Shared Lives Bedford

On this page

• Overview
• Assessing needs
• Delivering evidence-based care and treatment
• How staff, teams and services work together
• Supporting people to live healthier lives
• Monitoring and improving outcomes
• Consent to care and treatment

Effective – this means we looked for evidence that people’s care, treatment and support achieved good outcomes and promoted a good quality of life, based on best available evidence.

At our last assessment we rated this key question good. At this assessment the rating has remained good. This meant people’s outcomes were consistently good, and people’s feedback confirmed this.

This service scored 75 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

The provider made sure people’s care and treatment was effective by assessing and reviewing their health, care, wellbeing and communication needs with them.

Care plans included important information about people’s individual communication needs and how to support people feel empowered to make their own choices. Care plans included contact details for any professionals involved in their care.

One staff member told us, “Because the support plan is live, a review can be outside of the 3, 6 and 12 month reviews. We have a weekly summary, and that is there to identify any changes,

patterns, concerns for example, someone not going to college.”

The provider planned and delivered people’s care and treatment with them, including what was important and mattered to them. They did this in line with legislation and current evidence-based good practice and standards.

People told us it was a planned and positive process meeting their shared lives carers, one stakeholder told us, “Services are well planned and transition between services is without problem to date due to open communication and robust planning.”

The provider worked well across teams and services to support people. They made sure people only needed to tell their story once by sharing their assessment of needs when people moved between different services. Communication with other services and professionals was seen in people’s care records. One shared lives carer gave an example of when they might seek support from a specialist for the person they support, they said, “We work with the speech therapist, so we have specialist cutlery and work on portion sizes.”

The provider supported people to manage their health and wellbeing to maximise their independence, choice and control.

Staff supported people to live healthier lives and where possible, reduce their future needs for care and support.

One shared lives carer told us, “It’s one of the best things to do for a young person. You can support them through those tough, transitional times in their life. We get to teach them how to cook, support them to go out, it’s just great.”

The provider routinely monitored people’s care and treatment to continuously improve it. They ensured that outcomes were positive and consistent, and that they met both clinical expectations and the expectations of people themselves.

Shared lives carers completed weekly summaries which allowed staff to identify any concerns and keep updated with people’s activities, well-being and health appointments. The logs also evidenced how people’s independence was promoted. For example, one person had learnt the skills and built the confidence to use public transport independently. This information was used when people’s support was reviewed.

The provider told people about their rights around consent and respected these when delivering person-centred care and treatment.

People’s views and wishes were taken into account when care was planned, and they signed a shared lives arrangement agreement document.