Oxfordshire Shared Lives Scheme

Updated 20 March 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:

The inspection team consisted of two inspectors and an expert by experience (ExE). An

expert-by-experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type:

This service provides care and support to people living in shared lives households, so that they can live as independently as possible. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for shared lives; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support.

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 because the manager is often out of the office supporting staff or attending meetings. We needed to be sure that they would be in.

Inspection site visit activity started on 6 February 2019 and ended on 14 February 2019. We visited the office location on 6 and 8 February 2019 to see the manager and office staff; and to review care records and policies and procedures.

What we did:

Before the inspection we reviewed the information, we held about the service and the service provider. The registered provider completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). 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 looked at the notifications we had received for this service. Notifications are information about important events the service is required to send us by law.

During the inspection we observed how shared lives workers interacted with shared lives cares and in turn how shared lives carers interacted with people. We spoke with nine people and two relatives. We looked at records, which included seven people’s care and medicines records. We checked recruitment, training and supervision records for four staff. We looked at a range of records about how the service was managed. We also spoke with the registered manager, five staff members, the administrator and eight shared lives carers.

During the inspection we spoke with four health and social care professionals to obtain their views about the service.

Updated 20 March 2019

About the service:

The Shared Lives Scheme is responsible for approving, training and monitoring 'shared lives carers' who provide personal care and support to people (on placements), living with them in their family home. At the time of this inspection the Scheme employed 8 social workers and had 74 approved 'shared lives households' who supported 124 people in placements. At the time of our inspection 33 people were receiving the regulated activity of personal care.

Not everyone using Oxfordshire Shared Lives Scheme receives regulated activity; CQC 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.

People’s experience of using this service:

Oxfordshire Shared Lives Scheme is an extraordinary service which invites people regardless of their care needs to share both family and community life with others. The service is designed to carefully match people to households which in turn contributes to creating a 'personal touch' and a strong, visible person-centred approach. People were truly respected and valued as individuals; and empowered as partners in their care in an exceptional service. The shared lives team recognised and worked with people to reduce social isolation, they were particularly sensitive to times when people needed caring and compassionate support.

There was sufficient number of safely recruited shared lives carers and shared lives workers to keep people safe. People received their medicines as prescribed. Risks to people’s well-being and individual conditions were recorded and updated as required. The management team ensured any lessons learnt were reflected to improve the service and experience for people.

Staff and shared lives carers understood their responsibilities to identify and report all concerns in relation to safeguarding people from abuse. Staff and shared lives carers had completed safeguarding training. Staff had access to effective supervision. Shared lives carers were also positive about the support they received from the team of social workers.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and shared lives carers supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. Both shared lives workers and shared lives carers were aware of the principles of the Mental Capacity Act. People were supported to access health professionals and any advice received was incorporated into people’s care planning process. People were encouraged to maintain good diet and nutrition.

People received support that met their assessed needs and in line with their care plans. People and their shared lives carers knew how to raise any concerns and told us any concerns were promptly addressed. No people received end of life support at the time of our inspection, people’s end of life wishes where appropriate had been recorded.

Staff spoke positively about the support they received from the registered manager. People and staff complimented the management team and told us they were accessible and approachable. There was a clear staffing structure, staff were aware of their roles and responsibilities and had opportunities to develop in their roles. There were a number of effective quality assurance systems that supported continuous development. The service worked well with other partners, organisations and commissioners and the feedback we received from external professionals about Oxfordshire Shared Lives Scheme was very positive.

Rating at last inspection:

Good (report published 21 November 2016)

Why we inspected:

This was our scheduled, planned inspection based on previous rating.

Follow up:

We will monitor all intelligence received about the service to inform the assessment of the risk profile of the service and to ensure the next planned inspection is scheduled accordingly.

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