Shared Lives Northumberland

Shared Lives Northumberland is a shared lives scheme which provides people with long term placements and respite care within shared lives carer’s own homes. At the time of our inspection there were 70 people using the service but only 54 received regulated activities. Some shared lives carers were approved for more than one person to live in their home.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

Right Support: People received remarkably personalised care and support from highly dedicated staff teams and shared lives carers. People succeeded in all aspects of their daily lives. This included massively increased confidence, being supported with new skills and increased opportunities which may not have readily been available to them in other circumstances.

People reached milestones in their lives and were supported with goals and aspirations they may have had. People were supported to have maximum autonomy, choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

Right Care: People received exceptionally personalised care and support which upheld their dignity, privacy, and human rights as individuals. People received care and support from extremely kind and compassionate staff and shared lives carers. Shared lives carers were remarkably attentive and responded immediately to changing needs, which meant people always continued to receive full and responsive care and support to enhance their lives.

Right Culture: People were truly at the heart of the service and a good culture had been developed over many years. The values and approaches of shared lives carers and staff were exemplary. People were accepted as part of shared lives carers families, and empowered to lead settled, fully included, and confident lives. The staff team promoted transparency and a culture of good teamwork.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was good (published 12 July 2018).

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

Please see the safe, caring, and well-led sections of this full report. The caring key question is now rated outstanding. The overall rating for the service has remained good based on the findings of this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Shared Lives Northumberland on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.

The scheme provides three main services: long term accommodation, short breaks and emergency accommodation, care and support which is provided at short notice and usually in the event of an illness or family crisis.

Shared Lives Northumberland 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 in January 2016, we rated the service as good. The service moved address following our previous inspection. This is our first inspection of the location at the new address.

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 ongoing monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns.

The service had a registered manager in place. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to manage the service. Like 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 was delivered by the registered manager and three coordinators. Managerial oversight was provided by an operations manager. Staff told us there was enough capacity to provide support at the current level.

There was a structured assessment and approval process used by the provider. This planned approach ensured they were able to match people up with shared lives carers in a timely manner.

People told us they felt safe living with their carers. Staff and carers had received training with regards to safeguarding adults.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff and carers supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

We observed relaxed relationships between people and their carers. Carers informed us that they considered that people who lived and stayed with them were part of their extended family. One carer told us, “This is their home. I look upon them as a son.”

People's needs were assessed and care records called "All about me" detailed the type of support they required. People had access to information about their care and support.

The registered manager attended regular shared lives network meetings and conferences to identify examples of good practice to ensure they were providing a good service.

The provider had in place systems to effectively manage the service and monitor quality.