Service User Policy

Aims and Principles

West Lincolnshire Domestic Abuse Service (WLDAS)’s aim is to achieve the highest standards of service provision, WLDAS recognises that assessing and fulfilling the needs of women, men and children fleeing domestic abuse are one of the primary objectives of the organisation. To achieve this end, the views of the individuals accessing our service, either via refuge, outreach or our children’s service will be heard, recorded and acted upon in a number of ways to facilitate the provision of an effective service.
WLDAS is committed to encouraging service user participation, and encourage clients to come forward with ideas to ensure service users’ needs are appropriately met.

Directors Meetings

  • Refuge residents and outreach support service users are informed of Annual General Meetings via publically available literature. They have the opportunity to attend and put forward their views on any specific issues.
  • Alternatively service user’s can request any views/issues are put forward via their key worker.
  • Refuge residents and outreach service users participate in a Quality Assessment Framework (QAF) process.

Meetings

  • Service user meetings can be held on request where there is an identified need.
  • Dates of any forthcoming meetings are displayed within our building and service users have the opportunity to attend.
  • Service users may chair meetings with the workers acting as facilitators. Service users will be encouraged to participate in recording the minutes of meetings.
  • Service users residing in our refuge accommodation can attend regular house meetings where any current issues can be discussed and addressed.

Children

  • Children are encouraged to share their views on the service in group / individual sessions with family / child support workers.
  • Children complete evaluation forms and these are reviewed by staff and funders on a quarterly basis.

Health and Safety

Regular Health & Safety checks are completed on a monthly basis at the refuges. Refuge clients are invited to participate in being proactive in identifying faults or safety measures which need to be taken with regards to the refuge accommodation. Refuge clients are given a specific ‘on call’ telephone number as a means of contacting us in any kind of an emergency.
Service users are also informed of fire procedures and the location of fire extinguishing equipment, information is clearly displayed in both our multi-occupancy and dispersed refuges.

End of Service Satisfaction Evaluations

  • At the end of support, service users are encouraged to complete an end of service evaluation reviewing the support they have received from WLDAS.  The evaluations can be completed anonymously.
  • The completed evaluations are analysed by the Administrator, and then reported to the WLDAS Manager and Directors, with appropriate action being taken where necessary.

Individual Safety/Support Planning

  • The Individual Support Planning process will be used as an opportunity to listen to the views of service users on the services and support they are receiving, and highlighting any identified need.
  • Feedback gathered as part of this process will inform individual service delivery and, if necessary, issues raised or ideas that need wider action will be taken to the staff team, Project Managers, WLDAS Manager or Directors for discussion and/or action where necessary.

Suggestion Box

  • A suggestion box is located in our refuges. Service users are encouraged to place their suggestions in the box at any time, anonymously if they so choose.
  • Suggestion Box’s will be checked on a monthly basis in line with Health & Safety checks
  • Appropriate suggestions will be dealt with directly by Project Workers / Child and Young Person Workers. Where this is not possible or appropriate, suggestions will be discussed in a team meeting and/or taken to a Directors’ meeting for decision.

Thank you Cards

  • As a form of user feedback, thank you cards from service users are dated and kept in a scrapbook in the office.
  • The scrapbooks are available for inspection by the Directors and funders as part of their quality assessment process.

CLICK HERE To provide us with your comments and opinions on this policy. Your suggestions and comments are valuable to us.


Please send completed form to us at :-

West Lincolnshire Domestic Abuse Service
PO Box 125, Lincoln, LN1 1HA

Or email your response to: info@wldas.org.uk