The team at Pound House have received high praise from an Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO) at Surrey County Council (SCC).
IROs chair Child Looked After Review meetings where they advocate for the young person and hold the professionals around them to account.
The meetings are a statutory obligation and the dates are set months in advance. This one caught everyone on the hop as Pound House hadn’t been formally notified, the client was in court with his HSO and the personal advisor was off sick.
When the call came through to ask why no one was online the team jumped to it to ensure enough people were involved as they would on any day, for any meeting.
Service Manager Anna Menzies was therefore slightly surprised, but delighted, to get the following in an email from the IRO Alex Mthobi:
“I want to praise your staff for having been proactive today in joining the meeting at the eleventh hour and especially Jenny Rothesay who dropped everything to represent Sophie and luckily Sophie and the young person (YP) joined as we were starting.
“The YP praised Sophie and all your staff and said on a scale of zero to 10, he graded the care and nurturing support as 10 out of 10.
“You need to know this, it’s rare for YP to rate staff that high. In his words he added, ‘Sophie is down to earth’.
“Keep up the high standards and the Pound House flag flying high.”
Anna said: “This particular client would be the first to admit that his behaviour has at times been challenging. He’s also been at the centre of the best multi-agency working I have experienced. A huge number of professionals have been involved in keeping him safe and in his accommodation as it was felt Pound House could offer the best support for him. It is lovely to hear these efforts have been recognised. We would also like a flag.”
