Archived: Borough of Poole - Poole Shared Lives Scheme

The Shared Lives Service recruits people to become paid carers to support adults with a learning disability. The service had also recently recruited carers to start providing a service for older people diagnosed with dementia. People stay with carers and receive their support in their family home. Some people lived with carers and other people stayed with carers for short-term respite.

At the time of the inspection the service employed 56 carers and was supporting 78 people on a long term or short term basis. Shared Lives staff supported people and their carers to ensure people received appropriate care, and carers had access to support whenever they needed it.

The service had a registered manager. 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.

A shared lives staff member described the scheme to us as, “The whole idea is to empower people to be as independent as possible with support” and a carer said, “It’s a family and they get one to one support”. One person using the service told us, “I am happy” and another person said, “I am very happy [the carer] is very kind and it's good”. Records and feedback we received showed that the schemes philosophy, ethos and values were ensuring people led meaningful happy lives.

People were safeguarded because staff and carers understood what they needed to do if they were concerned or worried about someone and a rigorous recruitment procedure ensured carers were suitable to provide support to vulnerable people.

Carers and staff were supported and trained to make sure they had the right knowledge and skills. People told us they liked their carer and were supported to express their view and make their own decisions. Feedback from staff and carers showed people were encouraged to try new experiences and develop their skills.

People’s needs were assessed before they began using the service and detailed care plans provided carer’s with guidance on how the person wanted or needed to be supported.

There were effective governance systems in place to make sure the service people received was safe, effective, caring and responsive.

We spoke with four carers as part of the inspection. One carer we spoke with told us, 'I have always felt well supported by the scheme. Another said, 'As a carer it's very good', and 'I can't fault it, it's a satisfying job'. A third carer we spoke with told us, 'The scheme is good, its normal family life'.

We also spoke with two members of staff, the manager of the service and a senior manager.

We found that care was planned and delivered in a way that was intended to ensure people's safety and welfare.

People who use the service, their representatives and staff were asked for their views about their care and treatment and they were acted on.

There was an effective complaints system and information about making a complaint was provided in a suitable format.

People were protected from the risks of unsafe or inappropriate care and treatment because accurate and appropriate records were maintained.

Training records showed that carers had received all relevant training. Management conducted review checks three and six monthly as well as annually. The records showed that reviews had been completed and this was confirmed by the carers we spoke with.

People who use the service and carers told us they knew how to raise a concern or complaint and felt confident in doing so. All said if they had any issues or concerns they were able to discuss anything with the manager or assessment officers.

The quality of the service was monitored through regular checks and an annual survey. People who use the service were provided with the opportunity to give feedback and influence the way the service was run.