Hackney Shared Lives Scheme

Updated 25 June 2019

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team:

The inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Service and service type:

Hackney Shared Lives Scheme is a service that provides both long-term placements and short time respite care in the community.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. 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.

Notice of inspection:

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit to ensure there was somebody at the location to facilitate our inspection.

Inspection site visit activity started on 4 June 2019 and ended on 6 June 2019. We visited the office location on 4 June 2019 to see the manager and office staff; and to review care records and policies and procedures. We carried out visits to three people in their shared lives arrangements with their prior permission and spoke with three shared lives carers.

What we did:

Our inspection was informed by evidence we already held about the service including any statutory notifications. A statutory notification is information about important events which the provider is required to send us by law. The provider had completed a Provider Information Return. This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

We spoke with three people who used the service and three shared lives carers.

We spoke with the registered manager and a shared lives officer.

We contacted healthcare professionals and the local authority commissioning team for their feedback.

We reviewed seven people’s care records, recruitment and monitoring records of four shared lives carers, training records for all office staff and the shared lives carers, and other records related to the management of the regulated activity.

Updated 25 June 2019

About the service:

Hackney Shared Lives Scheme is a service that recruits, trains and supports shared lives carers to provide care and support to children between 13 to 18 years, adults with a learning disability or autistic spectrum disorder, a mental health condition, people who misuse drugs and alcohol, and with an eating disorder. People using the service live with the shared lives carers in their homes.

At the time of the inspection, 19 people were receiving support by 15 shared lives carers.

The service has been developed and designed in line with the principles and values that underpin Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. This ensures that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes. The principles reflect the need for people with learning disabilities and/or autism to live meaningful lives that include control, choice, and independence. People using the service receive planned and co-ordinated person-centred support that is appropriate and inclusive for them.

People’s experience of using this service:

The outcomes for people using the service reflected the principles and values of Registering the Right Support in the following ways: promotion of choice and control, independence, inclusion. People's support focused on them having as many opportunities as possible for them to gain new skills and become more independent.

People told us they felt safe living with shared lives carers.

People’s needs were safely met by shared lives carers who knew how to safeguard them from the risk of harm, abuse and neglect.

People received effective, timely and consistent care that enabled them to live healthier lives.

People were involved in planning their care and their care plans were comprehensive and regularly

reviewed.

People and shared lives carers were encouraged to raise concerns and make complaints.

People were supported by sufficient and suitable staff and shared lives carers who received relevant and regular training, and supervision to provide effective care.

Staff and shared lives carers were knowledgeable about how to provide care without discrimination and told us they treated people like individuals and met their individualised needs.

People told us shared lives carers treated them with dignity and respected their privacy and encouraged their independence.

The provider had a stable team and management to provide continuous support to shared lives carers.

The provider had effective systems in place to ensure people's safety and quality of care.

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

Rating at last inspection:

At the last inspection the service was rated Requires Improvement (report published 5 June 2018).

Why we inspected:

This was a scheduled inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received, we may inspect sooner.