Information for Providers
Information for Providers
Quality Assessment Framework (QAF) Pilot Report
The QAF report has been produced by Tameside and the Manchester Supporting People Teams who took part in the pilot of refreshing the QAF in August 2008.
Real Meals Recipe Pack
The recipe pack 
aims to show young people how to cook tasty and healthy meals, either at school or home. Each recipe uses simple ingredients and equipment, and meets healthy eating guidlines.
Therapeutic Massage Services for Adults in Community Care
The Body and Mind Therapy Centre Ltd work with several adults who have learning disabilities and mobilty problems. The centre provide weeky massage treatments to residents of a supported home in Ashton. The clients find the sessions extremely, from both a physical and mental relaxation perspective.
All our staff are fully qualified and insured in their own therapies and are members of professional therapy organisation abiding by code of ethics and client confidentiality. The centre are committed to providing a professional and caring service to help clients to improve or maintain their health. Our centre is well equipped for the needs of clients with limited mobility, with street level access, a ground floor treatment room, disabled toilet and fully adjustable and portable treatment couches. Treatment procedures are modified depending on the individual’s needs: either by working with the client seated in their own wheelchair, a comfortable chair or on a treatment couch if their mobility permits. We may also be able to consider work on-site in the client’s homes, depending on location and number of clients.
Massage offers a number of benefits that can be of particular importance to anyone with limited mobility. The therapeutic benefits of regular massage treatments can include decreased fluid retention, improved blood and lymph circulation, improved joint mobility and increased muscle flexibility. On a mental level it can have a very calming and soothing effect, helping to decrease anxiety and stress levels and encourage relaxation.
The centre would welcome the opportunity to discuss their services in more detail and find out more about how they can increase their support to clients within your care.
For more information, please contact the Body and Mind Therapy Centre on 
01457 835 491
Tameside Alcohol Treatment and Support Services.
Below is a table which shows the Tameside and Glossop Alcohol Service Referral Criteria.
| Primary Care (minimal) intervention | NES (primary care) | ADS (Bentinck Street) | SMS (Lees Street) | |
| Level of weekly alcohol consumption | Less than 50 units (men) and 35 units (women) | More than 50 units (men) and 35 units (women) | 100-150 units (men) and upto 100 units (women) | More than 150 units (men) and 100 units (women) |
| Severity of withdrawal symptoms | No obvious physical withdrawal symptoms | Possible withdrawal insomnia, anxiety, irritability, sweating, retching, nausea, tremor | Withdrawal insomnia, anxiety, irritability, sweating, retching, nausea, tremor | seizures, delirium tremens, hallucinations |
| Physical health problems | No / minor health problems, i.e. occasional gastro-intestinal disorders, hangovers, headaches. | Moderate health problems, i.e. GGT 300+, MCV 100+, poor appetite, early S. & S. of peripheral neuropathy, hypertension. | Moderate / significant health problems, i.e. GGT 300+, MCV 100+, poor appetite, early S. & S. of peripheral neuropathy, hypertension. | Major health problems, i.e. GGT 600+, MCV 105+, jaundice, hepatomegaly, ascites, pancreatitis, advanced peripheral neuropathy. |
| Mental health problems | No / minor mental health problems, i.e. occasionally feeling low, socially anxious. | Moderate mental health problems including agoraphobic symptoms & panic attacks, some symptoms of clinical depression. | Moderate mental health problems including agoraphobic symptoms & panic attacks, some symptoms of clinical depression. | Severe & complex mental health problems e.g. psychosis, severe clinical depression, suicidal plans, disabling anxiety, serious cognitive deficits (e.g. Korsakoff’s Syndrome). |
| Prescribed / illicit drug use | Occasional, non-problematic illicit drug use. Alcohol not impacting on prescribed medication. | Illicit drug use causing significant problems. Alcohol having significant impact on prescribed medication. | Illicit drug use causing significant problems. Alcohol having significant impact on prescribed medication. | Heavy / dependent / chaotic use of illicit drugs. Alcohol having major adverse impact on prescribed medication. |
| Child care issues (*) | None | No known childcare concerns. Although possible presence of children in family home | Presence of children in family home. Possible childcare concerns, children aged over 8. | Definite childcare concerns, social services involvement, children aged under 8. |
If a patient is aged under 19, please refer to Branching Out on 0161 343 6841.
*Consider SUFFS referral if children under 13 years.
View more information on Tameside's Drug and Alcohol Team.
Supplementary Objectives Guidance
Guidance for Local Authorities issued in May 2004.
Sitra North Update
Opening Doors for Older People Project
The Opening Doors for Older People Project is a free Community based Information, Advice and Support service to help older people remain healthy, active and well in their own community
National Outcomes Framework
Download the Outcome Form for Short-Term Services and view the Guidance Manual at www.spkweb.org.uk.
Training Strategy
Move On
Joint Protocol - Resettlement Support.
Tameside Safeguarding Children Board
The following Tameside Safeguarding Children Board (TSCB) policies are now available on the website.
- Policy for Working with Young People Facing Forced Marriage
- Policy for Working with Children and Young People Missing from Home
- Policy for Working with Sexually Active Young People under the age of 18.
'Working with Young People Facing Forced Marriage' and 'Working with Children and Young People Missing from Home' were recently approved by the TSCB.
'Working with Sexually Active Young People under the age of 18' (ACPC) was approved and circulated towards the end of last year and this same version is now available on the website.
These policies should be used in conjunction with the ACPC Child Protection Procedures Handbook. The procedures are currently being updated and will be available later this year so please continue to use them until you receive new ones from the Local Safeguarding Children Board. The procedures are also available on the TSCB website but if you would like a hard copy of the handbook please telephone 0161 342 4348.
Supporting People - Quick Guide to the Performance Workbook
Use of the workbook is a contractual requirement.
This is a short overview of the new workbook. 112.81 KB 
Equality and Diversity Officers in Greater Manchester
Equality and Diversity In Housing Network.
Good Practice Guide
ERoSH have produced a good practice guide to Decommissioing 391.54 KB
Important Information on the Client Record Form
The DCLG has announced that all Client Record data will be submitted electronically from April 2007. This means that paper Client Record Forms will not be accepted for clients who start to receive SP services from 1st April 2007. Over the past two years we have increasingly encouraged providers to consider moving to electronic submissions and we have stepped up this effort over the past few months, so many of your providers will already be submitting this way or changing over to electronic submission.
We are sending the DCLG's letter directly to service providers, and I thought it would be useful for you to be aware of it should you receive any enquiries. The letter and information about the options available for electronic submission of Client Record data are available from our website www.spclientrecord.org.uk under the banner announcement. The Client Record Form for April 2007 - March 2008 is available under News.
Look Ahead - Guide launched to help reduce risk in supported housing projects
Look Ahead Housing and Care has produced a good practice guide to help supported housing Providers plan for risk management. Look Ahead hope that the guide will help Supporting People Providers improve their working practices, as well as meet the standards stipulated in the Quality Assessment Framework.
Titled Positive Risk Taking, the good practice guide uses snapshots of a recent research project to contextualise the importance of risk assessment and highlight the problems organisations are currently facing in trying to manage this imperfect science. It acknowledges that a one size fits all approach does not work for managing risk and therefore provides a framework including check lists and pointers to help organisations develop their own risk assessment process.
Chris Hampson, Director of Strategy and Service Delivery at Look Ahead Housing and Care commented:
"We have to accept that housing vulnerable people is risky business. We know from our initial research that some organisations are still struggling to pin point what constitutes risk and how to manage it."
"This guide should be a useful tool to others, in particular small providers, working within supported housing and care, who may not have a robust risk management process in place. For others it may serve as a checklist against which to audit existing practices, inspiring further action and debate about risk."
Good Practice Guide 1.05 MB 
Or you can 
email us and we will post you a hard copy.
Draft Supporting People Guidance.
Please see below draft Supporting People Guidance, as published by the CLG.
Draft Supporting People Guidance. 299.68 KB
FAQ's on the Performance Indicator Workbooks.
The CLG have recently published some frequently asked questions 210.75 KB that have been raised at a number of training sessions, on how to complete the performance monitoring workbooks.
New Online resource for Support Providers.
Lemos and Crane - award winning producers of RaceActionNet and BMEspark - have developed a new online framework for supporting homeless and vulnerable people to achieve social and emotional aspirations. SupportActionNet is free to join and can be used by Local Authorities, Housing Associations, Community and Voluntary Providers and other organisations for writing policies, procedures and quality assurance systems, as well as for staff development.
For more information, please go to www.supportactionnnet.org.uk 
National Qualification Courses for Sheltered / Supported Housing Staff.
The Sheltered Housing Network have recently developed a new and innovative Level 3 Qualification award entitled the National Certificate of Professional Practice in Sheltered / Supported Housing. The course content is designed to be topical, thought provoking and relevant to current practice. Much of the content covers areas set out in the QAF in relation to developing staff skills in the se subject matters. The course also aims to enable employers to evidence staff competency. Please see the leaflet below for contact information.
Course Enquiry Pack 184.91 KB
Along with the above course, the Sheltered Housing Network will be expanding its portfolio of qualification courses to include:
- Introduction to Housing and Tenancy-Level 1 Qualification in introduction to Housing and Tenancy.
- Certificate of Introduction for Caring for Adults-Level 1 Qualification in Caring for Adults.
- Care Practices-Level 2 Qualification in Care Practices.
- Non Care Staff in the Care Environment-Level 2 Qualification in Non Care Staff in the Care Environment.
- Dementia Care-Level 2 Qualification in Dementia Care.
- Certificate in Health and Social Care-Level 3 Qualification in Health and Social Care.
- Project Management-Level 3 Qualification in Project Management.
The Sheltered Housing Network are also presently developing further customised award programmes, which will include:
- Induction to working in Sheltered Housing.- This is likely to be a Level 2 Course, that will be tailored to match the requirements of organisations inducting new staff. It will identify competencies of the individual staff member, and their understanding of the organisations policies and procedures.
- Developing Professional Practice in Sheltered Housing- This is likely to be a Level 2 Course designed to help staff understand their work, the needs of the service users and how their organisation works. It is aimed to meet the needs of staff already working for the organisation who are looking to gain national recognition of their existing skills and and abilities to develop these further. The course will follow a 'workplace practice programme', and students will be required to satisfactorily complete a number of workplace practice standards to achieve the award.
For more information, please contact Ray Sawyer-James on0870 467 0646 or email rsj@shn.org.uk
Visual Impairment Awareness Training.
The aim of the training is to enable staff and companies to better understand the issues visually impaired people face on a day to day level, and provide ways in which to overcome some of these issues. The training also covers the implications of the Disability Discrimination Act, in particular relation to Visual Impairment. Please see the leaflet below for contact information.
Training Details. 493.93 KB
Latest Documents from the KWeb
Underneath you will find a document from the KWeb, which details information for AA's and Providers about the identification of ineligible support charges by Housing Benefit officers.
Ineligible Charges. 14.92 KB
Supporting People in Tameside 5 - Year Strategy.
Tameside's Supporting People Strategy is now available to download. Hard copies of the strategy are also available. If you require a hard copy, please telephone 0161 342 3267.