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Shared Lives

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

Gun Wharf, Dock Road, Chatham, Kent, ME4 4TR (01634) 337100

Provided and run by:
Medway Council

Important: This service was previously registered at a different address - see old profile

Latest inspection summary

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Background to this inspection

Updated 14 February 2019

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked 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.

Inspection team:

One inspector carried out this inspection.

Service and service type:

Shared Lives is a scheme which provides respite, short and long-term care within a family environment for adults who need additional support, for example, learning disabilities, autistic spectrum disorder and older people. Not everyone using Shared Lives receives regulated activity; CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with ‘personal care’; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also take into account any wider social care provided.

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 registered manager 24 hours’ notice of our inspection as Shared Lives Medway is a community based service so the registered manager and the team are often out of the office. We needed to be sure they would be available. Inspection site visit activity started on 22 January 2019 and ended on 25 January 2019. We visited the office location on 22 January 2019 to see the registered manager and office staff; and to review care records, staff records and policies and procedures. We asked the registered manager if they could seek the permission of Shared Lives carers and people using the service to visit them in their home to gain their feedback, and we visited on 23 and 25 January 2019.

What we did:

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection, in July 2016. This included details about incidents the provider must notify us about, such as abuse or serious injury. Providers are required to send us information at least once annually to give some key details about the service including what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. Although the provider had received the form to complete, due to a technical difficulty they did not receive this in time to be able to return it before the inspection.

During the inspection we spoke to three people living in the Shared Lives service, four Shared Lives carers, the registered manager and a Shared Lives social worker.

We reviewed a range of records. This included four people's care records and medication records. We also looked at one staff file and two Shared Lives carers files around recruitment, assessment and supervision and support. We looked at Shared Lives staff and carers training records. We reviewed records relating to the management of the service and policies and procedures implemented by the provider. We also looked at other records the provider kept, such as meetings with people and Shared Lives carers to share their views.

Overall inspection

Good

Updated 14 February 2019

About the service:

Shared Lives enables people to live with a Shared Lives carer within their home in the local area. Carers are recruited, assessed, trained and supported by the scheme to provide the necessary support for people who come to live with them. Although Shared Lives supported approximately 30 people, approximately only seven people who lived within the scheme received support with their personal care needs at the time of inspection.

What life is like for people using this service:

We found the Shared Lives service met the characteristics of a Good service in all areas.

People received a person-centred service that met their needs and helped them to achieve their goals and ambitions. Whether that was to live a quiet comfortable life, or to gain the confidence and skills to try new things and move on to live more independently.

People were supported and encouraged to be involved in decisions about their own life and care, including who they chose to live with and how they spent their time. Shared Lives carers went through a comprehensive assessment period before they were approved to welcome someone to live with them in their own home.

Shared Lives carers fully involved people in their home and their family life. Some carers lived alone, or with partners, and others lived with their own children. Others had grandchildren and other extended family members visiting regularly. Many carers had pets, such as dogs. People had all this information before they decided to go further and meet a potential carer. People told us about the family gatherings they were involved in and the holidays they enjoyed with their Shared Lives carers, sometimes with their carer’s family or friends.

People enjoyed a range of activities and interests that met their social needs and preferences. They had the opportunity to go out with day opportunity Shared Lives carers to support a wider circle of interests and friendships. This also gave their main carers the chance to catch up on their own chores or interests.

Shared Lives staff, employed by the provider, supported both the people using the service and the Shared Lives carers, who were self-employed. This offered an added network of support to offer advice and guidance and act on any issues raised. The provider had a range of training opportunities for staff and carers to make sure they had the skills and competence to support people well.

The provider made sure they monitored the service in various ways to ensure they continued to provide a good quality service that maintained people’s safety.

More information is in the detailed findings below.

Rating at last inspection:

Good (Report published 21 September 2016)

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection. We found the service continued to meet the characteristics of Good.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor the service through the information we receive. We will carry out another scheduled inspection to make sure the service continues to maintain Good.