Self harm services Bisley Lodge and Newcombe Lodge Seeing the young person behind the behaviour
Welcome to Bisley Lodge and Newcombe Lodge We are two separate homes, operating as a single service providing a pathway of therapeutic residential care and education for young women aged 13-21. These young women typically self harm, have attachment difficulties, associated multiple risk-taking behaviours and complex presentations. Who are our services for? The young women we care for may have chaotic backgrounds, have experienced family breakdown and have been in the looked-after system, in foster or psychiatric placements or secure settings. Our services at a glance We offer medium to long-term stabilising solutions for people whose previous placements may have repeatedly broken down. We also provide emergency and respite placements, and transition pathways for young people approaching adulthood. We are an alternative to, or step down from, psychiatric intensive care units or secure care. Our tailored psycho-social programmes incorporate a range of therapeutic interventions, occupational therapy and sensory integration. Education is personalised and takes place in a dedicated and high quality Ofsted-registered school. New placements and very complex presentations receive an intensive programme in a dedicated setting. Our initial standard staff to client ratios are at least 1:1. View the Corporate Induction DVD. Familiarise yourself with your IT equipment and telephone, mobile or blackberry. Sign a copy of the IT policy. Contact the IT helpdesk if you have any questions with your equipment. Read the latest edition of ONE magazine our quarterly magazine for the whole of Care UK. Familiarise yourself with our intranet. Ensure you read key HR policies; Equality, Dignity at Work, Whistleblowing, Data Protection Act, Absence and our Disciplinary Policy. Review organisational structure charts for the company also available on our intranet to begin understanding roles within each division. Read and understand the clinical governance policies relevant to your role (if applicable). Complete all mandatory training for your role (to be discussed with your line manager). Familiarise yourself with the expenses policy and claim process. Try to meet key contacts from your own division plus group central services and other divisions within your first few weeks.
About our service An outstanding educational unit in which young people receive individualised support that successfully meets their individual learning targets and enhances their life prospects. Ofsted Bisley Lodge and Newcombe Lodge are CQC-registered homes that operate as a single seamless service in order to provide a pathway of therapeutic care and education. We provide 12 residential placements across the two homes, which are located a short distance from each other in a quiet location in Stroud, Gloucestershire. The young women we care for also undertake a personalised educational curriculum at a dedicated school, Althea Park Education Unit. Our homely environments are respectful of the young women s needs and enable them to play an active part in the home and their care. Although aspects of each environment include enhanced safety features, they provide an attractive and nurturing atmosphere. The houses and school are close to Stroud, giving the young people we care for a range of opportunities to play an active role in the community and to start rebuilding their lives in the wider world. The service is pioneering good practice in the field of rehabilitation for young people with a prolonged history of frequent, and often extreme, selfinjurious behaviour. Ofsted
Why choose us? We see the young person behind the behaviour Effective interventions throughout Education and learning is integral A unique therapeutic model A specialist multi-skilled team Building motivation for change We offer young people who have experienced trauma and attachment issues our unconditional positive regard. We have particular expertise in severe self injurious behaviour and work with young people within the parameters of a robust behaviour management plan. Our way of working achieves stability after years of placement breakdown. From emergency admissions to preparation for independent living, we have the ability to offer tailored modes of intervention based on the level of need. We can respond rapidly, whether for respite or an emergency admission, and our two homes give young people the opportunity to progress along a pathway that emphasises their ability and potential. Althea Park Education Unit has been rated outstanding by Ofsted and often makes the difference in maintaining a young person s placement. The unit s ethos of respect and support provides an environment that the young people appreciate is different, where they can study subjects that interest them. The school routinely breaks trends of poor educational attainment for young people in care. Our core therapeutic model underpins everything we do and was developed by our senior staff team alongside psychotherapists. The model places strong emphasis on understanding how the therapeutic environment is created and developed. The care, structures, boundaries, routines and responses are the same, whichever team members are on shift, creating an environment where a young person can learn to trust the reliability of care. From here therapeutic change can follow, supported and enhanced by our pathway. Our team includes a nurse manager, psychotherapist, senior practitioners (RMNs), senior therapeutic care workers and therapeutic care workers (each of whom is qualified to NVQ level 3 or equivalent). Our people receive high levels of training and supervision on an ongoing basis and we provide one home adult to each young person, as standard. Sensory integration is rooted in the development of the brain and has a strong evidence base. All young people who join us will have a sensory integration assessment and prescribed programme. In our onsite sensory room they can begin to learn how stimuli and activity can be used to regulate emotions. Our occupational therapists work with each young person to develop this further, recognising points of distress in everyday life and then developing healthy coping strategies. By applying this through meaningful activities, each person s motivation for a healthy and positive lifestyle is increased.
Our pathway Our pathway 1. Care Bisley Lodge: Bisley Lodge offers four residential places where young women are admitted for intensive support and care. Through working with the team, they learn to manage their difficulties more effectively before progressing to an environment which will further stretch their development and independence. Newcombe Lodge: This residential home offers eight places in which young people can continue their journey to independence, gaining further skills and coping mechanisms to combat the challenges they face. Newcombe Lodge includes a self-contained flat to support the transition to independent living. This enables us to provide graded levels of semi-independent living for young women nearing the end of their placement. Both the main house and the self-contained flat are available for direct admissions if appropriate. A short, stabilising break at Bisley Lodge is always an option for anyone at Newcombe Lodge if they need it, in order to prevent placement breakdown. 2. Education Assessment Within 72 hours of referral, at the current placement. Althea Park Education Unit: This is a small, Ofsted-registered school which serves young people at the two homes, as well as Althea Park House, a residential eating disorders service for young people. The unit offers each student the opportunity to maximise their educational potential, recognising the need to broaden their general knowledge, awareness of current affairs, practical skills and sociability. While accepting that a student s needs may affect their academic performance, we recognise the Preliminary visit When a referral is accepted, the young person visits the unit, to meet the care and education teams and the other young people. importance of ensuring that their experience is as similar as possible to mainstream school, especially in terms of opportunities and expectations of behaviour and achievement. The curriculum offered at the unit is solely based on the individual needs of the students, who study subjects at the appropriate level irrespective of age. Previous students have consistently achieved grades A* to C at GCSE level, and A to C at AS/A level, in a wide range of subjects. Integration An integration plan is drawn up around the particular needs of a young person. A typical plan might be: Week 1: Day visit Week 2: Overnight stay Week 3: Weekend stay Week 4: 3 night stay Week 5: Admission Admission to appropriate home Dependent on assessed risk, interpersonal functioning and the previous placement, a young person will be admitted to Bisley Lodge or Newcombe Lodge. Bisley Lodge With 1:1 support as standard, young people start to learn to manage their difficulties more effectively and get ready to progress to an environment which will further stretch their development and independence. Weekly reviews will ascertain readiness for move on. Establishing an individual programme During the first 3 months of an admission we work with each young person on: An occupational therapy and sensory integration assessment building therapeutic engagement Developing a personal education plan The first CPA or LAC review will take place during this period. Newcombe Lodge Provides high levels of care and support and engagement with the therapeutic process to progress the journey towards independence, including a semi-independent transition flat, gaining further skills and coping mechanisms with which to combat day to day challenge. Client journey The young person s individual plans and treatment programme will be followed with flexibility to vary the level of support, as determined by regular review, in order to maintain placement stability: The pathway allows: A move from Bisley Lodge to Newcombe Lodge when less intensive support is required A move to the transitional living flat in Newcombe Lodge when moving towards greater independence A short period of stabilisation and more intensive support at Bisley Lodge, if required by a young person at Newcombe Lodge.
I really recommend Newcombe Lodge, for people with similar issues as mine. Not only do you get good approaches to care but you also get a loving home. Everyone deserves a chance to prove that they can fight this. Client How do we work? We have a single management and therapeutic team working across Bisley Lodge and Newcombe Lodge and using the same model. This enables us to ensure that every young person experiences stability and continuity throughout their placement with us. The school team works separately but collaboratively with the homes to allow the young people to successfully re-engage with education so that they leave school physically, socially and psychologically able to take their place in wider society. Our approach provides the initial containment and safety that someone new to the service needs before they progress seamlessly along a care pathway focused on helping them to develop their independence and potential. We support young people to reclaim their childhood and adolescence, develop self-esteem, re-integrate into mainstream community activities, and start a positive journey into adulthood. We encourage them to participate fully in their care and development.
Case study Molly s story* I have been in and out of mental health services since the age of 12 in placements that included foster families, children s homes and mental health hospitals. Most of these were unable to give me the level of care I needed. My longest foster placement lasted 5 months and my longest time as an inpatient was 1½ years. Newcombe Lodge has been my longest, most successful placement. My occupational therapist has helped me to discover different coping strategies that work for me and ways to control my anger. For example, staff knew how to bring me out of flashbacks quickly and safely. They would know what things, like a teddy bear or smells, would help me to recognise where I was. Newcombe Lodge has taught me a lot of skills and confidence that I never believed I could have. I now know how to cope in stressful situations and how to deal with my anger correctly and calmly. I know how to recognise when I am in a risky situation and when I should get straight out of it. I have learnt how to ask for help, even if I m ashamed to. I have learnt to put a lot of trust in staff and gained trust back from them. I ve learnt how to cook my own food and to budget my money. Moving into the Newcombe Lodge flat for the last few months of my placement meant I could put everything into practice but still know help was there if I needed it. Now I m ready to leave I feel very confident about my future. Newcombe Lodge gave me the chance to gain my GCSEs to go onto college and do what I want to do in the future - studying health and social care. I still find life difficult sometimes but with Newcombe Lodge s support and encouragement I feel more confident about everything. Client Without the constant care and support offered here, I would have never been able to go so far in my recovery in this short amount of time. My therapist has helped me to understand the causes of my illness and ways to stop my past affecting me. *not her real name
Meet the manager Frequently asked questions Alison Hudson I m responsible for the management and clinical overview of Newcombe Lodge and Bisley Lodge, including the staff team of 45 people. My role allows me to manage the care of young people directly through informal interactions, reviews and meetings and indirectly through supporting the staff, and liaising with other health and social care professionals. I qualified as a general nurse in 2000, subsequently adding mental health and learning disability to my qualifications. I spent some time in a general hospital but realised my passion lay in mental health and more specifically self harm. I went on to work in a juvenile prison, building my skills and knowledge in this area, before joining Care UK in 2008. My role managing a single team working across two homes enables me to think creatively around the clinical management of each young person, and to support and guide the staff team to put this into practice. I also meet with the young people in order to understand their view of the world and how we can support them in changing aspects of this. Who can refer? Whilst the majority of referrals are made by health and social care professionals, self referral can be considered How is the service funded? Our clients are typically funded by their local authority or the NHS Where are the homes and the unit located? Bisley Lodge and Newcombe Lodge are in rural locations close to Stroud, Gloucestershire. Althea Park Education Unit is a short drive from the homes. Our head office is also in Stroud.
Contact us Email: alison.hudson@careuk.com Telephone: 01453 882 020 careuk.com/self-harm