Background to this inspection
Updated
10 June 2023
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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.
Inspection team
The inspection was carried out by 1 inspector and 1 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
Lewisham Shared Lives Scheme is a shared lives scheme. They recruit, train and support self-employed shared lives carers (SLC) who offer accommodation and support arrangements for vulnerable adults within their own family homes in the community (Shared lives carers will be referred to as carers throughout this report)
Registered Manager
This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.
At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.
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.
The inspection activity started on 19 April 2023. We visited the location’s office on 25 April 2023.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We reviewed 5 care and support plans of people using the service. We looked at a range of policies and procedures used by the provider. We looked at the recruitment and training documents for 2 shared lives carers.
Following the visit to the office, we spoke with 6 relatives and people who used the service. We spoke with the registered manager, 2 shared lives assessment officers and 1 nominated individual. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider.
Updated
10 June 2023
We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.
About the service
Lewisham Shared Lives Scheme is a shared lives scheme which provides people with long-term placements, short breaks and respite care, within the shared lives carers (SLC) own homes. It provides a service to people with a learning disability and autistic people. At the time of the inspection 27 people were using the service.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
Right Support: People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and carers supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice. Carers supported people to make decisions following best practice in decision-making. Carers communicated with people in ways that met their needs.
Right Care: People could communicate with carers and understand information given to them because carers supported them consistently and understood their individual communication needs. People received kind and compassionate care. Carers protected and respected people’s privacy and dignity. They understood and responded to their individual needs.
Right Culture: People were kept safe from avoidable harm because carers knew them well and understood how to protect them from abuse. The service worked well with other agencies to do so.
People could take part in activities and pursue interests that were tailored to them. The service gave people opportunities to try new activities that enhanced and enriched their lives .
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
The provider had a robust system in place to ensure suitable people were placed with suitable carers. Decisions were made by a panel of health care professionals to give the best opportunity of suitable and successful placements of people.
The provider had a range of quality assurance audits and checks to ensure there were no issues with placements. There was regular contact with people to ensure support needs were continually met. Where there were issues, these could be quickly addressed.
People spoke positively about the service and relatives felt that their family members were well cared for. One relative said, “I’m happy [family member] is there, I think it is good for [family member] so far, it’s going well. [Family member] looks better, feels better and I know [family member] is happy.”
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 (published 29 January 2018).
Why we inspected
This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.