Expect the Best – North West London Consortium
Risk Assessment Policy for visits to services by Expect the Best
Two to four staff will visit a service at any one time to undertake Quality Checks using three
Quality Checking Tools devised by Expect the Best.
Role of Team Manager prior to the visit
A team of Quality Checkers will generally be accompanied by a Team Manager.
In advance of a quality check the Team Manager will:
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Have carried out, or been given, a risk assessment for the Quality Checkers attending
Ensured that they are familiar with anything that may put people at risk
Have taken precautions to minimise risks
The risk assessment is a confidential document and needs to be kept in a safe place. Risk
assessments of the services visited will be carried out before the visit, or if this is not possible,
an assessment will be carried out on the same day as the visit.
Role of the Quality Checker who is the team lead on the day
A Quality Checker will be a team lead on the day and will take responsibility for reporting to
the appointed manager or contact person at the service being visited as arranged in advance.
The team lead will be responsible for:
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Ensuring that the Quality Checkers stay together during the visit
Checking the fire safety exits and drills as soon as possible on arrival and ensuring that
these are known by the Quality Checkers attending
Ensuring that, as far as possible, there is a toilet visit for everyone before the Quality
Check takes place, all waiting together
That the team all leave the premises together
Bringing spare copies of incident report forms
Quality Checkers must:
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Be aware that whilst they are working for Expect the Best, all the existing Policies and
Procedures of the Mencaps that they are employed by, apply
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Comply with the Health and Safety requirements of the organisation they are visiting
Respect, and also take a note of, any requests by the service visited not to speak with
certain service users
Accident and incident reporting
All accidents and incidents should be reported and logged on the accident report form as soon
as possible and reported to the Team Manager, Project Director or staff at Barnet Mencap or
Harrow Mencap. Forms will be carried by the team lead on that day.
Team and service user safety
A single Quality Checker should never be left alone with service users except in the case of
extreme emergency; at all times during the visit the team must stay together and the team
lead must ensure this. The team must leave the premises together.
Emergency contact details
All Quality Checkers will have been given a laminated card with emergency contact details. If
the Team Manager or Project Director cannot be contacted, in the case of an emergency the
Quality Checkers must contact someone in Barnet Mencap or Harrow Mencap to let them
know what has happened. The phone numbers for both Barnet Mencap and Harrow Mencap
will be on the laminated emergency cards.
Staff illness whilst on a quality check visit
If a Quality Checker is taken ill whilst on a visit another team member must contact an
ambulance if this is necessary. After this the Quality Checkers must let the Team Manager,
Project Director or staff in Barnet or Harrow Mencap, know what has happened. Details for
all emergency contacts will be on the emergency cards carried by Quality Checkers.
If a Quality Checker is unwell on the day of a visit the Team Manager or Project Director must
be notified as soon as possible. Quality Checkers are not to attend visits if they are unwell in
order to protect the health of others.
DBS checks
All Quality Checkers will have DBS checks. On the rare occasion where a DBS check has not
been completed, people will only be allowed to attend the visit with the agreement of the
manager of the service being visited. A Team Manager would always attend in such
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circumstances who will have a current DBS certificate. As stated above the team must stay
together and it is the role of the team lead to ensure this.
Confidentiality
All information shared with Quality Checkers is confidential. If there is a safe-guarding alert
this must be reported immediately to the Team Manager, Project Director or staff at Barnet
or Harrow Mencap. If it is necessary to call the police this must be done before contacting the
Team Manager, Project Director or staff at Mencap.
Staff conduct whilst on a visit
Quality Checkers must behave professionally, be well presented and punctual.
Accessibility and parking availability
Accessibility and parking availability at services are to be checked before Quality Checkers go
on a visit.
Requests for information by the service provider or service users
Any enquiries from the service provider or service users, including requests for further
information or follow up checks, must be directed by all Quality Checkers to the Project
Director.
Policy created in December 2013, to be reviewed no later than December 2014.
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