Consultation Meetings Agreement- Education

Bryn Melyn Care provides therapeutic care to young people through an integrated model including care teams, clinical and education services. The clinical team are employedto ensure that care is underpinned by psychological models, theory, research and practice. The purpose of consultation is to promote and enhance a therapeutic environment for the young person. Consultation will be offered to both school sites on a weekly basis. The following forms a working agreement:

  1. Regular consultation meetingswill be held on dates and times to be agreed in advance between the Clinician and Head of Education.This will usually be as part of the weekly team meetings.
  2. The focus of the meetings will be to promote a therapeutic practice to enhance the education team’s work with the young person(s) and to promote staff’s reflective practice. Advice may also be given in relation to learning and education approaches within the clinician’s remit.
  3. Consultation will usually be for one hour on a weekly basis or as agreed by the Head of Education.
  4. Consultation will usually take place with the allocated clinician and education staff. Each member of staff has a responsibility to ensure they attend consultation on a regular basis.
  5. The allocated clinician,or an identified member of the clinical team,has a responsibility to attend consultation meetings unless on annual leave, sickness or other extenuating circumstances prevents attendance. In such cases the allocated clinician, or an identified member of the clinical team, will inform the education administrator as soon as possible of any changes or cancellations.In most cases a different clinician will cover any periods of leave or sickness.
  6. All participants are responsible for the running of an effective consultation session, this includes being punctual, engagingin the group process for the duration of the session andgiving thought and focused attention to the process.
  7. Consultation sessions should encourage an open and non-defensive environment, in which staff members feel able to talk about their personal feelings and thoughts concerning their work in order to better understand their own interpersonal dynamics, and those of their colleagues.
  8. Consultation requires each member of staff to berespectful of others’ feelings and thoughts, offering constructive responses and not ridiculing or criticising others’ views.
  9. The feedback will be recorded by the Education Team in their Meeting Record Notes.
  10. Any staff member can requestindividual consultation sessions with a clinician in relation to any issues that affect their relationships with, and care/ education of a young person and/or colleagues. Records of such meetings will be stored confidentially in a separate section of the clinical records marked “confidential”. Information from these sessions may be shared with management or other cliniciansin accordance with company policy, legal requirements and safeguarding. Where possible the individual concerned will be informed of what has been disclosed and the reasons for disclosure.These sessions are not formal therapy sessions and the staff member will be signposted to Health Assure if Therapy is required.
  11. In some cases concerns about practice or conduct may arise and the clinical team will always try to support staff to improve practice as much as possible. If concerns about practice arise then the clinician will try to speak to the member of staff directly and aim to support them to improve practice. If concerns continue or there are serious concerns about conduct/malpractice then the clinician will inform the person’s line manager. If concerns continue then the Head of Education will be informed and relevant action taken.
  12. If a staff member has concerns about a clinician’s practice they should initially discuss this with the person directly. The next course of action would be to discuss with the Registered Care Manager and/or the Head of Education and the Head of Clinical Services.

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V 2. FEB 2016

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V 2. FEB 2016