Encompass Shared Lives Sutton

Updated 30 June 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 Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

The inspection team consisted of one inspector.

Service and service type

Encompass Shared Lives Sutton is a shared lives scheme. They recruit, train and support self-employed shared lives carers (carers) who offer accommodation and support arrangements for vulnerable adults within their own family homes in the community.

Registered Manager

This service is required to have a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. 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.

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. Inspection activity started on 27 May 2022 and ended on 09 June 2022. We visited the location’s office on 31 May 2022.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since they were registered. 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 spoke to one person using the service, an advocate of a person using the service and two relatives about their experiences of the service. We also spoke to the registered manager, the deputy manager and three shared lives carers. We reviewed a range of records including three people’s care records, records relating to staffing and other records relating to the management of the service including the service’s policies and procedures.

Updated 30 June 2022

About the service

Encompass Shared Lives Sutton is a shared lives scheme which provides people with long-term placements, short breaks and respite care, within shared lives carers’ (carers) own homes. The service provides support to people with learning disabilities and/or autistic people. 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. At the time of our inspection there were twenty-three people using the service.

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

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.

The service was able to demonstrate how they were meeting the underpinning principles of right support, right care, right culture.

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 focused on people’s strengths and promoted what they could do, so people had a fulfilling and meaningful everyday life. The service made sure people could live in a safe and clean environment that met their needs. Carers supported people to take part in activities and pursue their interests in their local area. Carers enabled people to access specialist health and social care support in the community. People were supported to make decisions following best practice in decision-making. The service and carers communicated with people in ways that met their needs. Carers supported people with their medicines to achieve the best possible health outcome. Carers supported people to play an active role in maintaining their own health and wellbeing.

Right Care

The service and carers promoted equality and diversity in their support for people. They understood people’s cultural needs and provided culturally appropriate care. People received kind and compassionate care. The service and carers protected and respected people’s privacy and dignity. They understood and responded to their individual needs. The service and carers understood how to protect people from poor care and abuse. People could communicate with carers and understand information given to them because carers supported them consistently and understood their individual communication needs. People’s care and support plans reflected their range of needs and this promoted their wellbeing and enjoyment of life. People could take part in activities and pursue interests that were tailored to them. Carers gave people opportunities to try new activities that enhanced and enriched their lives.

Right Culture

People led inclusive and empowered lives because of the ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of the management and carers. They received good quality care, support and treatment because trained carers could meet their needs and wishes. People were supported by carers who understood best practice in relation to the wide range of strengths, impairments or sensitivities people with a learning disability and/or autistic people may have. The service and carers knew and understood people well and were responsive, supporting their aspirations to live a quality life of their choosing. They placed people’s wishes, needs and rights at the heart of everything they did. People and those important to them, including advocates, were involved in planning their care. The service evaluated the quality of support provided to people, involving the person, their families and other professionals as appropriate. The service enabled people and those important to them to work with staff to develop the service. The service and carers valued and acted upon people’s views. People’s quality of life was enhanced by the service’s culture of improvement and inclusivity.

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

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 16 December 2020 and this is the first inspection. The last rating for the service at their previous location was good, published on 4 August 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.