Shared Lives Service

Updated 8 November 2022

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

The inspection was carried out by one inspector and two Experts by Experience. One inspector visited the office on the first day. On the second day the Experts by Experience made phone calls to carers and people. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service. On the third day two inspectors visited some people who use the service to talk about their experiences.

Service and service type

Shared Lives Service is a shared lives scheme, they recruit, train and support self-employed shared lives carers (SLC) who offer accommodation and support arrangements for vulnerable adults within their own family homes in the community.

Registered Manager

This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

What we did before inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and Healthwatch. Healthwatch is an independent consumer champion that gathers and represents the views of the public about health and social care services in England. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

During the inspection we received feedback from 14 carers and three people on their experience of the care and support provided by the Shared Lives Service. We visited three people to speak with them in person. We spoke with six staff including the service manager, registered manager, shared lives support officers and business administration assistant. We received feedback from four professionals who supported people using the service.

We also reviewed a range of records. We looked at care records for seven people. We reviewed two staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including quality assurance audits and training records were reviewed.

Updated 8 November 2022

About the service

Shared Lives Service is a shared lives scheme which provides people with long-term placements, short breaks and respite care within shared lives carer’s own homes. At the time of our inspection there were 57 people living in long term placements with a further 24 people registered for respite care. Some shared lives carers were approved for more than one person to live in their home.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

Right Support: People received exceptional care and support from dedicated carers who considered people to be part of their family and vice versa. With the right support people flourished in all aspects of their lives, growing in self-confidence, developing skills and being able to grasp opportunities which would not otherwise have been available to them. People were supported to achieve their aspirations and goals. People were enabled to access specialist health and social care support when this was needed. People were supported to play an active role in maintaining and improving their health and wellbeing.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

Right Care: People living or accessing respite care with shared lives carers received outstanding person-centred care and support which promoted their dignity, privacy and human rights. People were supported to develop skills and independence at their individual level, varying from growing in confidence with cooking and household tasks to moving into more independent living arrangements. People received care and support from exceptionally kind and compassionate carers. Carers and staff responded to people’s individual needs and focused upon supporting them to achieve a full and enriching quality of life.

Right Culture: The ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of leaders and care staff ensured people using services lead confident, inclusive and empowered lives. Staff ensured risks of a closed culture were minimised, so people received support based on transparency, respect and inclusivity. The registered manager, staff and carers worked hard to instil a culture of care and good teamwork. Everyone valued and promoted people’s individuality, protected their rights and enabled them to develop and flourish. There was an embedded culture of people being at the heart of the service.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection

In 2021 Northamptonshire County Council split into two local authorities, which meant changes to the CQC registration of the service. This is the first inspection of this newly registered service.

The last rating for the service under the previous provider was outstanding, published on 23 August 2019.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.