The Care Quality Commission
  • Services in your home
  • Homecare service

Archived: Royal Borough of Kingston Shared Lives Scheme

Murray House, Acre Road, Kingston Upon Thames, Surrey, KT2 6EE (020) 8547 6354

Provided and run by:
Your Healthcare Community Interest Company

Important: This service is now registered at a different address - see new profile

All Inspections

17 February 2014

During a routine inspection

People we spoke with told us that they understood the nature of their placement with a carer and were positive in their opinions. Comments included "It is a much better option than residential care", and "I would rather be here than somewhere else". We saw that there was comprehensive information for people to help them make the decision whether or not to enter into an adult placement scheme. This was contained in the Service User guide which explained the process of joining the adult placement scheme (known as the Shared Lives scheme).

We found that there were policies and procedures in place to ensure that people were provided with care and support that met their needs. This included the policy that carers could accept a placement only where they had been given a comprehensive written needs assessment and believed that they could meet the person's assessed needs.

We saw that the provider had the necessary policies and procedures regarding people's safety, including policies on safeguarding, administration of medicine and the use of restraint.

We saw that effective recruitment procedures were in place for people wishing to join the Shared Lives scheme. This included reference checks, criminal and suitability checks from the Disclosure and Barring Service, application and interview process, checks on other household members and experience and skills checks. Applicants were also asked to undertake a health screening process.

The provider had an effective system to regularly assess and monitor the quality of service that people receive and had an effective system in place to identify, assess and manage risks to the health, safety and welfare of people who use the service and others.