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Our Clinical Support Team
In addition to our highly trained support teams, we also have a specialist in-house Clinical Support Team
Delivering person-centred, holistic care
The Clinical Support Team is a team of specialists from different disciplines, who work closely together to deliver additional support and expertise to the people we support at Precious.
By having an in-house team, we bring together professionals and practitioners from across different sectors to deliver person-centred, holistic care which focuses on the needs of the individual. With no need to apply and wait for support from external teams, we can provide this specialist support quickly and efficiently.
Introducing the Clinical Support Team
The Clinical Support Team works in conjunction with our wider support teams, including internal Training, Quality and Risk Management and Operational Teams, to provide direct therapeutic and behavioural input as well as advice and support around specific individual needs.
Their specialisms include:
Our in-house SaLT’s role is to complete assessments, identify individuals’ communication styles and strengths, and build upon these by introducing communication aids and providing total communication training for all staff.
Our in-house OT provides sensory and environmental assessments. Her role is to take into account the physical, social, emotional, sensory and cognitive abilities and needs of each person and advises on aids and adaptations which can support daily living and increase independence.
Our Sensory Integration Practitioners carry out sensory assessments and provide recommendations to help people (and their supporting team) to maintain sensory regulation. Sensory overload can present itself in many ways, including challenging behaviour, withdrawal and complete shutdown, making it vital that we understand and employ strategies that can help people to regulate and improve their quality of life.
Our team of PBS practitioners complete assessments of behaviour, monitor and analyse outcome measures, and coordinate the development and evaluation of positive behaviour support plans. With one PBS practitioner in each of our operational regions, as well as a PBS assistant covering all areas, the team are on hand to provide staff support/guidance in supporting consistent evidence-based approach. Find out more about our organisational PBS approach here.
Our in-house Mental Health Lead oversees care planning for specific mental health conditions. Covering case management, communication, clinical supervision, and therapeutic crisis intervention, the role also supports staff knowledge in these areas and approaches. The MH lead also ensures that reasonable adjustments are made for accessing health support when required.
Consultant Psychologists provide support to individuals to promote well-being. This may be direct therapy to support anxiety management, forensic/offending behaviour, or trauma therapy. They also work with staff teams to better understand an individual’s psychological needs and ensure that staff use consistent approaches in providing that support.
We work closely alongside external partners including Behavioural Specialists, Psychiatry, dieticians and fitness experts from the local community to complement our in-house teams.
Clinical Support Team Funding
Our in-house Clinical Support Team provides therapeutic and behavioural input in addition to the usual level of support. This is classed as an additional resource that has to be agreed upon individually with the funding authority.
However, the beauty of having an in-house team is that those not in receipt of dedicated funding can still benefit from the team’s expertise. Our Clinical Support Team offers advice, training, and support, as well as incident monitoring to identify new or ongoing needs across all of our services.
How are we different?
Precious is pretty unique in the industry. While many care providers have access to a statutory/external MDT or Clinical Support resource, our team is a dedicated, in-house resource, employed by Precious solely to support our people. This enables us to provide proactive support when a person needs it rather than having to make referrals to external teams which can often take time.
Our Clinical Support Team team has a really good understanding of our environment, ethos, and how we work, enabling them to offer consistent levels of support and resources. Where we do employ the expertise of outside specialists, the in-house team act as the conduit to ensure consistency of care and continuity of knowledge throughout each person’s journey with Precious.
I really love going into an environment and looking at the various sensory, physical and social elements that could be adjusted to make life better – Is it too loud? Is it too bright? Is there enough space? Are there aids that could help people to be more independent?Stephanie, in-house Occupational Therapist
Accessing support from the Clinical Support Team
There are a number of routes for accessing support from the specialist team.
Commissioned support: Some of the services offered by the Clinical Support Team are classed as additional resources which must be agreed upon individually with the funding authority at the time that the initial assessment takes place.
Advice and expertise: It is important to remember that we are also there to advise anyone who is looking for guidance, even if funding is not in place. Our Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) teams are widely accessible to all and can be called on in times of need. Both of these teams are trained to help reinforce positive behaviour, de-escalate potentially challenging behaviour and advise and support our core support teams.
Incident monitoring: We work with the management team at every service to actively review incident reports every week. If our incident analysis suggests that there has been an increase in incidents/anxieties, a member of the Clinical Support Team will work with the person and the local support teams to offer help and guidance.
Staff Training: Our team of knowledgeable experts are on-hand to provide training and support to the wider team where required.
