Bethphage Shrewsbury

Updated 25 January 2022

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

This inspection was carried out by one inspector.

Bethphage is a Shared Lives Scheme. They recruit, train and support self-employed Shared Lives Carers who offer accommodation and support arrangements for vulnerable adults within their own family homes in the community.

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 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

What we did before inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since registration. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who worked with the service. We used all this information to plan our inspection. The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.

During the inspection

We spoke with seven people who used the service (two via a video call) and three relatives about their experience of the care provided. Some people were contacted following the site visit. We spoke with two officers and the registered manager, we also spoke with four carers and received written feedback from another.

We reviewed a range of records. This included four people’s support plans. We looked at two officers files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including, carer agreements, supervision records, training records and policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the registered manager to validate evidence found.

Updated 25 January 2022

About the service

Bethphage Shrewsbury is an office-based service, which supports the Shared Lives carers with all of the processes they need to deliver a high-quality service to the people that live with them on a long term or on a short-term respite basis. A Shared Lives Carer (referred to within the report as carers) is a person who, under the terms of this Shared Lives carer agreement provides, or intends to provide, personal care and support. They share their home and their family (and/or community) life and, where necessary, provide accommodation to a person using or living in a Shared Lives arrangement. In Shared Lives day support arrangements, this can be using the home as a base and then visiting the community.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People were supported to live full and active lives and enjoyed being part of a family. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives. People who used the service and carers were ‘matched’ prior to their placements and this meant that the whole process was centred around the needs, wishes and lifestyles of the people. The process was effective, and Shared Lives Officers (referred to within this report as officers) monitored placements to ensure people were happy and that carers had the support they needed to support people safely.

Carers and officers had a good knowledge of how to keep people safe and they had worked within the service’s policies and procedures to do this.

People received their medicines safely. Risks were effectively managed and infection control measures were in place to keep people safe.

People were supported to remain in good health and joint working with other professionals made this effective. People’s dietary needs and preferences were supported, and carers received training in order to carry out their roles safely and effectively. Support was available to enable carers to deliver care as required. Officers also received training and support to carry out their roles effectively.

Carers supported people with kindness and compassion. People's privacy and dignity was maintained.

Information was shared when people moved between services to enable continuity and people’s views were listened to and complaints were addressed. Processes were open and transparent and always centred on the individual using the service.

Systems were effective for monitoring the quality and safety of the service provided. The service promoted a positive culture that was person-centred and benefited from strong and effective leadership.

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right Support, right care, right culture is the statutory guidance which supports CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people.

This service was registered with us on 12 March 2020 and this is the first inspection.

The service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of right support, right care, right culture. The service maximised people's choice, control and independence. Care was person-centred and promoted people's dignity, privacy and human rights. The ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of leaders and carers ensured people using services lead confident, inclusive and empowered lives.

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.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk