Dedicated Shared Lives carers have told how the highly-rated service has helped turn round the lives of the people they care for.
North Tyneside Council runs the Shared Lives scheme, which has just been rated ‘good’ with an ‘outstanding’ feature following an inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
It sees approved and assessed carers provide a home and family life to vulnerable adults with a disability to promote independence and give them a sense of belonging.
In the CQC’s findings the service was found to be ‘outstanding’ in its care and ‘good’ in terms of how safe, effective, responsive and well-led it is.
Shared Lives carer Lynne Gray, of Whitley Bay, supports three people – Geoffrey, Lyndsey, and Margaret.
Geoffrey, who has Down Syndrome, came to live with Lynne, her husband and young son 18 years ago and is now regarded as a member of the family.
She said: “When Geoffrey first came to us we were told he would be back in hospital after six months.
“But we just fell in love with him straight away and I think he felt the same connection and he has been with us for 18 years now.
“His personality has completely changed and he has been brilliant. He’s one of the family and we love him.
“He calls me mum, my husband dad and my son his brother and the other way round. He probably wouldn’t have lived for as long as he has if he hadn’t come to live with us.
“It’s amazing to see him enjoy life and flourish – it makes me happy to see him happy.”
Shared Lives carer Jane Hutchinson shares her home with three people, including Edward, who has lived with her and her family for 10 years, David and Gordon, who moved in last year.
She said: “There are so many benefits for the people I care for and the scheme makes a massive difference to their lives. It’s amazing to see them learn new skills and live independently – their confidence just soars.
“It has also enhanced our lives as a family and is something I wish I had done years ago because it has bought so many benefits to us too.”
Shared Lives carer Linda Baldwin, from Tynemouth, provides regular short breaks for four people as respite for their family carers.
She said: “I have good relationships with the people I support and their families to enable them to do the things they want, which include a wide range of fun activities we both enjoy as we are well matched and share similar interests. Support and training is provided by the Shared Lives team and being a carer is very rewarding.”
Cllr Gary Bell, cabinet member for Adult Social Care, said: “I am delighted that our Shared Lives service has been recognised by inspectors.
“This is a really important scheme that ensures vulnerable adults with an assessed need are supported to live in a loving home as independently as possible.
“It is wonderful to hear directly from Shared Lives carers in the borough how the scheme provides so many benefits to them and the people they care for.
“We are always looking for more people to become Shared Lives carers so I would encourage anyone who is interested to contact the team and find out more.”
Elected Mayor Norma Redfearn CBE added: “This is yet another positive report and further demonstrates our commitment to providing children and adults in the borough the best possible care and support to give them opportunities to succeed in life.
“I am delighted that the outcome of the inspection was so positive and it is absolutely fantastic to hear how important the service is to those involved.”
Some of the key findings in the inspector’s report include:
- Staff focused on ensuring people were supported to be the key decision maker in their lives
- People were treated as one of the family by their carers
- Staff worked with people and carers to get to know their personalities, histories, needs and preferences
- There was a high degree of success in placements
- People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible
- The registered manager demonstrated a clear passion for ensuring people received person-centred support, which was shared by staff and carers alike
- Safeguarding procedures were in place and staff and carers knew how to protect people from harm
- Staff and carers received relevant training and said they were very well supported
To find out more about Shared Lives contact the team on (0191) 643 5241 or click here and a link to the CQC report can be found here
ENDS
Notes to editors:
North Tyneside Council’s children’s services department was last year placed among the top 10 nationally following an Ofsted inspection.
This resulted in the council being awarded government funding of £1.6m – to be shared with South Tyneside Council – to assist other local authorities to improve and drive up standards in children’s social care.
In addition, the children’s public health service has also been highly praised by the CQC and the authority’s Special Education Needs and Disability (SEND) provision received a positive peer review. The Adult Learning service also continues to be rated ‘good’ by Ofsted.