Certitude London Shared Lives

On this page

• Overview
• Shared direction and culture
• Capable, compassionate and inclusive leaders
• Freedom to speak up
• Workforce equality, diversity and inclusion
• Governance, management and sustainability
• Partnerships and communities
• Learning, improvement and innovation

Well-led – this means we looked for evidence that leadership, management and governance assured high-quality, person-centred care; supported learning and innovation; and promoted an open, fair culture. At our last assessment we rated this key question good. At this assessment, the rating has remained good. This meant the service continues to be consistently managed and well-led. Leaders and the culture they created promoted high-quality, person-centred care.

This service scored 86 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

The scheme had a shared vision, strategy and culture. This was based on transparency, equity, equality and human rights, diversity and inclusion, engagement, and understanding challenges and the needs of people and their communities.

The schemes managers, coordinators and carers had a shared vision, values and culture which promoted people's individuality, protected their rights and enabled them to flourish with the carers and families they shared their lives with and the local community. They all understood the provider's vision and values and how to apply them in their roles. The registered manager told us they routinely used individual and group meetings to remind coordinators about the schemes underlying core values and principles. Carers told us they received all the support they needed from their allocated co-ordinators and the schemes registered manager. They all appeared well-informed about the schemes core values and purpose, and the structure of the organisation. Coordinators reported working well together as a team and having shared values and aims. A coordinator told us, “I really do enjoy working for this Shared Lives schemes and it’s probably been the best job I’ve ever had.”

The scheme had inclusive leaders at all levels who understood the context in which they delivered care, treatment and support and embodied the culture and values of their workforce and organisation. Leaders had the skills, knowledge, experience and credibility to lead effectively. They did so with integrity, openness and honesty.

The scheme had a newly registered manager who was suitably skilled, knowledgeable and experienced. They demonstrated good awareness of their Shared Lives leadership role and responsibilities and clearly understood the needs of the people placed by the scheme, the Shared Lives carers and his team of coordinators. Feedback we received from people about the how the scheme was managed was positive. An external care professional told us, “The Shared Lives scheme is well-managed and organised. They are responsive, supportive and keen to make sure that our clients and the carers they live with have all the support they need.” Staff were equally complimentary about the leadership approach of the registered manager who they consistently described as approachable and friendly. A coordinator told us, “The schemes leadership are very visible and approachable.”

The scheme was exceptional at fostering a positive culture where people knew they could speak up and their voice would be heard.

The scheme had an open and transparent culture where people living with carers, the carers themselves, and others important to them, could raise concerns without fear. The scheme was committed to supporting people to provide feedback so they could ensure the service worked well for them. They used a range of methods to gather people’s experiences of being placed by the scheme, being a Shared Lives carer and working as Shared Lives coordinator. For example, the coordinators regularly conducted telephone welfare checks and face-to-face home visits to meet people they had placed and their carer/s, as well as support plan reviews. People placed by the scheme and Shared Lives carers were also encouraged to participate in regular ‘Have your say’ satisfaction surveys. In addition, the scheme arranged for carers to regularly meet as a group at a carers forum where people could come together socially and share their Shared Lives experiences. An external care professional told us, “These carers forums provide the scheme and the local authority the opportunity to listen to the issues carers face and the changes they might want to see happen. At a recent carers forum we were able to work with the scheme to address a financial concern the carers had raised at the meeting.” Another added, “The scheme encourages feedback, take concerns seriously and arranges regular care plan reviews. They always try to resolve issues promptly and efficiently and take a caring, professional approach in everything they do.”

People said they were able to communicate directly and quickly with their allocated coordinators as and when they needed to. Coordinators told us they sometimes visited people while they were attending their day centre or contacted them privately on their mobile phone to ensure people had the freedom to speak up if they had any concerns about the carer they shared their lives with.

The scheme also valued and listened to the views of coordinators. Staff were encouraged to contribute their ideas about what the scheme did well and what they could do better during regular individual and group meetings with their line managers and fellow co-workers. This included regular individual and group meetings between the schemes registered manager and the coordinators.

The scheme strongly valued diversity in their workforce. They had an inclusive and fair culture which had improved equality and equity for people who work for them.

Managers promoted equality and diversity in all aspects of the running of the scheme. Coordinates and carers were positive about the leadership approach of the management team who they said treated them fairly. They told us their views were always respected and listened to by the schemes managers and they felt valued members of the team.

Managers understood the importance of having a fair and inclusive scheme for coordinators to work in and Shared Lives carers to be part of. Coordinators and carers were provided support through relevant training and supervision to inform their knowledge and understanding of equality, inclusivity and fairness in the workplace and as Shared Lives carers. For example, the provider has a Diversity Inclusion Strategy to develop a diverse and inclusive culture at Certitude. They had recruited 5 quality checkers using an inclusive advertising and recruitment programme including easy read information about the job roles and responsibilities and online videos aimed at people with learning disabilities and autistic people. The registered manager told us they were actively seeking to have people with a learning disability with experience of using the scheme and living with a carer to join the shared lives panel and become part of the process of approving new Shared Lives carers. In addition, the provider has established an intercultural, LGBTQ, disability and gender networks to support their employees.

The scheme had clear responsibilities, roles, systems of accountability and good governance. They used these to manage and deliver good quality, sustainable care, treatment and support. They act on the best information about risk, performance and outcomes, and share this securely with others when appropriate.

Governance systems were well-established, effectively operated and used to regularly check and assure the quality and safety of care people placed by the scheme and the support Shared Lives carers received. The outcomes of these checks were routinely used to identify performance shortfalls and take action to continuously improve the scheme. Managers, coordinators and carers all demonstrated a good understanding of their governance roles and responsibilities in relation to assessing, monitoring and managing the quality and safety of the shared lives service they provided people placed with the scheme.

Coordinators remained in regular contact with the Shared Lives placements they were responsible for. This included weekly telephone calls, quarterly in-person home visits (known as a Link visit) and regular placement reviews when the wellbeing of the people placed and their carers and numerous quality and safety checks were conducted. Records such as financial spending and medicines management were also audited by coordinators at their scheduled home ‘Link’ visits they routinely conducted.

The quality of information recorded and maintained on people’s records, and records relating to the management of the scheme was sufficiently detailed, up to date and accurate.

Managers and coordinators understood their responsibilities in relation to regulatory requirements around notifiable incidents. Our records indicated they continued to notify the CQC in a timely manner about any incidents and events they were legally required to.

The scheme clearly understood and carried out their duty to collaborate and work in partnership, and services worked seamlessly for people. They always share information and learning with partners and collaborate for improvement.

The scheme managers, coordinators and carers regularly consulted and worked closely with multiple external health and social care professionals and bodies. This ensured people received a high quality, person centred, seamless shared lives service. This included GPs, community nurses, day centre staff, social workers, speech and language therapists, and physiotherapists, as well as other specialist community based teams, such as those supporting people living dementia, people were autism and mental ill health. Typical feedback we received from external care professionals included, “We have built a good working relationship with the carers, managers and staff. They do listen and act on any advice we share. For example, we worked together with the scheme to get extra staff support so one of our members could continue attending the day centre safely. Our client is now much more settled and happier at the day centre,” “We work closely with the scheme on a day-to-day basis around reviews, transport arrangements, hospital appointments, respite and community activities. They communicate well with us and the families. They always try to resolve issues promptly and efficiently and take a caring, professional approach in everything they do” and “We have a strong working relationship with the manager of the scheme and his team. They are always willing to work in partnership with the local authority.”

The scheme regularly engaged in local forums and online groups to work with other similar types of services. For example, managers regularly liaised with various local and national forums and networks including, National Shared Lives, Restraint Reduction, Social Care Futures and Mencap, where they could share learning and best Shared Lives practice to continuously improve the scheme.

The scheme focused on continuous learning, innovation and improvement across the organisation and local system. They encouraged creative ways of delivering equality of experience, outcome and quality of life for people. They actively contribute to safe, effective practice and research.

The scheme recognised the importance of learning lessons and continuous improvement to ensure people had a good, person centred, safe and supportive experience of sharing their live with the carer/s they lived with. The scheme was proactive investigating any accidents, incidents and near misses and used their findings as an opportunity to learn lessons and drive improvement. The registered manager told us all the audits and checks the provider conducted were routinely analysed to identify performance shortfalls. When lessons needed to be learnt, the provider developed time specific action plans to improve the scheme. Coordinators and carers confirmed information about any lessons learnt and action plans developed to improve the scheme were always shared with them in a timely manner.