Wakeling, a practitioner psychologist and behaviour analyst by background, set up Positive Behaviour Support Consultancy in 2008 after spending time in the US where she discovered a different approach to mental health.
‘I saw a different application and came back really inspired that I wanted to deliver those kind of high quality services and achieve really outstanding outcomes for people,' Wakeling said.
‘I started off as a sole contractor doing individual pieces of work, gaining quite a lot of success and being asked by the public sector to do more work so I started to think about taking on employees and developing more service offerings and that's got us to where we are today.'
PSG has grown to a workforce of around 100. Based in London, the business has expanded to offer services as far as the Midlands and North West.
PSG's (previously Positive Behaviour Support Consultancy) specialist team of clinicians and practitioners provide immediate assessments, tailored interventions and ongoing support services primarily for people with a learning disability and/or who are autistic with the most complex needs.
Since its founding in 2008, PSG has supported over 100,000 people and saved the NHS over £55m each year through avoiding hospital admissions and residential placements.
‘The goal of the business is to transform lives to give people incredible lives in their communities,' Wakeling said.
‘There's a significant issue with people going into residential care many miles from home. They show up in our client group in the criminal justice system and A&E departments seeking services at crisis point because local services really haven't got the provision to support them.
‘Fundamentally we change that. We have the services, the specialisms to keep people safe in their communities for our public sector partners.'
As part of restoring peoples' independence and returning them to the community, PSG helps children and adults return to education and the workplace.
‘We help individuals reach whatever their goal is whether that be getting back into education, being a volunteer or getting back into paid work,' Wakeling said.
PSG's return to education programme, for example, supports people who are either excluded or not attending schools or at risk of exclusion.
‘In terms of employment, we ask what are the tasks and challenges at work that we can help negotiate or break down for an individual?' Wakeling said.
‘Some of it might actually be the match between the work and the individual in ensuring everybody's aligned to someone's needs, or some of it might be actually trying to specify the role and responsibilities a little bit more clearly for someone who might find they need a bit more concrete information.
‘We call ourselves a high touch service as we build rapport and relationships with the person we're going to support but also their family and their network.
‘We need to walk in their shoes to be able to express that to other people so we will have a shared understanding of someone's needs.'
The success of PSG's work with individuals is measured in terms of whether their lives are better and their risk is reduced.
‘We measure our success in terms of outcomes for individuals,' Wakeling said.
‘We have to deliver outstanding outcomes. Their risk of being admitted to hospital or of significant harm has to have come down.
‘We also measure people's own goals in terms of what they are trying to achieve.
‘We look before we start and after to assess whether they are on the right direction of travel for that flourishing life we are all looking for.
‘We also measure how people feel about the service as well as how their family members feel.
‘We measure how confident parents feel as well as assessing well-being.'
In a recent example, PSG worked with an individual with no medical care needs who had been on a paediatric ward for 120 days.
‘We worked with her and her network and within a week secured a placement and she's moved out and she's successful in that placement,' Wakeling said.
‘We are incredibly successful at keeping people out of hospital.
‘We may be working with an individual in hospital to get them ready for discharge or maybe upskilling the provider market so that there's care homes available to take people with complex needs to try and overcome that barrier where people can't find a placement.'
Wakeling said PSG scores in the high 90% in terms of customer satisfaction levels.
Given the severe financial challenges of the NHS, saving on public sector costs is a key aim of the business.
The average cost of detention for an individual with a learning disability is £1.2m over five years, Wakeling highlighted.
In terms of returning people to community settings this can range from people's family homes to residential or supported living as well as foster homes.
‘Many people move from one foster home to another and then into residential care so we try to stop that escalator effect,' Wakeling observed.
She cited the example of a foster family with a complex young person who were on the point of giving up until PSG came in to stabilise the situation so they were able to cope.
They kept the young person in their care and continue in the foster care sector.
With demand for mental health services continuing to soar, with the NHS estimated to be only able to support 40% of the one in five children with a mental health condition, PSG clearly has a vital role to play in ensuring vulnerable individuals gain the support they need.
‘We've been able to demonstrate time and time again, whether it's at an individual level, a borough level or an ICB or provider collaborative, that better outcomes are possible and cheaper than the crisis model we have,' Wakeling concludes.
‘For every pound spent with us, we save at least £10 whether that be through the avoidance of hospital, residential care or increasing the independence of individuals so they don't require so much support.
‘We're committed to transforming lives and that's what we've been doing since day one.'
If you would like to appear in The Big Interview email Lee Peart at l.peart@hgluk.com
