DE’s Story

DE has complex care needs, which include Autism and behaviours that challenge. D resided in a nursing home for 20 years until such point the placement broke down.

At the time of D’s referral, iBC Healthcare had nothing within the area that would suit his needs. However, upon reading D’s assessment we were keen to help and collaborated on a plan to extend our specialist supported living services into Mansfield to offer D a home for life.

His local intensive support team became involved and D was detained within an inpatient psychiatric unit for nearly 3 years with physical restraints required to manage risk behaviour. In line with D’s complex care needs, risk behaviour and decline in mental health while in hospital, it was identified that he would benefit from a single occupancy placement with a bespoke package of care. Having a close working relationship with D’s multi-disciplinary team, a referral was made to iBC Healthcare.

During our robust assessment process, we identified that D required a solo environment with a private garden. We identified that D needed a ground floor service to mitigate risk behaviour associated with stairs and a spacious wet room for self-regulation. D required a resilient environment to include toughened furniture, reinforced windows, doors and specialist wall padding to prevent physical harm associated with his self-injurious behaviours. Soundproofing was also required due to the volume of noise. With this comprehensive spec in mind, iBC began the search for the right property, to be designed and adapted in-house to meet D’s complex needs and in line with Good Autism Guidance.

iBC’s Area Manager, Stephanie Turner expressed interest in a particular bungalow that boasted a generous garden supporting D’s love of football yet compact in property size to support D’s wishes of feeling secure and safe in his environment. The property was conveniently located to D’s family and circle of support. This was incredibly important having been a distance away from them for so many years. Having ticked so many boxes, Head of Commissioning Jenny Payne attended an auction to bid for the property which was successfully secured and ready to begin adaptations with the support of D’s OT and family in preparation for the move.

iBC planned a robust 8-week transition. Utilising staff from our established residential service, Dovecote (which has been rated as outstanding in one domain by the CQC) and newly recruited experienced staff from the local area, all of which we carefully selected as compatible with D’s likes, interests and needs. This transition consisted of various visits to D in hospital to build a rapport with his new care team, and understand his established routine.

D moved into his home for life on the 4th of January and has since made significant progress in such a short period. On just the first day in his new home, D was evidently impressed with his new surroundings as he took pride in sweeping the floor and unpacking his belongings by choice. Since joining us, D has engaged in various activities such as music therapy, shopping in the local community and going out for meals.

“D has settled into his home well and appears very happy; he is talking about family, laughing and smiling” 

What some of us may take for granted, wearing a pair of trainers for the first time in 3 years was an incredible step forward for D. 

“We are extremely proud to say that D has not been restrained once since joining us. As advocates of the Restraint Reduction Network, this is a huge achievement” 

Future Goals

We have found that active support, intensive interaction and positive behavioural support are the care models that support D the best. By continuing this work we are confident that D will achieve his goal of being the proud owner of a Manchester United season ticket and will attend these games with the support of his person-centred staff team.