This inspection took place on 26 October 2016 and was announced. We gave the provider 48 hours' notice of our visit because the location provides a shared lives service and we needed to make sure there would be someone in the office at the time of our visit.

Leicester City Council Shared Lives Service is a domiciliary care agency which is registered for the regulated activity of personal care. The service recruits, assesses and supports paid cares to support people who are unable to live independently without support. Placements are made on a short or longer term basis and may involve day visits, respite or the person may live with their carer in their home as part of the family. At the time of our inspection there were 75 people using the service and 62 shared lives carers. Many of the people using the service lived with complex health conditions or learning disabilities and were unable to speak to us directly.

At the time of our inspection the registered manager had just de-registered and the provider was in the process of recruiting to the post of registered manager. 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. The service was managed on a day-to-day basis by a care manager.

This was our first inspection of the service to provide it with a rating.

Robust processes were followed to recruit and assess people who applied to become shared lives carers, and to review the suitability of the existing shared lives carers. There were enough shared lives carers to deliver the service safely and people were provided with continuity of care.

The allocated workers were skilled and experienced in co-ordinating the service and were supported in carrying out their roles. They monitored the placements closely and had a good awareness of how to safeguard people from harm and abuse. The allocated workers and shared lives carers promoted personal safety whilst respecting people's freedom to exercise their independence and take risks. There was effective liaison between allocated workers, shared lives carers and other external professionals to help maintain placements. Care and support was safely planned to minimise the risks to people's safety and well-being.

All shared lives carers were given training and support to meet the needs of the people they cared for, including regular opportunities to meet their allocated worker.

Each person was encouraged and supported to make choices and decisions about their care and living arrangements. People's mental capacity was assessed and care records reflected that people had consented to the placement and the care and support they received.

People were supported to stay healthy, have a balanced diet and supported to manage their own medicines. Detailed care and support plans were in place which reflected the person's choices and aspirations. People were supported to develop or regain skills and abilities to maintain their independence. People were supported to take part in activities they enjoyed, including participating in local community events and facilities.

People developed positive relationships with shared lives carers who were caring and supportive. Shared lives carers were carefully matched to enable people to lead active lives, take part in enjoyable activities and develop their life skills. People and shared lives carers were provided with information in a variety of formats to enable them to make key decisions about their care and support needs.

People's care plans were person centred, detailed and written in a way that described their individual care and support needs in detail. These were reviewed regularly and changes made where required. This meant that everyone was clear about how pe