13 March 2018
During a routine inspection
The Shared Lives Scheme is run by Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council. The purpose of the Shared Lives Scheme is to provide a service that extends the range and quality of support available to vulnerable adults who may have a learning disability or mental health problem, disability and older people. The scheme currently has a portfolio of approved households which provide a range of long-term, respite and day support and currently have 20 people who use the service. There are four staff who manage the shared lives carers. Shared lives carers look after people in their own homes and are responsible for their day to day care.
Not everyone using the Shared Lives Scheme receives a 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 was managed by 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.
At the last inspection, the service was rated Good. At this inspection we found the evidence continued to support the rating of good and there was no evidence or information from our inspection and on-going monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection .
People who used the service told us they felt safe. We saw safeguarding and whistleblowing (reporting of poor practice) policies and procedures were in place to guide staff and carers. All the staff and carers we spoke with told us they understood their responsibilities in relation to safeguarding.
Robust recruitment and selection processes were in place for both staff and carers. We saw the service had undertaken all the necessary checks when recruiting new staff and carers.
Risk assessments had been completed associated with people’s health and well-being such as mobility, medicines and personal care. These were designed to keep people safe and not restrict them. Operational risk assessments were also in place to keep staff safe in the office environment. Risk assessments were reviewed on a regular basis.
People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and carers supported them in the least restrictive way possible. The service had made an application to the court of protection for one person.
Prior to commencing employment staff and carers completed an induction. This gave them an overview of the service and an opportunity to undertake mandatory courses (courses the provider had deemed necessary for their roles). Training such as equality and diversity was not a mandatory course, although all the staff we spoke with were aware of the diverse needs of people they were supporting. The registered manager informed us they were addressing training during our inspection and were adding further courses to the mandatory ones..
All the people we spoke with told us they enjoyed living with their carer. People and their carer were comfortable around each other and they were laughing and joking with each other. All the carers were aware of the diverse needs and wishes of people they were supporting. We saw cultural, spiritual and religious needs were discussed and planned for if there was a need.
Support plans in place were person centred. These were very detailed and gave carers and staff a clear picture of the person, their needs and how best to support them. We saw support plans were reviewed on a regular basis with the person.
We saw evidence that people who used the service undertook a broad range of activities such as swimming, bingo and walking. Some people attended college and others attended a day centre if this was what they wanted to do. We also saw that people went on holidays; one person told us they were going on a cruise.
The service had a complaints policy and procedure in place. All the staff we spoke with were aware of this policy and procedure and carers told us if they had any complaints they would approach the staff or management. The registered manager told us they encouraged people to raise complaints if they had any and to be open and transparent.
All the staff and carers we spoke with told us the registered manager was approachable and they felt supported in their roles. The registered manager talked of having an ‘open door’ policy so that they could be approached at any time.
The registered manager sought feedback from people who used the service, staff, carers and external professionals in order to monitor and improve the service. Surveys were sent out on an annual basis.