Background to this inspection
Updated
14 August 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. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
Inspection team
The inspection was conducted by one inspector and an Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.
Service and service type
The service recruited individuals, couples and families and supported them to provide homes and short breaks, within their own home to people who needed help with personal care and social support.
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
This inspection was announced. We gave the provider 24 hours’ notice to ensure staff would be available at the office location. We also asked them to seek the permission of people who use the service, for us to visit them at home.
Inspection activity started on 18 June 2019 and ended on 20 June 2019. We visited the office location on 18 June 2019.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed the information we had received about Nottinghamshire County Council Shared Lives Scheme since the last inspection. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
At the office location, we spoke with the registered manager and a senior care coordinator. We reviewed six people’s care, medicine and financial records. We looked at information regarding the management of the service. This included six shared lives carers records and records related to the quality and safety of the service.
We visited three people who lived in long-term placements with their shared lives carer(s), at their homes. We spoke with six people and five shared lives carers by telephone. We received feedback from two shared lives carers by email.
We contacted 20 external professionals by email who worked in partnership with the service. We received four responses from three care managers and a physiotherapist.
Updated
14 August 2019
About the service
Nottinghamshire County Council Shared Lives Scheme provides both short breaks and longer-term placements to adults with learning disabilities, physical disabilities and mental health needs. At the time of our inspection, there were 74 people being supported in 61 households.
Not everyone who used the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also consider any wider social care provided.
The service has been developed and designed in line with the principles and values that underpin Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. This ensures that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes. The principles reflect the need for people with learning disabilities and/or autism to live meaningful lives that include control, choice, and independence. People using the service receive planned and co-ordinated person-centred support that is appropriate and inclusive for them.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People received a remarkable service from extremely compassionate carers, who were fully supported and exceptionally well-led by the management team. The registered manager and care coordinators were very passionate about people receiving a personal service in the comfort and security of a family setting.
People were cared for within loving family homes. Carers demonstrated exceptionally caring values, such as kindness, compassion, inclusion and respect. Overwhelmingly, people spoke highly of their carers and the support they received.
The management team and carers fully embraced person-centred care and made sure people were at the heart of the service. People received a unique service which met all their needs and exceeded the expectations of traditional social care support.
People had achieved multiple positive outcomes through extensive support and encouragement from their carers and the families who surrounded them. People received timely interventions from external professionals, whom carers and the management team worked in very close partnership with.
The management team strove for consistently high standards and extensively monitored the service through regular visits to people and their carers at home. The quality and safety of the service was effectively monitored through wide-ranging checks and audits.
People felt very safe living with their carers. Measures were in place to minimise the risks they faced. Carers recognised risks and reported their concerns to the management team. Safeguarding policies and procedures were in place.
The recruitment and induction process for shared lives carers was extremely thorough to ensure people would be safe and comfortable living with new families. Carers benefitted from bespoke training which was tailored to meet people’s needs. They were highly skilled, knowledgeable and very competent in their roles.
People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and their carers supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.
The service applied the principles and values of Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These ensure that people who use the service can live as full a life as possible and achieve the best possible outcomes that include control, choice and independence.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection
The last rating for this service was good (report published 23 November 2016).
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.