25 February 2014
During a routine inspection
A person told us 'I am quite happy here.' We then asked people if they felt safe. A person told us 'Yes, I feel safe' and another person said 'I am safe here' and 'I could talk to somebody if I wasn't happy.' Staff confirmed they had been trained in safeguarding vulnerable people.
The carers stated that shared lives co-ordinators made regular monthly visits to them and that regular carer's forum meetings were also held. They told us that they received regular mandatory and additional training.
We found that the service made adequate checks before employing staff to support users and carers in the shared lives scheme by speaking with the registered manager and the human resources department of the relevant local authority. We also found that the shared lives team undertook regular monitoring of the quality of the services it was providing.