Archived: Bournemouth Shared Lives Scheme

As part of this announced inspection we spoke with two people who lived with a carer as part of the Shared Lives Scheme. One person we spoke with said, 'it's lovely living here' and the other person told us, 'I love living with XXX, they are very nice'.

We spoke with three carers as part of the inspection. One carer we spoke with told us, 'It's a really good scheme; they are encouraged to be as independent as possible'. Another carer said, 'I think it is brilliant'.

We also spoke with six members of staff, including the manager and Shared Lives officers. Staff were positive about the scheme. One said, 'It's like a family and it allows people to stay in the community and promotes their independence'.

We found that care and treatment 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.

Responses from recent carers' surveys showed that the respondents were happy with the service provided by Bournemouth Shared Lives. People said that they found the care workers to be "Kind, caring and professional".

Care workers had a good awareness of the importance of keeping people safe and they understood their responsibilities for reporting any concerns regarding abuse.

Bournemouth shared lives enabled people who used the service to live as part of a family, people who used the service were supported to make informed decisions where the person is unable to do this by themselves.