To progress continuously to
improve the quality of peoples lives
West House is a voluntary organisation providing a range of community-based, high quality support services to people with disabilities living in Cumbria.
West House believes that everything we do and provide should be based on 3 simple core values and that these values should be evident in all areas of the organisation and in how it behaves, these are:
- People are at the centre of everything we do
- Progress continuously to improve the quality of people’s lives
- Working together to achieve better outcomes with people
West House works to the principle that people with disabilities have equal rights as human citizens and members of our communities and we will work ceaselessly to enshrine and enact this principle.
This means:
- Striving to maximise choice and control.
- Developing lifelong learning and competence to live as independently as possible.
- Ensuring people are included in all aspects of the life as
society as active citizens. So that people enjoy the same
lifestyle as any other community member.
These aims are achieved through: – Centering services on the individual through a person-centred approach to their planning and delivery.
These aims are realised through a series of objectives linked to a business planning process. The West House Business Plan summarises the development themes for the period 2010-2013. Click here to see the West House Business Plan
Service Quality
West House invests in developing the quality of its services in the following ways:
- Through continuing external and internal audit.
- By nurturing a reflective culture and asking ourselves the difficult questions.
- Investing in staff development. We recognise that staff are our most valuable asset and it is the quality of the work they do that it is a key determinant of the quality of people’s lives. West House is a founder member of the Cumbria Training Partnership and an Investor in People. We also have our own NVQ Centre registered with City and Guilds and we provide accredited training through the Open College Network.
- Supporting and commissioning self-advocacy groups to undertake peer led audits and reviews of our services and supporting the creation and sustainability of an independent West House user led forum.
- Linking to other local, regional and national agencies.
- Being clear about our standards.
Person-Centred Planning
West House uses a person-centred approach in the planning and delivery of services. By building up a clear picture of people’s aspirations and needs we can construct a plan that enriches their life. The system of person-centred planning we use has been designed in-house but uses techniques from a number of different approaches.