Underpinning the quality system within the Brothers of Charity Services Limerick is the use of person centred planning process which is consistent with the movement towards supporting self-determination and self-advocacy.

Person Centred planning is a process of getting to know what’s important to each person. It tells us the activities which the individual is currently involved in; what level of choice is available to them and what the person would like in the future. It involves gathering information from the individual as well as other important people in the person’s life (e.g. family, key worker etc) in order to help us identify the person’s wants and needs as well as their hopes and dreams. Person Centred planning takes into account all of the resources that are available to a person- not just what the organisation provides.

The Brothers of Charity Services Limerick is committed to supporting each individual in the development of a Person Centered Plan. To facilitate this, each individual has a named key-worker who supports the development of the individual’s plan.

The Quality Forum consists of representatives from across the region including members of management, multi disciplinary teams, Quality Department, residential and day services. It serves as a platform for learning in relation to the delivery of person centred planning and helps ensure that the process can deliver real and measurable improvement to individuals who use the services.

Advocacy:

In line with its commitment to providing a person centred, responsive service the Brothers of Charity Limerick Services is committed to listening to individuals who use the services and their advocates. The Regional Advocacy Council, facilitated by the Quality Department, is a group of elected individuals who use the services. The function of the Council is to provide a forum where individuals who use the services can raise any concerns they may have for discussion. Each individual who receives a service from the Brothers of Charity Limerick Services is represented by an elected representative from their area on this council.  The Council meets quarterly with the Senior

Management Team to discuss matters of concern and to put forward proposals.

Risk Management:

A key component of the quality agenda is the use of systems to manage risks to objectives and to facilitate positive risk taking. To this end, each service area has a risk register which sets out the risks which may impact on the key objectives of the area as well as the plans in place to mitigate against such risks. The risk management process supports the organisation to proactively manage foreseeable risks and to respond to and learn from adverse events.

On an individual basis, positive risk taking is supported through the person centered planning process and safeguards are put in place to minimise risk while supporting independence.

Internal review:

The Organisation recognises the importance of ongoing internal review of the quality and safety of the services provided. The Quality, Planning and Risk Officer in conjunction with the Director of Services and members of the Multidisciplinary Team carry out unannounced visits to all residential services run by the Brothers of Charity Services. The focus of this visits is to identify good practice and to recommend actions where improvements are required, thus driving the quality agenda.