The referral process for professionals

We’ll arrange a one-to-one assessment to spend time with the person and their family, alongside key professionals such as social workers or members of the wider MDT. The assessment may take place face-to-face or virtually, but in every case, the person will also meet a scheme manager in person during the process. This helps us to understand not only the person’s care and support needs, but also what kind of environment will suit them best.

The documents we ask for vary depending on the person, but generally we’ll ask for as much professional information as possible to give us a clear picture - the more complete the information we receive, the more accurate and efficient our assessment can be. This could include occupational therapy assessments, speech and language therapy assessments, mental health or psychiatry reports, and any risk assessments already completed (such as HCR-20). 

Our assessments are completed by Referral Assessment Practitioners. Our RAPS are highly experienced professionals, and while they are not clinically trained, they are highly experienced professionals who often come from backgrounds in care management, mental health or operational leadership.

We use our own Lifeways Needs Assessment tool, which covers a wide range of care and support questions. For mental health referrals, we also complete an additional mental health assessment and risk screen. We use a compatibility form to check whether the person would be well-suited to specific service environments and to the other people already living there. We have a continuous risk assessment that we complete throughout the process. 

After we’ve assessed the person, we create a costed support proposal. This lays out the level of support we feel is required, how different risks will be managed, and which environment we believe will be most suitable, for example, a shared house or a flat scheme. The support proposal is developed in agreement with the Multi-Disciplinary team to ensure the levels of support commissioned are right for the person receiving support.

We encourage every person to visit a service before moving in, and this is usually arranged directly with the families, although sometimes social workers prefer to be the main contact. This is a great time to raise any concerns or ask questions with our scheme managers and assessment practitioners. If the local authority holds nomination rights, they will make the final decision about where placements are offered.

The available funding models will vary depending on the local authority and the type of service that we offer. Some councils work on a core and additional support model, while others use banded fee structures or framework agreements. Because funding arrangements vary so much across different areas of the UK, we provide a costed proposal that must be agreed by the relevant local authority.

Yes, but with an important caveat. Our supported living accommodation requires the person to be in receipt of care and support to be eligible for a tenancy with us. This means that if the individual is self-funding and later runs out of funds, the local authority would step in to continue support. For this reason, we always require assurance from the local authority that funding will continue if self-funding is no longer possible.

Here at Lifeways, we provide supported living and residential care for people living with complex needs, including:

• Learning disabilities
• Acquired brain injury
• Autism
• Physical disabilities
• Mental health

Our detailed assessments consider the individuality of the people we support, ensuring our approach is always tailored to their needs. Referrals are not limited to the local authority where the person currently lives. Placements can be made out of that person’s area, provided the relevant authority holds the nomination rights and agrees to the placement.

In 2024/25, Lifeways looked like this:
 

• 10,000 team members 

• More than 4,000 people supported 

• 1,500 services across the UK 

• Delivered 13,107,000+ hours of support 

• Moved 54 people with complex needs to independence 

• Invested £6.5m in our properties 

• Invested £2.1m in transforming services 

• Achieved 100% compliance across all Scottish registrations 

• Achieved 91% overall regulatory compliance (including third-party inspections)