How we support people

On this page we describe how we keep Beyond Limits support focused on the person we are supporting. How we don’t just talk the talk…

Everyone we support has:

• their own budget for their support – usually in the form of an Individual Service Fund (ISF) – it’s not mixed in with other people’s money
• tailor-made support – this means no two support services are the same
• their own staff team – support staff matched to what they need and are interested in
• their own home – which they can choose to share with someone else if they want.

Our support is based on careful and detailed individual planning. An overall Individual Service Design (ISD) sets out how we will support someone. A Working Policy (WP) sets out how to respond in difficult times when, for example, the person’s behaviour tells us we’ve got something wrong.

The plan

The Individual Service Design is worked out in a person centred planning meeting with the person, people close to them and professionals. The person must agree who is at the meeting.

The Working Policy is developed mostly by speaking to people who have supported the person previously, finding out about all the issues and challenges the person has presented, reflecting on this and working out what worked and did not work in the past. This leads to a set of policies and staff guidelines that describe in detail how to support the person when things are not so good. All staff are required to work according to the WP, to ensure consistency of support.

Respect

By individualising the services we provide we are immediately treating people with respect and giving them control over how they live their lives. This in itself goes part way to reducing any so called challenging behavior. All behavior is communication, and challenging behaviour is a method people use to tell us they are not happy.

Beyond Limits won’t provide group or shared support unless people with learning difficulties or mental health issues ask for it. In practice this rarely happens. In our experience group services often cause ‘challenging behaviour’.