‘It is just like a family’: Lifeways’ North of the Tyne supported living services rated ‘Good’ by the CQC

Lifeways’ supported living services in the North of the Tyne area have been freshly rated as ‘Good’ by England’s health and social regulator, the Care Quality Commission, (CQC).

The Lifeways supported living service, which covers an area across Berwick-upon-Tweed and Bedlington, support a total of 28 individuals in 12 separate settings.

Many of the individuals supported live with a learning disability or autism.

The CQC inspection was carried out in October, and published later that month, the service was rated ‘Good’ by the regulator. This means that the inspector found the service was safe, effective, caring, responsive, and well-led.

All health services in England are provided one of four ratings by the CQC: Outstanding, Good, Requires Improvement, or Inadequate.  

According to the CQC, the service was able to “demonstrate how they were meeting the [regulator’s own] underpinning principles of right support, right care, right culture.”

What the CQC report says about the North of the Tyne service:

• “People were supported in an individual manner and helped to live their best life possible.”
• “People told us they were able to make choices and that staff listened to them and supported them. One person told us, ‘I always have staff to support me.’”
• “Staff had a good understanding of people’s personal preferences and ways of doing things.”

‘Every day is different’

The report also noted that: “people and relatives were very positive about the care they received. Comments included, ‘They are thoroughly spoilt. It is just like a family’; ‘They are happy there and that is the main thing. They are really quite happy’ and ‘I like living here. The staff are really nice.’”

According to the report, one Lifeways team member told the CQC inspector: "It’s seeing the smile on their faces. It’s about giving them choices. Every day is different.”

Quality Checkers

The report also noted the effectiveness of Lifeways’ Quality Checkers programme, which sees people we support volunteer and be trained to assess the quality of the service we provide.

The report said:

“The registered manager had established a ‘Quality Checkers’ programme where people were trained to carry out checks on other parts of the service. People assessed whether other people using the service were involved in their care, had the right staff to support them and could enjoy activities.”

“One person, who was part of this programme, told us, ‘It’s a very important job. You make sure that everything is right; check that there are the right staffing levels.’”

‘Delighted’

Nikki Noble, Lifeways’ Area Manager for the North of the Tyne, says she is “delighted that we’ve been received the recognition for our work in supporting individuals to live their best lives.”

“I particularly want to thank our fantastic service managers, who work every day with their teams within our services, to deliver great support.

“A very big thank you to Lorraine Noble, [no relation] and Jackie Hardy-Dixon, the two service managers whose services were inspected.”

“I’d also like to thank Dave Burn, the registered manager who supported with the visits on the day.”

“The CQC inspector whom we met was very supportive, and very understanding of the support work we do. The whole inspection process was a pleasure.”

 

About Lifeways:

Lifeways is the UK’s largest team of support professionals providing support for adults in the community.

We support adults with diverse and complex needs, including learning disabilities, autism, physical disabilities, acquired brain injuries, and mental health conditions. 

As the supported living sector’s largest team of professionals, Lifeways’ extensive experience and national reach mean we deliver extraordinary support to adults, enabling them to live fulfilling and independent lives in the community. 

Our 11,000 colleagues currently support almost 5,000 individuals who live in our 1,500 supported living and residential services across England, Scotland, and Wales. 

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