We carried out a review of the data available to us about Milton Keynes Short Breaks and Shared Lives on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about Milton Keynes Short Breaks and Shared Lives, you can give feedback on this service.
The short breaks service provides respite and short break accommodation for people with learning disabilities and complex needs. The service is provided in two residential bungalows and is registered to provide accommodation and personal care to fourteen people. One bedroom is set aside for emergency respite placements.
The Shared Lives Service recruits people to become paid carers to support adults with a range of support needs. People stay in the carer’s home and receive their support within a family environment. Shared Lives support can vary from a day a week, a day a month, overnight stays or living with someone for a short while or permanently. Staff employed by the shared lives service provide support to people and their carers.
The service 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 complex needs using the service can live as ordinary a life as any citizen.
At the time of our inspection, there were twenty-one people who regularly received support from the short breaks service and fourteen people using the shared lives service. Both services were overseen by one registered manager.
At the last inspection, on 6 January 2016, the service was rated ‘Good'. At this inspection we found that the service was now rated ‘Outstanding’.
There was a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the CQC 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.
The service demonstrated an excellent commitment to providing outstanding support, which put people at the heart of everything. The provider and registered manager led the staff to deliver person centred care, which had achieved consistently outstanding outcomes for people.
Staff continuously went beyond expectations to ensure that people received truly individualised care that was flexible and responsive to their needs. Staff and carers respected people's individuality and empowered people to express their wishes and make their own choices.
Staff and carers demonstrated the provider's values of offering person centred care that respected people as individuals in all of their interactions with people. Staff and carers at all levels had a strong belief that they were providing the best possible care for people, and were confident and empowered in their roles because of the strong leadership and management across the service.
Staff and carers were innovative in their approach to support, and were enthusiastic about supporting people to overcome life’s challenges. People and their relatives consistently told us that the service provided exceptional care and support to people.
There was a very effective system of quality assurance that ensured people consistently received exceptional care and support. The people receiving support from the service had an enhanced quality of life because the service worked innovatively to respond to people’s feedback and enable people to have meaningful experiences.
Milton Keynes Short Breaks and Shared Lives Service went to great efforts to share their ideas and approach with other services to help encourage them to improve and provide better care for people.
Staff and carers had an understanding of abuse and the safeguarding procedures that should be followed to report abuse. Detailed risk assessments and behaviour management plans were in place to manage all risks within a person’s life. Staff were confident in supporting people with complex needs and behaviours of concern and enabled and empowered people to live as independent a life as possible safely. There were arrangements in place for the service to make sure that action was taken and lessons learned when things went wrong, to improve safety across the service.
People received their medicines as prescribed and people were supported to access advice and treatment from healthcare professionals when required.
Staff and carer recruitment procedures ensured that appropriate pre-employment checks were carried out to ensure only suitable staff worked at the service. People could be assured that they would be supported by sufficient numbers of staff and carers with whom they had developed positive relationships.
Staff and carers were provided with an extensive induction and on-going training was available to ensure they had the skills, knowledge and support they needed to perform their roles. Staff were well supported by the registered manager and senior team, and had regular one to one supervisions.
People's health and well-being was monitored by staff and carers and they were supported to access health professionals in a timely manner when they needed to. People were supported to have sufficient amounts to eat and drink to maintain a balanced diet.
Staff and carers knew their responsibilities as defined by the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA 2005). The registered manager was aware of the process to make referrals to the local authority or the Court of Protection if people lacked capacity to consent to aspects of their care and were being deprived of their liberty. Staff and carers consistently gained people’s consent before providing support
People were involved in planning how their support would be provided and staff took time to understand people’s needs and preferences. Care documentation provided staff and carers with appropriate guidance regarding the care and support people needed to maintain their independence.
Further information is in the detailed findings below.
Carers Short Breaks Service provides respite and short break accommodation for people with either physical or learning disabilities and complex needs. The service is provided in two linked bungalows in Bradville, near Milton Keynes. The service has 14 beds, some of which are reserved for emergency respite placements. At the time of our inspection there were ten people using the service and, in total there were 80 people who regularly used the service.
Our inspection took place on 6 January 2016. At the last inspection in December 2013, the provider was meeting the regulations we looked at.
There was a registered manager in post. 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.
People were cared for by staff that were knowledgeable about abuse and the forms that it may take. They were aware of the actions they should take to protect people and the procedures for reporting abuse. As a result of this, people felt safe in the service. Risks were managed appropriately and there were risk assessments in place for people and the general environment that were updated regularly. Incidents and accidents were reported and investigated and the service had plans in place to help manage incidents.
There were sufficient levels of staff to meet people’s needs. Recruitment of staff was safe and robust, to ensure people were cared for by suitable members of staff.
People’s medication was well managed. Audits were undertaken to ensure that any errors were identified and action was taken to reduce the potential for reoccurrence.
Staff received on-going training which helped them to deliver safe and effective care to people. They received formal supervisions which helped them to monitor their progress and development.
Some people who used the service did not have the ability to make decisions about certain aspects of their care needs. Staff understood the systems in place to protect people who could not make decisions and followed the legal requirements outlined in the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS).
People were supported to have a nutritious and balanced diet. Systems were in place to record people’s dietary intake if required. People were also supported to access health professionals both in the service and the local community.
There were positive relationships between people, their families and members of staff. People and their families were treated with kindness and compassion. People were supported to express their own views and opinions about their care and there was information available to them in a range of different formats. The independence, privacy and dignity of people were promoted by staff and they treated people with respect.
People received person-centred care, based on their individual strengths, interests and needs. Feedback was sought from people and those important to them, such as family members on a regular basis to ensure that they remained satisfied with their care and support. This was used to help identify areas for development at the service. There were effective systems in place for responding to complaints.
The service had an open, positive and forward thinking culture. The service had a registered manager in post. They were supportive of people and staff and worked alongside them to ensure people received the correct care. There were internal and external quality control systems in place to monitor quality and safety and to drive improvements. Staff and the registered manager were always thinking about ways to improve the delivery of service to people.
We spoke with the relatives of two people using the service. One relative told us they were 'quite happy' with the service and they had not experienced any problems. Another relative told us they were 'very pleased with the service' and they told us their relative was well cared for.
We spoke with three members of staff who all said that they received appropriate training so that they could meet the needs of the people using the service.
We found that Carers Short Breaks Service had assessed people's needs and planned and delivered care that was intended to ensure people's safety and welfare. We found that the staff worked well with other organisations to ensure continuity of care. The equipment was regularly serviced and the quality of the service was monitored effectively.
We were concerned that care plans were not updated on a regular basis and did not contain information about how to offer support for each individual person's needs. We were also concerned that the service did not monitor or assess the quality of the service it provided on a regular basis.