Archived: Shared Lives Northumberland

Updated 1 March 2016

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

This inspection took place on 5 and 12 January 2016 and was announced. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location provides a shared lives service and we needed to be sure that someone would be present at the service offices.

The inspection team consisted of an adult social care inspector.

Provider Information Return (PIR) was not requested prior to the inspection. This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We reviewed information we held about the provider, in particular notifications about incidents, accidents, safeguarding matters and any deaths. We contacted the local Healthwatch group, the local authority contracts team, the local authority safeguarding adults team and the local Clinical Commissioning Group. We used their comments to support our planning of the inspection.

We visited three Shared Lives carers’ homes and spoke with three of the people they were supporting. We also spoke with a person who was currently applying to become a Shared Lives carer. Additionally, we contacted five health and social care professionals to ask about their views of the service. We spoke with two coordinators for the service, the registered manager and the operations manager.

We reviewed a range of documents and records including; five care records for people who used the service, three records for Shared Lives carers and three records of staff employed by the service. Additionally, we examined training records, complaints and compliment records and accidents and incident records. We also looked at records of staff meetings and a range of other quality audits and management records.

Updated 1 March 2016

This inspection took place on 5 and 12 January 2016 and was announced because we wanted to ensure there would be someone at the service office when we called.

Shared Lives has an office base at Merley Croft in Morpeth. The service recruits and supports families who provide homes and supportive placements, within a family setting, for adults with learning disabilities. The service covers the whole of Northumberland. At the time of the inspection the registered manager told us they supported 51 people within 47 Shared Lives carers’ homes.

A registered manager was in post and had been registered with the CQC since July 2012. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run. The day to day running of the location was carried out by a service manager, who would report to the registered manager.

People indicated they felt safe living with their Shared Lives carers. Carers had received training with regard to safeguarding adults and said they would report any concerns to the service or people’s care manager. The service had dealt with any safeguarding concerns appropriately.

The provider had in place plans to deal with urgent situations. Staff said that carers could contact them any time during the week or could contact the office for support. Carers could also contact people’s individual care managers for advice. Out of hours support was provided by the local authority’s Emergency Duty Team. Carers said they were well supported and they always received a response to any concerns or queries.

Processes were in place to recruit staff and to carry out checks to ensure they were suitably experienced. Shared Lives carers went through an extensive assessment process, looking at a range of matters including their backgrounds, health and experience. All carers were required to be approved by a formal assessment panel before being matched with a person to support.

People receiving support with their medicines were assisted appropriately and carers confirmed they had received training in the safe handling of medicines.

Carers told us they had received a range of training, both as part of their induction and on an ongoing basis. They were positive about the training offered. Staff also confirmed they had access to a range of training. A new on line training system was being developed to make it easier for carers to access training and track that training was up to date.

The Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) provides a legal framework for making particular decisions on behalf of people who may lack the mental capacity to do so for themselves. The Act requires that as far as possible people make their own decisions and are helped to do so when needed. When they lack mental capacity to take particular decisions, any made on their behalf must be in their best interests and as least restrictive as possible.

Staff were aware of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and issues relating to personal choice. The registered manager confirmed that no one using the service was subject to restrictions imposed by the Court of Protection. Some people had deputyship orders in place to help them manage their finances.

People were supported to maintain their well-being. Carers worked with health professionals or therapists where they were actively involved in people’s care. People were also supported to attend hospital or medical appointments. People had access to a plentiful choice of foods and drinks.

People said they were happy and well cared for. We observed relaxed relationships between people and their carers. They said their privacy and dignity was respected and they had their own rooms that they could access at any time.

People’s needs were assessed and care records called “All about me” detailed the type of support they required. Documents contained goals that people wished to achieve. There were regular reviews of people’s care. The registered manager told us there had been one recent formal complaint. This had been dealt with appropriately. People told us they were happy with the care provided and they had no complaints about the service.

The provider had in place systems to effectively manage the service and monitor quality. Regular reviews of placements took place to ensure people were receiving appropriate levels of care and support. Carers were contacted to solicit their views of the support they received from coordinators. The service was participating in research looking at extending Shared Lives services. Staff told us there were regular team meetings which covered business and care support matters. Records were up to date and stored securely.