literacy Institute. We have also been able to offer IT sessions using the laptops to members attending the Pyrford and New Haw sites, however, we are sorry that, due to having to carry equipment around, we have not been able to offer the wide range of adaptable equipment and number of computers normally available.

Staff and volunteers undergo induction and mandatory trainings and other trainings specific to role and interest. From 2008 we are introducing an annual training week which will take place during the Easter closure. We are very pleased that the vast majority of people consider the staff team to be excellent and we will continue to ensure we have a high performing team.

The website, www.whitelodgecentre.co.uk is regularly updated and is currently showing the progress of the new building. In addition it includes information about courses available and a menu of services.

The rebuilding programme is currently on target for completion in June. We will keep you updated on its progress and, if you would like a site visit before June, please contact Di or Jackie.

Given the current circumstances, we are pleased to see the comments which highlight the specific areas where people feel they have improved and the general feeling that we have maintained a reasonably good service.

In view of the low level of response to this quality audit, we will look at enhancing other ways in which you can give us information in the future.

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