Shared Lives Bedford

Updated 14 May 2019

The inspection:

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

Inspection team:

One inspector carried out this inspection site visit over the course of a day. We then spent time after the site visit speaking to people and staff.

Service and service type:

Shared Lives Bedford helps people to live long term with Shared Lives staff in their family homes, access a community session or gain support with short term respite.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection:

We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because it is small and the registered manager is often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be in.

What we did:

Before the inspection we used our planning tool to gather relevant information and reviewed information that we received from the provider on the provider information return (PIR). This is a document that the provider sends us saying how they are meeting the regulations and any plans for improvement. We also reviewed all information received from external sources such as the local authority and reviews of the service.

During the inspection we reviewed:

• Completed surveys from people who used the service

• Four people’s care records

• Records of accidents, incidents and complaints

• Audits and quality assurance reports

• Spoke with the registered manager

• Spoke with the operations manager

• Four members of staff files

After the inspection, we reviewed further evidence sent to us by the provider and spoke with three people receiving care from the service and five care staff.

Updated 14 May 2019

About the service: Shared Lives Bedford is a service that works with adults with support needs to assist them to live in their local community. Shared Lives services support people to live with their shared lives carers or visit daily within a family environment.

People’s experience of using this service:

People told us they were very happy living with their shared lives carers and found them very supportive and helpful.

People wrote in to the service with lots of compliments about experiences they had with shared lives carers such as holidays, birthday celebrations and day trips. The comments made by people show that they feel respected and treated in a way which upheld their dignity.

We found practices, systems and process in place which showed the service met the characteristics of good in all key areas.

Risk assessments detailed people’s preferences and needs well, promoting positive risk taking. People gained employment and learned to travel alone to work and access their local community independently.

Shared Lives Bedford recruitment procedure was thorough and included reviewing past employment history, references, and criminal record checks. We spoke to the registered manager about keeping copies of the records they checked at staff interviews and they have agreed to do this.

Staffing levels were appropriate for the care needs of the person. The registered manager used a tool which identified people’s interest’s strengths and experiences to match people to the right Shared Lives staff.

Staff manage medicines well and support people to self-medicate where possible.

The registered manager shared lessons learnt from any incidents and communicated with people and carers. Communication was varied to meet people’s individual needs using written, pictorial or verbal methods.

Assessments of people’s needs gave voice to people’s choices and preferences while promoting independence.

Staff had a good awareness of deprivation of liberty safeguards to enable people to have choice and control over their lives and ensuring any restrictions were the least restrictive.

People and carers were involved in all aspects of reviews and these included regular formal meetings as well as more relaxed phone calls and visits to their home. People gave feedback on their care and agree goals for the future.

Staff received all training they required for their role and regularly updated their knowledge and skills. The registered manager supported staff with formal supervision and regular phone calls which they recorded and actions followed up.

Staff encouraged people to live healthy lifestyles and meet their dietary needs with regular access to healthcare professionals. Shared Lives did not currently support anyone with end of life care but had policies and training programmes to ensure this could be safely and sensitivity managed.

The service had policies and processes for recording and managing complaints. The registered manager recorded people’s concerns in the complaints documents and other documents such as logs of telephone conversations and all complaints were responded to appropriately.

There is a lot of evidence of robust quality assurance systems in place and regular feedback sought from carers and people which helped ensure a quality service. This was reflected in comments by people and staff

The registered manager takes part in a variety of local network meetings to share ideas and look for ways of improving the service. This benefited people and staff as the registered manager was able to access further training and resources.

Rating at last inspection: Shared Lives Bedford received a rating of good at their last inspection. (The last report was published on 12 April 2016)

Why we inspected: This was a planned comprehensive inspection based on the rating at the last inspection.