Quick Guide |
For details of the amendments made to this latest version of the procedures manual please see Amendments.
If you have any comments to make in regard to the content of this manual or have any suggested material which could be added to this manual in the first instance contact your manager or the Workforce Development Manager LBR Children and Families Service.
This manual includes a Forms Library which contains most of the forms workers will need to complete during the course of their work.
Links have been made to the London Safeguarding Children Procedures and Practice Guidance.
The home screen includes buttons to the:
- London Safeguarding Children Procedures;
- Workforce Development;
- Early Intervention and Family Support;
- One Minute Guides.
Access to some of the above are for London Borough of Redbridge staff only.
Before proceeding to the body of the manual, please read this ‘Quick Guide’. If there are any questions or suggestions, please talk to your manager.
This 'Quick Guide' must be read before accessing the body of the manual.
Contents
- Display and Browser Options
- Amendments
- How to Find a Chapter
- Terminology
- Keywords
- Compliance
- Register for Updates
- Copyright
- Printing and Retaining Copies
1. Display and Browser Options
People with a visual impairment may have difficulty accessing this Manual.
To change the size of the text/layout - please use these accessibility buttons:
which are on menu bar on the left side of every screen. Click a larger button to increase your text size, the very largest being high visibility mode.
2. Amendments
The manual contains the current operational procedures for Redbridge Children and Families Services. The manual is updated on a regular basis and when the updates are published, any chapters which are new or have been significantly amended are indicated on the Contents List and at the top of the relevant chapter. The changes in each update are also summarised at the top of the chapter.
Click here to view details of updates made to this manual.
The next planned update for this manual is February 2024.
If you have any queries or suggestions, please contact your manager.
3. How to Find a Chapter
Procedures and guidance are located in individual 'Chapters' which are available from a 'traditional' Contents List - on the left hand side of the screen.
Chapters are categorised or grouped together as follows:
PARTS: The manual contains procedures categorised under a number of Service Sectors, like Looked After Services.
SECTIONS: Within each Service Sector e.g. 'Placements'.
CHAPTERS: Under each Section, you'll find individual Chapters/Procedures e.g. 'Placements with Parents'.
If you aren't sure which service or section to look in, try 'Search'.
The manual has a standard internet search engine, it will search all chapters and documents within the manual, including Word documents and PDFs – it will NOT search the internet.
For best results check spelling, as an incorrectly spelt word will not return any results – unlike some search engines this one will not make assumptions and suggest similar words to those you have misspelled.
The search also has a wild card (asterisk *) function if users are unsure of the spelling of a particular word. For example, when the word “ophthalmology” is searched for the results yield one match. However searches for “ophtholmology” or “ophthalmolopy” will not find any results, however searching for “oph*” will find the relevant chapter.
To use the wild card function successfully; spell as much as the word accurately as you can – the more letters the tighter the search parameters.
4. Terminology
We believe it is crucial to use consistent terminology, which we agree with individual customers, for example:
| 'Home' and 'Resource' | This is a generic term which means Children’s Home, Foster Home. |
| 'Child' or 'Young Person' | Both of these terms are used to mean any child under the age of 18. |
| 'Staff' or 'Carer' | Means all Staff and Carers (including) whether employed or not. |
| 'Manager' | Means Team Manager, it also means YOT Team Manager. |
| 'Line Manager' | Means the first Line Manager of a team/service. |
| 'Parent' | Means person with Parental Responsibility. |
| 'Regulatory Authority' | Regulatory Authority is the generic term used in this manual to describe the independent regulatory body responsible for inspecting and regulating services e.g. Ofsted. |
| 'Social Worker' | This means the worker allocated to the child/family. If there is no allocated worker, the Duty Social Worker or Team Manager is responsible. |
5. Keywords
The manual is accessed by practitioners from varying agencies, who may find terms that they are not familiar with. Therefore, a large glossary (Keywords) of terms is available such as Notifiable Disease (Try it: click on the highlighted text). We call them 'Keywords'. Once clicked, the definitions will appear in a new window or tab, depending on your browser. You can leave it open for reference, or close it using the "close" button at the bottom.
Many Keywords are highlighted in the body of procedures, alternatively there is a comprehensive resource of Keywords and National Contacts which you can access via button on the left hand side of the screen.
6. Compliance
Regulatory Compliance
Every effort has been taken to ensure regulatory compliance. If you discover any errors or mistakes, please alert your manager.
7. Register for Updates
We recommend that you register with us to automatically receive notification when the manual is updated, and be informed about the briefing papers we regularly publish. Open the Contents page of the manual and click on the ‘Register for Update’ button on the left side of the screen, to complete and send your details to us.
We will manage your data respectfully and in accordance with your preferences and we will never share your data with other organisations for marketing or other purposes.
8. Copyright
The content of this website can be accessed, printed and downloaded in an unaltered form, on a temporary basis, for personal study or reference purposes. However any content printed or downloaded may not be sold, licensed, transferred, copied or reproduced in whole or in part in any manner or in or on any media to any person without the prior written consent of tri.x and London Borough of Redbridge.
9. Printing and Retaining Copies
The Manual should normally be viewed on line but can be printed, for reference only.
To print a chapter, click on the 
icon which is in the top right hand corner of the relevant procedure
Please note, the Manual will be updated regularly, so we recommend that you avoid retaining printed versions and check back with the online manual to ensure they have the most up to date version.
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