Should I stay in a job where I don't feel safe ?

[mummyloveslucy]

Hi, I've ben working at a home for people with learning disabilities for about two months now. I've done one month of day shifts and now I'm contacted to two nights a week. There are only two residents at the moment, a teenage girl and an 18 year old man. They are both autistic, but the man can be quite agressive. He's 6 foot 4, so it's very hard to stop him from pinching, scratching and pushing you when he's anxious.
Last night he attacked me for no apparent reason and I now have 11 places on my hands and arms where he's drawn blood and two big bruses on my wrists.
I managed to get away from him and locked myself in the bathroom until he'd calmed down. I then phoned the on-call person who came to help.
At night there is only one member of staff in the building and it has to be a female because of the female resident. They are not funded for any extra.
I'm not sure wether to hand my notice in? I did really like the job and the money is quite good, but I don't feel safe there on my own at night.
I have a 5 year old daughter who was very upset when she saw my cuts and I had to tell her I'd been gardening and got cut by some rose thorns.
He's not like this all the time, usually one a week.
Should I just hang in there, or should I leave?
Also does anyone have any sugestions of what I could wear to protect my hands and arms in the future? Thanks.

I think you need to have documented evidence of whats going on and records of your injuries and I think you need to be speaking to your employers about support in this situation.

If you like the job then perhaps its worth 'working' through?

What does your manager have to say about this? It's completely unacceptable for you to be attacked at work and it sounds like this is not an environment suitable for lone working. What if you hadn't been able to get away? What would you have done if the young man had targeted the girl? It sounds dangerous. And unfair on everyone, including the young man who needs and deserves better support.

I have filled in an incident report. Someone recently after the same thing happening to her. The day staff are worried that this resident will made to leave the home if they can't keep night staff because of him.

I agree autodidact. Apparently they wont fund him for more than one person at nigh, as it don't happen every night.
Last night, the girl was with her parents, but if she was at home and came out to see what was going on, he'd probubly be attacking her too. She also has severe epilepsy and could be having a seizure while this is going on.

Totally unreasonable to be lone working in that situation. Ensure all incident reports are complete & copy is going to health & safety. Speak to supervisor & other night staff about situation. Speak to union.

I work in this area, you need to have a risk assessment done, which you need to be involved with.

You also need to tell your boss that you feel it is unacceptable and unsafe ratio of working, especially at night as I presume that you are also the responsible person for the building? You need to have all this logged on your 1-1, what if you fell ill whilst on duty, or the on call person did not answer you, all this needs to be taken into account on the risk assessment, and do not let your boss tell you they don't have the money to put things right, as this will not wash if your health and safety is at risk, see the www.hse.gov.uk/
website it tells you about lone working, and risk assessments.

If you have only been there two months have you had training in challenging behaviour and breakaway techniques? (don't think restraint would be much use on your own tbh although you should have this too)

You need more training and clearly further staff. Presumably he has a behavioural plan - what strategies does that suggest?

Hi, I've had no training to do with challenging behaviour at all. It was pretty scary.
I'm working on wednesday and I feel like sitting in the office with the door locked until he's in a deep sleep.

I do feel a bit miffed that the boss hasn't even bothered to phone to see if I'm alright etc. The last time this happened, the night worker phone in to say she wasn't comming back.

If it was me I'd be anonymously reporting them to CQC, or the LA, as in my area where I live, CQC shut down a home for bad practice like this. Training being the most important issue, and also lack of risk assessments.

Your employers are guilty of apalling bad practice. While this young man isn't wicked, he is dangerous (FFS he is 6'4 and strong) and you shouldn't be having to deal with him by yourself when you have had no training. You are right to consider that he could be a danger to the other patient as well. As whatif says, complain to your supervisor, log everything, appeal to your union if necessary.

Yes, both you and the man are being failed.

And the resident shouldn't be 'made to leave the home' but he should maybe be moved somewhere more suitable for him. I have a severely autistic son and would be horrified if he ended up in the situation of being cared for by someone with no training and no understanding of his behaviours who was therefore at risk. It's not fair on you or him. Training and suitable staffing levels are essential and basic.

The challenging behaviour foundation tends to be aimed at families, but they have a lot of useful support and a lot of professionals involved. They may be able to advise you on the best course of action. Clearly the current situation cannot continue.

Do you know this man's history?

I ask because the LA has a legal responsibility to warn you of any risk of danger involved in working with him.

A SEN teacher who was not warned of one of her new student's violent behaviour was attacked by him when she turned her back- as SGB says, no malice intended, but she was not warned of the danger. She was scarred for life, and sued the LEA for failing to disclose information. She won. I will try and find a link to the story, was a few years back.

Speak to your union, the LA are failing in their duty of care to him, to their staff and to the young woman living there. They are leaving themselves wide open for legal action; if you leave due to this, it may(not a lawyer) constitute constructive dismissal.

Have a look at TeamTeach who provide training in positive handling strategies.

And unfortunately SS will not fund anything more than they can get away with. The cheapest option is always the best option in their eyes, even if it is unsuitable. Kicking up a fuss will benefit him as well as you so don't be afraid to if you want to continue working there.

Tethersend, can I just point out something, the LA have a legal duty to assess this man, and then inform the home of any risks, however it is then the manager/supervisors duty to undertake a risk assessment and behaviour/STAR chart. The findings should then be disseminated to staff and any training needs identified. The actual home has a duty of care to their staff.

I work for LA, and believe me when I say that this does not sound like a LA home, I could be wrong but LA staff in my area are highly trained and usually we get pulled in to put things right. However in this case I think it's the poor staff who feel totally undervalued, and let down by their management.

The manager of the care home is a representative of the LA- if, as you say it is indeed a LA home. I agree that it doesn't sound like one, but was working on that assumption.

If it is a private care home and the place has been funded by the LA, then the buck still stops with them, no?

No it doesn't just because the LA fund this person does not make them responsible for how the care is provided that is the managers duty, and should be in the homes statement of purpose, the LA only has a duty to undertake the original assessment not for providing the care, or how the home is run CQC should do inspections and make sure everything is in place, e.g. risk assessments, care plans, training for staff etc.

Hi, I just wanted to let you all know that it's happened again to another female member of staff and she's walked out. Now we have a male member of staff sleeping there every night. Who won't go to bed until the young man is asleep.
I feel much better about the situation now. It's a shame it had to get so bad, for someone to do something about it.

glad to see they've sorted staffing out but this is only the beginning. You need to ensure that you have the appropriate training and not do any further nightshifts until you've received this. I manage a similar home, where we have lone working night shift with a sleepin.

the minimum required training to complete a night shift for us is full control and restraint training (though we only advocate use of breakaway techniques as safe C&R requires a team to ocmplete); first aid; administration of medication; verbal de-escalation; epilepsy management.

based on what you have said, you need breakaway training; managing challenging behaviour and verbal de-escalation skills now.

have you seen occupational health? he's drawn blood - you need to be referred.

risk assessments - these need reviewing now.

care plans - these need reviewing now.

now this is likely not to be your responsibility, but request supervision and have this documented and request action.

from a point of protective clothing, can't recommend anything other than long sleeves. be aware of your distance, position where your nearest exit is. identify blind spots in the building and be aware of where he is. read his history, there maybe a list of triggers somewhere, things to avoid discussing; pertinent dates etc that you need to be aware of.