London Boroughs of Hounslow & Ealing
Development of a training programme to enhance dignity and respect for LGBT service users

RBE Associates were awarded a contract to develop and deliver a training programme to address the  needs of LGBT people using  council services provided by Hounslow and Ealing. This was based upon a recommendation by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) following their inspection visit to Hounslow in 2010.

Neighbouring Ealing were also interested in increasing the knowledge and skills of their workforce, to improve the quality of their services.

RBE Associates undertook a research process to determine the content of the programme, and consider the differences in the way services are configured in the two boroughs. Whilst Hounslow retains much of the social care and personalised support in house, Ealing have outsourced the majority of this activity.

Working with a small steering group, we developed the programme collaboratively, to ensure we fully understood what staff would respond to. The group consisted of the training lead for Hounslow, the LGBT lead for Hounslow and an Adult services commissioner for Ealing

RBE Associates developed a training programme which was agreed, to include handouts available electronically, pre and post course questionnaires to measure change in confidence as well as regular updates as legislation changed and more research findings became available.