Catalyst Choices is a community based shared lives scheme based in Warrington and supporting people from the Warrington area. The scheme is registered to provide personal care. Catalyst choices shared lives offers people over 18 years an alternative form of day care, overnight respite or shared home from home experience. The support is provided by individuals and families in the local community, to people with a variety of support needs.

We inspected Catalyst Choices on 10 and 19 September 2018. As this was a 'shared lives' scheme, we checked records and met with the manager and care coordinators who made arrangements for us to speak with the care providers on the 19 September.

The organisation supports individuals in “companions” houses as part of the shared lives scheme, they also offer respite care and day activities, some of these arrangements do not fall under this registration as the people receiving the service do not need any personal care.

Thirteen individuals live in ten “companions” homes across Warrington who support them according to their assessed needs. 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. People's care and housing are provided under separate contractual agreements. CQC does not regulate premises used for supported living; this inspection looked at people’s personal care and support.

The Catalyst Choices office team consisted of the registered manager and three shared lives staff. They supported the shared lives carers, assessed prospective care providers and matched people to care providers who had a vacancy in their home. 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.

People we spoke with told us they felt the service was safe and they felt safe with their companions. The shared lives carers and shared lives staff could describe the forms of abuse people using the service might be vulnerable to and said they would report any concerns appropriately.

The recruitment process for new shared lives companions and staff was effective; all the required checks had been made for both.

Regular visits were made to people’s homes and appropriate environmental risk assessments had been completed.

Peoples' medicines were managed properly by the shared lives carers who had received training and undertaken regular competency checks.

The service complied with the Mental Capacity Act 2005; Shared lives carers and shared lives staff had a good working knowledge of the principals and how they applied to the people using the service. People were given choices and supported to make their own decisions.

Shared lives staff and shared lives companions received the training relevant to the needs of the people they support. They also received regular supervision and an annual appraisal, all of which was documented properly. Shared lives companions said they felt supported by the Shared lives staff.

Shared lives companions described people as members of their families and the interactions we observed were warm and friendly.

Peoples’ support plans were individualised and provided evidence that people were supported to access a range of healthcare professionals.

People had access to a range of activities with other companions and at day centres, we saw that people supported by the shared lives scheme had busy lives and attended activities they enjoyed.

People we spoke with and other professionals involved with the people gave us positive feedback abo