Passage House FAQs

• Privacy – you have the right to privacy during your stay. Staff undertake daily room and welfare checks around midday but will always knock before they enter your room (except in an emergency, when the staff have to right to enter your room without your permission if they think that your welfare is at risk, or that there is a health and safety issue).

• Dignity – you have the right to be treated with dignity by staff and other residents at all times. Dignity is something we take very seriously and will always uphold.

• Respect – you will be encouraged to discuss your thoughts, you will be listened to and your views will be considered.

• Independence – you have the right to independence and staff will always respect that.

• Security – you have the right to live secure in the knowledge that you are safe while you stay at Passage House. This is why we have staff available 24 hours a day.

• Choice – you have the right to exercise choice in your life and we respect that.

• Representation – you are entitled to attend and participate in the Residents Forum, which meets quarterly.

• Civil rights – you have the right to exercise your rights as a citizen, for example, by voting or having your say on local or national issues, and staff will help you to do this.

• Complaints – you have the right to make a complaint following the Complaints Procedure (details of which can be found in Appendix 1) and will be supported to do so. Please ask a member of staff to assist you if needed.

• Good quality, safe accommodation – As a registered housing provider, we will make sure your home is safe, clean, and in good condition. Your home must meet the government’s Decent Homes Standard, which means it should be warm, dry, and in a good state of repair. We must also follow health and safety laws to make sure everything, like gas and electricity, is safe for you to use. If we need to come into your room or flat to do repairs, check something, or show someone the property, we will give you notice first – we won’t just turn up without telling you. If you are disabled, we will do our best to make reasonable changes (called adjustments) to help you live safely and comfortably in your home. The PHS Board of Trustees and the Director of Housing & Services are responsible for making sure your home is good, quality, safe and well managed, and meets the ‘Consumer Standards’ set out by the Regulator of Social Housing.

Your licence agreement sets this out in more detail, as well as your responsibilities. If you’re unsure about anything, you can ask for help to understand your agreement.

The Dining Room is on the Ground Floor and open from 7am to 11pm daily. We have a continental breakfast available from 7am to 9am. Dinner is served from 5:30pm – 7pm. You can help yourself to coffee and tea throughout the day while the Dining Room is open. We do receive regular donations of sandwiches and salads and these will be made available at lunch time when we have them.

A regular cleaning service is provided for all communal spaces, communal bathrooms and shared access areas within Passage House. Please ensure there are no obstructions or hazards that might affect the cleaning process. This includes removing your personal possessions from floors and surfaces in the communal areas at the time of daily/weekly cleaning.

Keeping your room safe, clean, tidy and presentable at all times is your responsibility. We do understand everyone needs help occasionally and if you are struggling, please let us know so we can support you. It is important you let us know as soon as possible so things don’t become unmanageable. Please be aware that if you continue to keep your room in an unpresentable state this will lead to a written warning and could lead to you being asked to leave.

At the end of your stay, we ask you to remove all personal items and leave the room & bathroom clean and as you found it.

Everyone staying and working at Passage House agrees to treat others with respect, this means we do not accept any form of harassment, assault, bullying, intimidation or discrimination. We see ourselves as a community and feel it is important that we do not cause any disturbance or nuisance to our neighbours in the local area. As such:

• Please leave and return to the building quietly especially at night and be mindful that even soft conversations can appear loud when the streets are quiet at night.
• Please ensure you do not leave food or other rubbish on the street or on doorsteps in the street and dispose of any items appropriately in the street bins.

If someone is making you feel scared, upset or unsafe where you live – like being loud at night, threatening you, damaging things, or using drugs or alcohol in a way that causes problems – this is also anti-social behaviour. If this happens, tell a staff member as soon as you can. You can talk to someone you trust, or write it down if that feels easier. We will listen to you, take what you say seriously, and do our best to keep you safe.

In compliance with the General Date Protection Regulations (GDPR), we are not permitted to discuss any details of your situation with any other person, unless you provide permission to do so or in cases where we have a legal duty to so. If your safety or those of others is at risk we may also have to disclose information as part of our obligation to safeguard the people who stay with us. We may also be under a legal obligation to share information with the police or the criminal justice system under certain circumstances but we will always try to discuss this with you so you are aware of the situation.