PSS Shared Lives (Manchester)

This service is a shared lives service. It provides personal care to people living with shared lives carers in their own homes. Shared lives carers are self-employed, but recruited and ‘matched’ with people using the service by PSS Shared Lives Manchester. Staff employed by the service who support the recruitment, matching and monitoring of shared lives placements are called shared lives workers.

The service primarily supports adults with a learning and/or physical disability who have either previously been supported in foster care placements as children, or who have been referred to the service as an adult. People’s care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for shared lives; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support.

At the time of our inspection, 17 people were using the shared lives service, all of whom had long-term placements with a shared lives carer. Not everyone using PSS Shared Lives Manchester receives regulated activity; CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with ‘personal care’, which includes help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where people receive such support, we also take into account any wider social care provided. There were four people using the service who received support with personal care.

The care service has been developed and designed in line with the values that underpin the Registering the Right Support and other best practice guidance. These values include choice, promotion of independence and inclusion. People with learning disabilities and autism using the service can live as ordinary a life as any citizen.

There was 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.

Shared lives carers had developed close, trusting and caring relationships with the people they supported. This had been helped by the service effectively matching people and their shared lives carers based on a range of considerations. For example, staff had considered people’s interests, goals, personalities and home environments.

Relatives praised the service and shared lives carers for the positive impact they had had on their family member’s confidence, health and general wellbeing. Shared lives carers monitored people’s holistic health needs and encouraged healthy lifestyles.

Staff recognised and put measures in place to help reduce the likelihood of people being harmed. However, some risk assessments would have benefitted from including a greater level of detail. There had been no accidents reported. However, shared lives carers were aware of accident reporting procedures, and we saw systems were in place to help monitor accidents and incidents and take action if required.

The service was pro-active in its approach to safeguarding people from abuse or neglect. For example, staff had identified an area of one person’s life where they were potentially vulnerable. Staff had arranged training for this person to help them build the skills and confidence needed to keep themselves safe. This demonstrated a pro-active and empowering approach.

People’s care plans recognised their abilities and strengths as well as areas they might need support. Shared lives carers supported and encouraged people to be as independent as they could and to build new skills. This had included supporting a person to build their confidence to self-advocate and to have increasing control over their own life.

Care plans were person-centred and reflected people’s interests, likes, dislikes and preferences. Staff gave people opportunities to provide input to their care planning and reviews and to provide feedback on the service they received.

Shared lives carers and workers received a range of training that would help them provide effective and safe care to people using the service. Shared lives carer’s training and development needs were regularly reviewed, and the provider arranged training to meet any identified needs.

The service was working within the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. Where people were able, they signed to consent to their planned care and support. Best-interest decisions were taken when people could not be supported to make certain decisions for themselves.

There was a thorough process in place for checking that shared lives carers were suitable for the role. This included assessment of their skills, values, motivations and home environment, along with standard recruitment checks such as a criminal records check and references. An independent panel approved any recommendations made to appoint a shared lives carer.

The provider had robust processes in place to help monitor and improve the quality and safety of the service. This included local checks of documentation, file audits and regular monitoring visits to shared lives carers and the people they supported. The provider monitored trends of indicators such as safeguarding and accidents to help ensure timely action could be taken to any emerging concerns.

The provider had strong governance processes. They had undertaken themed and targeted audits to help identify good practice and make recommendations to improve the service. For example, they had undertaken specific work in relation to the safe management of medicines and improving their approach to equality and diversity. The provider had considered good practice guidance relevant to their services and had carried out work to ensure such guidance was implemented at service level.

Shared lives carers felt well supported by the registered manager and organisation as a whole. They told us they were always able to speak with a member of staff to get support or advice, and would not hesitate to do so.