This inspection took place on 17 January 2018 and was announced. We contacted the shared lives carers on 19 and 22 January 2018. The service had previously been inspected on 9 August 2016 under its former name Highfields. At the time of our last inspection the service had moved locations to this address and was in the process of registering the new location. The service changed its name at the same time from Highfields to Kirklees Shared Lives. At the last inspection the service had been rated good and there were no breaches in the legal requirements.

Kirklees Shared Lives is a shared lives placement service, which recruits and supports paid carers to provide family based placements for adults with learning disabilities within the carer's home. Placements can be long-term with the adult living with the carer as part of their family, or as respite care which can range from a few hours a week, overnight or longer stays. On some occasions the service can provide an emergency service offering placements to people who find themselves in a crisis situation. At the time of our inspection there were 95 people referred to the scheme and there were 39 shared lives carers providing long term support and 40 providing short term breaks. Office based staff consisted of the registered manager, two and a half social work posts, two senior shared lives officers and two shared lives officer posts.

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.

Staff and shared lives carers had received training in how to keep people safe. They understood how to ensure people were safeguarded against abuse and they knew the procedure to follow to report any incidents.

Risks had been assessed and reduced to the lowest level possible. Where appropriate positive risk assessments were in place to support people to develop new skills.

There had been very few accidents and incidents. The registered manager had analysed these to ensure the likelihood of future incidents were reduced.

People are supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff support them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service support this practice. The service met the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act and ensured people's mental capacity to consent was assessed in line with best practice. Decisions were made in people’s best interests as required.

Staff received regular training to ensure they developed skills and knowledge to perform their role and received regular on-going supervision and an appraisal to support their development. New staff and shared lives carers completed the Care Certificate which included observations in their role.

The relatives of people using the service all told us the service was excellent and were happy with the care and support provided to their relative. The shared lives carers we spoke with during our inspection all spoke passionately about the value of the service supporting people in a family environment which ensured they had this human right preserved. They spoke to us with warmth and affection about the people they cared for and considered them as part of their family.

The service had a complaints policy in place although there had not been any complaints. Shared lives carers knew how to complain but they told us they had not needed to use the policy.

Staff told us they were supported in their role. They spoke of a positive culture, where they were supported with training and development. They influenced the delivery of the service by contributing to the team plan.

Regular meetings were held at the service for staff and the team held engagement events with sh