Source · CQC inspection

Essex Shared Lives

Provider Essex County Council Type Social Care Org Region East Last inspected 17 Jun 2022

Overall rating: Requires Improvement  View full CQC report

Domain ratings

Five CQC key questions
Safe
Requires Improvement
Effective
Requires Improvement
Caring
Good
Responsive
Requires Improvement
Well-led
Requires Improvement

Earlier inspection findings

pre-2024 framework · 8 must-do 2 should-do

Must-do actions (8)

Legal requirements based on regulation breaches identified during inspection.

Must-do action 1 of 8
Must do
Safe
The provider must ensure all shared live hosts have up to date and completed training relating to safeguarding vulnerable people.
⚠ Not all shared live hosts had up to date or completed training relating to safeguarding vulnerable people.
Must-do action 2 of 8
Must do
Safe
The provider must ensure people's risk assessments are up to date and available within the shared lives host's home.
⚠ People's risk assessments were either out of date or not available within the shared lives host's home.
Must-do action 3 of 8
Must do
Safe
The provider must ensure that any additional family members providing personal care and/or looking after people using the service are subject to the appropriate vetting and assessment process and approved as shared lives respite hosts.
⚠ Information viewed for two people showed an additional family member was on occasions either providing personal care and/or looking after the person using the service to give the shared live host a break. The previous organisation had not completed the vetting and assessment process or approved either family member as …
Must-do action 4 of 8
Must do
Safe
The provider must ensure all people using the service have their medication needs recorded within their support plan and that all shared live hosts complete Medication Administration Records [MAR] to demonstrate when people's medicines have been administered.
⚠ Not all people using the service had their medication needs recorded within their support plan. Additionally, not all shared live hosts were completing a Medication Administration Record [MAR] to demonstrate when people's medicines had been administered.
Must-do action 5 of 8
Must do
Safe
The provider must ensure all shared lives hosts have up to date and completed training on how to safely support people with their medicines.
⚠ Not all shared lives hosts had up to date or completed training on how to safely support people with their medicines.
Must-do action 6 of 8
Must do
Safe
The provider must ensure all shared lives hosts have up to date and completed training relating to infection control.
⚠ Not all shared lives hosts had up to date or completed training relating to infection control.
Must-do action 7 of 8
Must do
Effective
The provider must ensure all shared live hosts complete and hold up to date training relevant to their role.
⚠ The audits identified significant gaps relating to not all shared live hosts having completed or holding up to date training.
Must-do action 8 of 8
Must do
Well-led
The provider must ensure that robust auditing arrangements are fully implemented and effectively address identified shortfalls concerning recruitment practices for existing shared lives hosts, mandatory and specialist training uptake, and documentation relating to people being supported, including support plans, risk assessments, and completed MAR forms.
⚠ Robust auditing arrangements identified shortfalls concerning recruitment practices for existing shared lives hosts, lack of mandatory and specialist uptake of training and lack of documentation relating to people being supported, including support plans, risk assessments and completed MAR forms. This process was taking longer than expected to complete.

Should-do actions (2)

Recommended improvements to enhance service quality.

Should-do action 1 of 2
Should do
Effective
The provider should review the methods of delivering training to shared live hosts to ensure it is accessible and appropriate for all individuals, including those who are not computer literate.
Should-do action 2 of 2
Should do
Well-led
The provider should consider the need for a deputy manager and/or senior shared live officer to provide ongoing day-to-day support and advice to the team, particularly in the registered manager's absence, to ensure adequate management capacity.

Location details

CQC ID: 1-10807565367
Local authority: Essex
Region: East

Inspection report

Type: Inspection report
Date: 17 June 2022
Rating: Requires Improvement
Actions: 8 must-do 2 should-do
AI-extracted 17 Feb 2026