Testimonials

Testimonial 1

Identified Need
The Occupational Therapy team in Middlesbrough Social Care required refresher training for safe moving and handling of clients.

Background
Occupational Therapists undertake moving and handling assessments in the community, including care homes. The majority of assessments highlight the need for assistive equipment such as hoists and stand-aids to ensure safe moving and handling and reduce risks to the service user and carer. If safe practise re: moving and handling is not adhered to, the likelihood of risk to the service user and carer is extremely high with severe consequences. Detailed moving and handling plans and risk assessments are produced by the OT and used with service user, carers, care agencies, care homes.

  • OT’s require moving and handling training in order to achieve safe practice, meet the goals as above and mitigate risks to Middlesbrough Council.
  • OT’s are registered with the HCPC in order to practise. It is a requirement for registration that Continuing Professional Development is maintained.

Social Care Workers (SCW) within the Occupational Therapy team undertake their own assessments with service users and carers. It is essential that SCW’s have a thorough knowledge and understanding of moving and handling principles. This is used in practice to:

  • Identify potential for reablement, to prevent, reduce and delay needs for long term social care support.
  • Use techniques to avoid unnecessary equipment provision.
  • Identify the most cost effective equipment solutions if required.

  • Training
    The training programme was put together with Gary Knipe from Ergoway.

    The course was tailored to suit the different needs of qualified and unqualified staff in the team. The morning session covered moving and handling principles, legislation, risk assessment, and a range of techniques including sit → stand, bed transfers and getting someone up from the floor. This session was for all staff. The afternoon session was for qualified OT staff only. This covered practical demonstration and use of more complex moving and handling equipment mobile hoists, ceiling track hoist, slings, stand-aids etc.

    The trainer was very professional and knowledgeable. He was able to answer the range of questions which were posed by the team and was able to offer a range of techniques with how to deal with the most challenging situations.

    The feedback from the team was very positive. A number of the comments are detailed below:
    • Theory linked to Practice and Evidence based knowledge.
    • Very relevant to job role.
    • Very interactive, lots of opportunity for questions.
    • Great refresher and some new skills learnt.

    Professional OT Development Lead



    Testimonial 2

    Gary is always really helpful and listens to our concerns that we may raise. Gary shows us new techniques and equipment including single handed techniques

    Manual Handling Keyworker



    Testimonial 3

    I can confirm that I have known Gary Knipe in a work capacity for over 15 years and that for more than 10 years Gary Knipe has provided an excellent training and consultancy service on behalf of System Training relating to manual handling.

    Gary has been involved in delivering numerous 3 day Manual Handling Train the Trainer courses to both national and local clients including working around the country on client's premises. He has also delivered 1 day Manual Handling courses locally and also at clients' premises including dealing with requests to include specific practical manual handling tasks and activities relevant to the client.

    Gary has also worked with clients delivering training on people handling techniques and the use of specific manual handling equipment. As well as handling equipment, Gary has trained in the use of Evacuation Chairs. When working with clients, Gary has been able to deal with specific issues, questions or problems highlighted by candidates and respond to these in a practical manner.

    Customer feedback has always been excellent with candidates providing extremely positive feedback on their training and we have benefited from repeat training requests over time. One of the many skills Gary brings to training courses is his ability to deal with practical handling issues raised by clients and being able to provide reasonable and practical solutions to manual handling issues. He is also extremely competent when dealing with people and has the ability to engage and enthuse candidates with his passion for his work. In essence, we have worked with Gary for more than 10 years on all hands-on, practical manual handling issues as the answer to our clients' needs. Each time has been successful with excellent feedback. Gary has also been involved in delivering training to younger aged groups as part of an apprentice programme and was appropriately CRB check at that time in order to complete this particular type of work.

    Health and safety Training Manager



    Testimonial 4

    Ergoway was successful in obtaining the mini competition for the annual one day update in moving and handling training for the Occupational Therapists employed within Adult Social Care in Cumbria.

    A core duty of this practitioner group is to improve safety and independence of people with disabilities within their own home in the community. Individual assessments are essential to establishing needs and improving outcomes. This involves working with customers, family members, formal and informal carers and external providers. Key to achieving this are the individual moving and handling risk assessment and safe method of work, conflict management and equipment provision and the mandatory reviews of the individual’s situation.

    The learning outcomes for our annual update were focussed on new information available in the last 12 months to ensure staff are current and to resolve problems experienced in the work place. Critical reflection and analysis and practical application of these aspects were required in the update. This is much more that a refresher but crucial to improving practice and standards for better customer care.

    The learning outcomes were :-

    • Demonstrate understanding of essential moving and handling legislation in care/community settings and recent developments relating to this area of practice eg Legal decisions which impact on practice and guidance.
    • Be more aware of safe moving and handling practices – back care awareness, safety of self, customer, carers and others.
    • Be able to complete specialist risk assessments where moving and handling applies– objects and people including bed mobility and ensure details are disseminated to those involved in the procedure.
    • Learn and practice advanced techniques to safely manage equipment/loads and personal moving and handling in domiciliary settings.
    -2-
    • Be aware of the use of the range of equipment prescribed – slide sheets, transfer boards, hoists etc. Be informed of any new equipment available on the market in the last 12 months.
    • Practice and develop skills and competencies relating to moving and handling which reflects national best-practice.
    • Identify situations which require more specialist advice and refer on as appropriate.
    • Address behavioural challenges presented by customers.
    • Address issues presented by plus sized customers.
    • The sessions were well balanced tailored to the groups needs and delivered in an interactive and engaging way. Feedback from the participants was that the trainer was both knowledgeable, helpful and approachable. He was well versed in the reality of dealing with complex situation in the customer’s own home and the issues that arise. The training served to successfully meet the needs of the individuals and the organisation.

    Professional Lead - OT



    Testimonial 5

    I have worked collaboratively with Gary Knipe over the last five months, since I have taken up the post of Learning & Development Officer having lead role in Manual Handling.

    Gary has worked together with myself and the Back Care Committee to re-design a Manual Handling Workbook which is then produced and shared with staff who attend basic Manual handling training.

    Joint working has been undertaken with the Policies & Procedures team to draw up a revised Manual Handling Policy and introduce new Risk Assessment documentation following the DIAG Code of Practice, in which Gary has been proactive in introducing within Cumbria via meetings and training sessions etc.

    Frequently Gary and I have worked together problem solving for various managers/establishments and Gary has been extremely flexible and has visited different sites over the county, sometimes with very short notice. He responds immediately and produces very detailed reports and strategies to follow.

    Gary delivers training in the following – Manual Handling for Managers, Four Day Manual Handling Key Worker sessions, Two Key worker refresher sessions per year in each of the four districts of the county. He shares and demonstrates a large number of excellent quality resources.

    Feedback and evaluation forms are very consistent showing a high standard of satisfaction from participants on the various training courses.

    L&D Officer | Learning and Development Team



    Testimonial 6

    Gary worked for Cumbria Partnership NHS Trust for 9 years. For most of that time I worked alongside Gary in my capacity as Health and Safety Manager.

    Gary has a wealth of experience in the field of manual handling and back care. He has demonstrated excellent competence in relation to writing, implementing, monitoring and auditing policies and procedures for manual handling which have been acknowledged by the NHSLA as meeting their risk management standards.

    Gary successfully implemented the DIAG system throughout the Trust and built up a network of manual handling key workers across all services. This is a significant achievement considering the geographic spread of Cumbria and the diversity of services delivered by the Trust.

    Gary has also developed and implemented policies and procedures around the risks associated with Display Screen Equipment.

    Gary has many years’ experience of producing high quality reports for Committee’s and Trust Management on performance against expected standards (NHSLA, CQC, Trust policy, legal requirements etc).

    Gary works to very high professional standards and always aims for the achievement of best practice standards. This philosophy is reflected within the policies, procedures, training programmes and risk assessment processes he has developed and implemented.

    His enthusiastic attitude, excellent attention to detail, unquestionable expertise and professional approach meant Gary was, and still is very well respected by staff and management at all levels. In summary Gary’s expertise and experience will be valuable to any organisation. I wish him every success for the future.

    Safety Risk and Security Manager



    Testimonial 7

    The moving and handling one day update for occupational therapists provided by Ergoway was designed to meet our specific needs for day to day practice. The updates were specifically around current case law and updates on new products. Techniques and critical analysis of use of products combined with peer review of risk assessments.

    The theory and practical sessions were comprehensively covered for each group and their specific needs. Learning from each session was applied for the following delivery and Ergoway received positive feedback from delegates relating to content and learning outcomes.

    Professional Development Lead



    Testimonial 8

    Gary has recently developed and delivered a four Manual Handling Keyworker (Train-The-Trainer) programme to Care staff.

    Gary has also facilitated bi-annual keyworker reviews to over 200 keyworkers. During the most recent key worker reviews January, Gary carried out an evaluation of fire evacuation products and produced an extremely comprehensive evaluation report. This evaluation report will enable Senior Management Team to reach a decision on evacuation products which best meet the needs of the organisation.

    Keyworker programmes are delivered to a high standard and are consistent throughout the organisation. Staff evaluation forms and achieved learning outcomes confirm the effectiveness of Gary’s delivery.

    Gary also assists our organisation in manual handling problem solving which is outside our area of expertise. The outcome from problem solving is; improved staff knowledge and competence and service user safety and comfort.

    Gary is highly regarded by the learning and development team and by our manual handling keyworkers for his professionalism and specialist knowledge.

    Learning and Development Officer