Lifeways has secured two prestigious wins at the LaingBuisson Awards, triumphing in the Excellence in Specialist Care and Excellence in Supported Living categories. These accolades highlight Lifeways’ dedication to supporting individuals with complex mental health needs through innovative approaches and effective staff development.
The Mental Health Division at Lifeways has developed a specialised model focused on providing tailored support to individuals with complex mental health challenges, including personality disorders and those managing significant risks, such as forensic backgrounds.
Winning the Specialist Care Award, Lifeways was commended for its comprehensive and meticulous approach to social care. Central to this success is the work of their dedicated Quality and Practice Team, comprising mental health professionals, registered nurses, social workers, and occupational therapists with experience in both hospital and community environments. This team collaborates with individuals and their support networks to gain an in-depth understanding of each person’s needs. The judges praised Lifeways’ methods as “exemplifying excellence.”
Lifeways challenges traditional reliance on in-patient care by promoting collaborative working, maintaining therapeutic optimism, and adopting a positive approach to risk. Their mission is to help individuals transition from hospital settings to community life in a safe, less restrictive manner, supporting autonomy and recovery.
This approach has gained the trust of Responsible Clinicians and Forensic teams, demonstrating that even individuals with complex needs can be effectively supported in community settings. Lifeways’ work underscores the professionalism of the care sector, ensuring individuals receive person-centred support closer to home.
In the Supported Living Award category, Lifeways’ innovative use of Radar Healthcare’s risk, quality, and compliance system played a key role in their success. The system provides real-time data analytics, allowing staff to collect and analyse behavioural statistics to identify triggers, early warning signs, and opportunities for intervention. This data-driven approach has enabled Lifeways to demonstrate governance to regulators and external stakeholders while achieving measurable improvements in care.
Radar Healthcare’s fully customisable system includes features like enhanced risk monitoring and notifications. These functionalities allow recovery support workers to flag issues directly to Risk Managers and operational teams, enabling proactive responses to incidents such as emergency service interventions.
Lifeways has also used Radar Healthcare to develop specific reporting categories, such as the Apartment Environment Challenge, which support workers use to raise alerts about housing-related issues. This innovative approach has led to an 80% reduction in challenges like hoarding across their mental health services.
Rhian Bulmer, Chief Partnerships Officer at Radar Healthcare, said:
“We are delighted that the data provided by Radar Healthcare has advanced Lifeways’ organisational objective to work positively with individuals at significant risk and support some of the most vulnerable in our society. We are proud to support our partners in their work, providing care to those most in need.”
Gareth Roberts, Director of Quality at Lifeways, added:
“Radar Healthcare has been a game-changer for Lifeways since we introduced it in 2022. It has provided us with incredible insights, across our UK-wide services, which have shaped our improvement journey.
It has made it possible to help us manage risks, achieve compliance across a range of metrics and improved our real-time oversight of everything from accidents and incidents, to safeguarding and medication – all in one place. It has given us a powerful way of reporting on our performance and compliance to regulators and stakeholders and was one of the key components of our award submission.
Not only this, but they are a great team to work with.”
For more information, visit www.radarhealthcare.com.
