We undertook an announced inspection on 1 February 2017. This was the first inspection of this service at this location. The service was previously registered at a different address.

Your Healthcare Community Interest Company provides a shared lives scheme across the Royal Borough of Kingston. The scheme matches an adult who has care needs with an approved shared lives carer. Shared lives carers accept people into their own homes and provide care, support and mentorship to people. The shared lives carers are self-employed and have a contract to work with Your Healthcare Community Interest Company. At the time of our inspection four shared lives carers were providing support to seven people. Some people using the service had a learning disability and others were older people some of whom had cognitive impairment. In this report we refer to the shared lives carers as ‘carers’ and the shared lives scheme staff as ‘staff’.

A registered manager was 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.

There were comprehensive systems in place to ensure only suitable carers were recruited who had the right knowledge, skills and attitudes to provide a shared lives service. Staff assessed the risks to people’s safety and provided carers with information and support about how to mitigate those risks. This included risks to people at home and in the community. Carers were provided with information about how to safeguard people from harm and there were regular discussions to ensure people were not discriminated against. Carers supported people to have their medicines and medicines management was checked by staff during their visits to people’s homes to ensure the provider’s medicines management policy and procedures were being followed.

Shared lives staff adhered to the provider’s mandatory training. The provider had scheduled training to ensure the carers had access to up to date information and good practice guidance about how to meet people’s needs. Carers were supported through regular contact and supervision visits by the shared lives staff. Staff worked with carers and people’s social workers to ensure people received support in line with the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). Staff provided carers with information about people’s health and nutritional needs so they could be supported appropriately.

People were involved in decisions about their care and how their support was provided. Staff provided carers with information about people’s communication needs so they could communicate with people appropriately and involve them in their care. People and their carers were respectful of each other’s individual differences, cultural and religious preferences. Carers respected people’s privacy. Carers involved people in their own families and supported people to maintain contact with their relatives.

Staff, together with people’s social workers, assessed people’s needs and the level of support they required. This information was provided to their carers to ensure they received support in line with their needs. Carers encouraged people to maintain their independence and use their skills. Some people were being supported to access education and employment opportunities. Systems were in place to manage any complaints that arose.

Staff checked the quality of service delivery through regular visits to the shared lives homes. They encouraged people and their carers to feedback about the service and to identify any areas for improvement. Staff checked that people received the support they required and appropriate documentation was maintained. The provider gathered key performance information about the service and this was shared with their commissione