About the service:

Ategi Shared Lives Scheme support people with a learning disability, physical disability, mental health concerns, older and younger adults. The scheme supports people to live within a shared lives arrangement. Each person is matched with a shared lives carer. The person then either lives or stays in the carers home as part of their family. The scheme provides long term placements, respite care (Short term placements) and offers a mentoring programme to support people develop their independence. At the time of the inspection is scheme was supporting 44 long term placements.

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

People’s experience of using this service:

People told us they were happy with their shared live arrangement. They told us “Yes, I am happy with my carers.” “Yes, I would recommend my carer” and “They are very respectful when dealing with anything personal.”

People were encouraged to engage in meaningful activities and be an active member of society.

People were supported by shared lives carers who had gone through a robust recruitment, selection and matching process.

People had opportunities to meet with the provider and to share their ideas for improvements for the scheme. Shared lives carers were able to contribute to the strategic plan for the scheme by sharing suggestions on improvements to the service.

People were encouraged to be as independent as they could be. One person told us how they went to work, it was clear they thoroughly enjoyed it.

Shared lives carers told us they felt supported by the registered manager and other office staff. Comments included, “This has been the best move possible for us. We receive regular and thorough visits, which enable us to feel confident and during which we are able to raise any concerns,” “We have found the service amazing” and “In our experience, Ategi go beyond what we would normally expect in ensuring that any issues are completely and swiftly resolved so that all parties are fully satisfied with the outcome.”

The office staff maintained regular contact with people and their shared lives carers. Care plans were updated to reflect people’s current needs.

The registered manager and provider had systems in place to monitor the quality of the service provided.

Rating at last inspection:

The previous inspection was carried out on 13, 14 and 15 September 2016 (Published on 26 October 2016). The service was rated Good at the time.

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection to confirm that this service remained Good.

Follow up:

We will continue to monitor the service to ensure that people receive safe, compassionate, high quality care. Inspections will be carried out to enable us to have an overview of the service, we will use information we receive to inform future inspections.

This inspection took place on 13, 14 and 15 September 2016. It was an announced visit to the service.

We previously inspected the service on 02 October 2013. The service was meeting the requirements of the regulations at that time.

Ategi Shared Lives Scheme is registered to provide the regulated activity of personal care to people living in their own homes. The scheme matches approved shared lives carers with people who have a learning disability. People being supported lived with the approved carer as a member of their family. The scheme supported people on three different levels: Long term, short term (respite) or through a mentoring programme. At the time of our inspection there were 38 long term, 11 short term and 8 mentoring arrangements in place.

The service had a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

We received positive feedback from people. Comments included “(carer) helps me feel safe, I really like living here, it is outstanding,” “We just click, we get on so well.” Another person gave us a thumbs up sign to demonstrate they were happy with the arrangement.

People were protected from abuse as shared lives carers had been trained on how to recognise abuse. People were aware of who to speak with if they had any concerns.

People were supported by a shared lives carer who understood their needs and wants. This was because robust recruitment and assessments were carried out. People were matched with shared lives carers through a gradual process which allowed each party to get to know the other. Shared lives carers had been approved by an independent panel and were approved for a time limited period. This meant the scheme ensured shared lives carers were suitable and had the right skills and attributes to support people.

Positive caring relationship had developed between people and their shared live carer. We had many examples provided where shared lives carers had supported people to achieve their potential. Some people were supported to gain independent living skills. For instance one person went to work and another person was looking forward to attending a cookery course.

People received personalised care. ‘Adult plans’ detailed people’s likes and dislikes. Regular reviews of the ‘adult plan’ were made to ensure the information contained in them was relevant and current. People felt involved in decisions about their life and were encouraged to take control.

The scheme had strong leadership and communicated a clear vision through training. Shared lives carers and scheme staff understood the values of the organisation. Equality and diversity was evident through the assessment and care planning process.

We did not speak with carers or people using the service as part of this inspection. This was because the areas of non compliance identified at the previous inspection were in relation to records and systems.

Records showed people's care and welfare needs were identified, met and reviewed. Risk assessments and management plans were in place. This ensured people's health and welfare needs were addressed.

Quality auditing systems had improved and daily practices were being monitored. This meant people could be confident of receiving quality care.

We spoke with the acting team manager and administrator. They were positive about the changes that had been made and the benefits to the team, carers and people using the service.

We spoke to eight carers, six service users and four staff as part of this inspection. People who used the service told us they were very happy with their care. They described it as excellent, supportive, home from home, their independence was promoted, they had developed new skills and they could not wish for anything better.

People's care and welfare needs were identified and met. Records were not always maintained to identify and manage potential risks to safeguard staff, carers and people using the service.

Policies and procedures were in place to safeguard people from the potential risk of abuse.

We found safe recruitment processes in place. Inductions, training and support of staff and carers were taking place. Carers told us they had completed a thorough assessment process, they had been trained and were provided with on-going support and monitoring to enable them to support people effectively. Staff told us they were inducted, trained, supervised and supported in their roles. This ensured people were supported by staff and carers who were suitably recruited, trained and supervised.

The service had quality monitoring systems in place. These needed to be further developed to monitor daily practices and address all potential risks to safeguard people.