Background to this inspection
Updated
7 August 2018
We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check 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.
This inspection took place on 19 and 24 July 2018 and was announced. We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because we needed to be sure the person who managed the service would be available. The inspection was undertaken by an adult social care inspector.
We visited the office location to see the staff and review care records and policies and procedures. We spoke with the registered manager, the first line manager whose role included organising training for carers and preparing records required for the panel and carrying out pre-assessment visits. Care support workers who had shared responsibility for recruitment of carers and also ensured health check were undertaken. Provider Support Assessors were also part of the recruitment of carers and conducting assessments.
On the second day we visited six people on long term placements and one person who used short term placements. We spoke with one relative and five carers who were supporting people who used the service.
Before the inspection, the provider was asked to complete 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 considered this information during our inspection. We looked at the notifications received and reviewed all the intelligence the Care Quality Commission held to help inform us about the level of risk for this service.
Prior to our inspection we asked for feedback about the service from the local council commissioning team, which we received. We used all this information to help us make a judgement about this service.
Updated
7 August 2018
Shared Lives - Sheffield recruits, trains and supports Shared Lives carers. We refer to Shared Lives carers as 'carers' throughout this report. A carer is an individual who provides personal care together with accommodation in their own home. This enables people to live as independently as possible. Carers are self-employed and no more than three people live with them at any one time. The scheme supports people aged over 18 who have a learning, physical or sensory disability. People may have mental health needs or be older and struggling to cope. At this inspection there were 12 people who used the service.
The scheme provides three main services: long term and short term placements, and day care. Emergency short term placement can be provided at short notice. These placements are usually because of an illness or family crisis.
Shared Lives has been developed and designed in line with the values that underpin the Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These values include choice, promotion of independence and inclusion. People with learning disabilities and autism using the service can live as ordinary a life as any citizen.
At our last inspection we rated the service 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.
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At this inspection we found the service remained Good.
The service has 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 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.
People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and carers supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the schemes guided practice. People were involved and consulted about all aspects of their care and support, where they were able, including suggestions for activities.
Carers we spoke with had a clear understanding of safeguarding people and they would act appropriately to safeguard people from abuse.
The support plans we looked at included risk assessments, which identified any risks, associated with people’s care and had been devised to help minimise and monitor the risks without placing undue restrictions on people.
People were provided with a clean, comfortable environment to live in and could personalise their own space to their requirements.
There was a programme of training, supervision and appraisal to support carers and office staff to support people using the schemes.
Shared Lives arrangements were formed using a matching process. The process involves participants getting to know each other at their own pace, before making any long term commitment to sharing a home. Shared Lives arrangements only succeed where the Shared Lives carers were able to meet the identified needs of the person placed with them and the person gets on well with the approved carer and other people living in the house.
We observed good interactions between carers and people placed in the various schemes. People were encouraged to make decisions about meals and involved in menu planning.
Complaints procedures were in place and were available in easy read for those that needed an alternative version.
There were effective systems in place to monitor and improve the quality of the service provided. We saw copies of checks undertaken by managers at the service. The reports included any actions required and these were checked periodically to determine progress. The registered manager was supported in her role by a team of dedicated staff who were motivated and enthusiastic about their role in the organisation.
Further information is in the detailed findings below