Your seasonal 2024 LDA and MH newsletters
A celebration of the work you do plus updates, information and useful guidance.
We’re delighted to share the third edition of the TCS Learning Disabilities, Autism, and Mental Health (LDA & MH) seasonal newsletter.
In this edition, we reflect on the last couple of months and celebrate the incredible work you and your colleagues have achieved and the high-quality care and support you have delivered to our clients in the community.
We’re excited to announce the launch of the new TCS website, featuring the newly designed Compass portal, where you can access everything needed to support your career. This website is built with your needs in mind, offering a more streamlined, user-friendly experience throughout your journey with TCS.
Additionally, we’ve created a new section on Compass dedicated to providing essential updates, clinical guidance, helplines, and external resources to support your TCS career. This ensures everything is stored in one place and easily accessible for you to view and revisit whenever needed.
To explore these valuable resources and stay informed, simply click the button below to access the new section on Compass.
Quicklinks
A message from our Head of Service, Nikki
Your dedication, hard work, and commitment positively impact our clients’ lives every day, and we are incredibly grateful for the difference you make. We truly appreciate your unwavering support and excellence in the care you deliver.
To further support your career at TCS, we’re continually reviewing and updating Compass to ensure you have access to everything you need. We’ve already received some fantastic feedback, and we encourage you to share your thoughts using the feedback forms.
I hope you find this edition of the TCS LDA & MH newsletter valuable, and I look forward to hearing your feedback.
Celebrating you and your role
After a very successful past few months, we want to take this opportunity to reflect and celebrate the care you delivered to our clients and share a good news story about one of our TCS LDA clients.
Last quarter, we delivered 107,781 hours of care to 29 clients and 5 new clients in the community.
Hours of care delivered to our clients
We delivered 107,781 hours of care to 29 adults and children in the community.
Thank you for contributing to this exceptional achievement. You played a crucial role in making this possible, and we look forward to seeing this number rise over the next few months, enabling us to support even more individuals in receiving care within their homes and communities.
What your colleagues have said about you
We have recently received some lovely feedback from Team Leader Amy Steel about one of our staff members, David Lahiffe.
“I believe it’s important to celebrate the positives within our team. We have one staff member who truly stands out for his commitment and dedication: David Lahiffe.
David consistently goes above and beyond, and that’s putting it lightly. The hard work he puts into care packages is nothing short of fantastic. He takes the initiative by driving activities forward, ensuring all aspects of our care packages are top-notch, and recognising what needs to be done before anyone asks. David is always on top of things, from ordering supplies to confirming bookings.
He even took time out on his day off to source a bike for a client, ensuring the child could enjoy a fundamental part of growing up. His efforts were recognised by both professionals and parents in the recent multi-disciplinary meeting, further highlighting the difference he is making.
David exemplifies what we expect from our staff as a care provider – someone who leads by example and delivers care with dedication and passion. He is an asset to Thornbury Community Services, and we should be proud he is part of our team.”
Thank you, Amy, for sharing such fantastic feedback about David, and thank you, David, for your continued support and commitment to our clients.
It’s important to acknowledge our colleagues and showcase their expertise to encourage everyone to continue their great work and recognise the achievements of both their colleagues and the clients they care for.
How would you like to be celebrated in your newsletter?
If you have any ideas on how we can develop this section of the newsletter, please click the button below to share your feedback.
Or, if you’d like to shout out to a fellow colleague or clinical lead or even share a recent achievement of the client you care for, click the button below.
The difference you make
For the past three and a half years, TCS has had the privilege of supporting Hayden on his care journey. We are thrilled to share that, with TCS by his side, he successfully graduated from his formal education this summer.
When Hayden first began with TCS, completing two years of education seemed like a distant goal, but now he has achieved it. He has earned a qualification in life skills, a milestone that will continue to empower him as he navigates life with ongoing support from TCS.
Hayden enjoyed a special party at home with his family and the TCS team. As you can see from the photo below, his birthday celebrations were a huge success, and Hayden had a wonderful time.
Thank you to the healthcare professionals involved in Hayden’s care. Your dedication ensures that we continue to deliver the highest standard of care to our clients.
Supporting your wellbeing
As a care provider, we are committed to prioritising your wellbeing by ensuring you have the latest information, guidance, and resources to support you in your role at TCS, helping you to deliver the highest quality care to individuals in their own homes and communities.
Employee Assistance Programme
To ensure you have support whenever needed, we offer all our healthcare professionals access to our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), a personal support service dedicated to prioritising and supporting your wellbeing.
Available 24/7 throughout the year, the EAP connects you with professionally trained advisors who are able to help with a wide range of issues, including family challenges, marital concerns, financial or legal matters, stress, depression, and other personal or work-related difficulties.
You can access the Employee Assistance Programme welling resources and live chat by visiting pulsehealthcare.lifeworks.com and logging in using the following information:
Username/Company Code: Pulse
Password: Support
Or you can access the EAP 24/7 helpline by calling 0800 169 1920, quoting Pulse Healthcare Limited when you are put in touch with an advisor.
Patients experiencing a mental health crisis can now benefit from support through 111
England is one of the first countries in the world to offer access to a 24/7 full package of mental health crisis support through one single phone line.
People of all ages, including children, who are in crisis or concerned family and loved ones can now call 111, select the mental health option, and speak to a trained mental health professional.
Additional free mental health and emotional wellbeing support resources
This service offers free digital mental wellbeing support for adults across the UK. It includes professional support from accredited counsellors, peer-to-peer forums, and self-help tools like mood tracking and goal setting. No referral is needed, and it’s completely anonymous. Click here for more information and to sign up.
Mind provides various free mental health support services, including a 6-week guided self-help program. This program offers materials to help you understand and manage your feelings with regular practitioner check-ins. They also provide an online peer support community called Side by Side. Click here for more information.
You can access free talking therapies through the NHS. These services, also known as psychological wellbeing services, are available across the UK. In England, you might be able to refer yourself or ask your GP for a referral. Click here to refer yourself today.
They offer a free self-kindness toolkit designed to boost your wellbeing. This toolkit includes resources to help you manage your mental health and cope with stress and uncertainty. Click here for more information.
The mental health charity Mind provides a directory of mental health helplines you can contact for immediate support. You can call the Mind info line on 0300 123 3393 (UK).
NHS 111 also offers an urgent mental health helpline available 24/7.
The Hub of Hope is a comprehensive mental health support database created by the UK charity, Chasing the Stigma. It brings together local, national, peer, community, charity, private, and NHS mental health support services in one place. This platform aims to make it easier for people to find the help they need, whether in crisis or just looking for extra support. Click here for more information.
Our dedicated teams
We have a dedicated operational and clinical 24/7 support service for you to contact at any time you need. The team’s contact details are below, and they are available to support you when you needed.
Nurse career progression opportunities with TCS
If you’re a registered nurse looking to take the next step
in your TCS career, why not register your interest in our clinical lead nurse jobs using the button below.
Our clinical lead nurse vacancies are ideal for nurses looking for work from home nurse jobs that allow you to work closely with individuals receiving our care services and our passionate team of nurses, support workers, and healthcare assistants providing the care.
As a clinical lead nurse, you will focus on maintaining the highest standards of clinical excellence and ensuring clinical practice aligns with the organisation and national care guidelines for care delivered to individuals in their own homes. Alongside this, you will oversee all relevant health, safety, security and risk policies and procedures to ensure the people we support receive exceptional ‘Outstanding’ CQC-rated care at all times.
Share your feedback
Please share with us what you liked about our third edition of the seasonal newsletter and any ideas or suggestions of what you would like to see in your upcoming seasonal newsletters.
We’d appreciate your feedback, which you can provide by completing the short anonymous form below. We look forward to reviewing your ideas and suggestions.
Newsletter feedback
We’d love to hear about your experience with TCS so far, key highlights from your TCS career, and examples of the positive impact you’ve had on our clients in the community. Please spend a few minutes writing a quick review on Google.
Navigate to Compass
Compass is here to help you find all of the key information you need to navigate your career with us. Compass has everything you need from finding out more about your TCS benefits, to accessing your handbook, booking CPD courses, and preparing for your shifts.