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New Dignity Champions at Red Kite and Merlin Mews

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Dignity ChampionsThank you to Aaron and Brooke who have signed up to be dignity champions for Red Kite and Merlin Mews, in Gloucestershire.

A Dignity Champion is someone who believes passionately that being treated with dignity is a basic human right, not an optional extra. They believe that care services must be compassionate, person-centred, as well as efficient, and are willing to try to do something to achieve this. To this end, Brooke and Aaron will be working with the staff team and management to explore and ensure that the team demonstrates the 10 dignity do’s in all that they do.

What are the 10 Dignity Do’s?

As part of the Dignity in Care campaign, numerous focus groups took place around the country to find out what Dignity in Care meant to people. This lead to the development of the 10 Point Dignity Challenge (now the 10 Dignity Do’s). These are:

  1. Have a zero-tolerance of all forms of abuse
  2. Support people with the same respect you would want for yourself or a member of your family
  3. Treat each person as an individual by offering a personalised service
  4. Enable people to maintain the maximum possible level of independence, choice and control
  5. Listen and support people to express their needs and wants
  6. Respect people’s right to privacy
  7. Ensure people feel able to complain without fear of retribution
  8. Engage with family members and carers as care partners
  9. Assist people to maintain confidence and positive self-esteem
  10. Act to alleviate people’s loneliness and isolation

Commitment to Continuous Improvement

Vicky Hazeldine, Manager at Red Kite and Merlin Mews, commented: “I’m very proud of Brooke and Aaron. Dignity Champions are committed to taking action, however small, to create a care system that has compassion and respect for those using its services.  By volunteering for this role, they have committed to continually working to improve the support we deliver on a daily basis.”

Brooke has said “It’s my aim to make sure that everyone continues to be treated with respect and has equal opportunity to thrive within their lives”.

Aaron added “being a dignity champion is important to me because everyone deserves the right to be treated in a dignified manner whilst we support them to achieve their goals in life”.

As part of this, each month we will focus on one of the 10 aspects in Staff Meetings, Clinical Governance, and Supervisions to make sure that every opportunity to discuss these principles are embraced.