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Contents What is Shared Lives? ...................................................................................................................... 1 Overview of this guide....................................................................................................................... 2 Understanding the current and potential outcomes of Shared Lives ................................................ 3 What are the pros and cons of outsourcing? .................................................................................... 5 Current and potential unit costs ........................................................................................................ 7 Who to involve in decisions ............................................................................................................... 9 Shared Lives is not a service: its a way for people to live their lives. Alison and Mark run a pub in a seaside town. Neil, who has a learning disability, spent a lot of time drinking in pubs around the town, and gradually spent more and more time at Alisons pub. Alison and Neil were concerned about his drinking, his behaviour and increasingly, his safety. He even began sleeping rough on their doorstep. Alison and Mark approached the council and were told about Shared Lives. They put themselves through the recruitment, training and approval procedures and became registered Shared Lives carers. For the first time, Neil now looks people in the eye. He takes care of his appearance and has control over his drinking; people say they can now understand his speech. He has achieved longheld ambitions like going to Wembley. Neil says Now I know what I wanted: what I wanted was a family. Alison says His behaviour has changed completely. He brings a whole new dimension to our lives, we get as much pleasure as he does in our family. We are even thinking of getting out of the pub trade to become full time carers. You can find more stories from Shared Lives at: www.sharedlivesplus.org.uk and www.communitycatalysts.co.uk The Guardian: http://bit.ly/fhHV3L The Sunday Telegraph: http://bit.ly/dvYdkZ Community Care magazine: http://bit.ly/9I50Ki The Social Care Institute for Excellence (video): http://bit.ly/gpUJkM Our blog: http://alexfoxblog.wordpress.com
Shared Lives Plus UK Ltd 2010. www.sharedlivesplus.org.uk www.communitycatalysts.co.uk | 1 Registered charity: 1095562. Registered company: 4511426
The Care Quality Commission (CQC), the governments social care inspectors for England, gave 38% of Shared Lives schemes the top rating of excellent (three star). This is nearly double the percentages for other forms of care. 83% of all forms of support were rated good or excellent, whereas 95% of Shared Lives schemes were good or excellent. Uniquely, no Shared Lives scheme has been rated as poor for the last two years. The inspection regimes in the other nations dont allow for explicit comparisons of this kind, but rate Shared Lives strongly. Shared Lives Plus, with Improvement and Efficiency South East, has produced a business case which demonstrates the savings created by using Shared Lives rather than other forms of support, available on www.naaps.co.uk/en/publications/surveys-and-research. Depending upon the complexity of an individuals needs, Shared Lives schemes can deliver savings of between 35 and 640 a week per person in comparison to traditional services. The average saving for someone with a learning disability in residential care for example is 60%. 10 new long term arrangements generate pa savings of between 23,400 (older people) and 517,400 (learning disabilities). To develop a Shared Lives scheme to support 85 people requires investment of 620,000 over five years but generates savings of almost 13 million. The larger the scheme, the greater the efficiencies. Shared Lives Plus is the UK network of very small, family and community based care and support solutions for older and disabled people: it is all about ordinary people and families contributing to the care and support of local people, sometimes in extraordinary ways. As well as 4,000 Shared Lives carers and schemes, our membership includes Homeshare and micro-enterprise. Shared Lives Plus has established a social enterprise, Community Catalysts, which is bringing their values and messages to new audiences and taking forward its aim to enable people wherever they live to have real choice of high quality local individualised support. Community Catalysts works across the UK through local partners to support local enterprise. A major focus of its work currently is with local authorities and health trusts keen to create an environment within which micro entrepreneurs can flourish but its skills and knowledge are also being used by a range of other organisations including regional and national providers interested in unlocking the potential of staff teams and of the people that they support and Shared Lives Schemes exploring expansion and development opportunities. Community Catalysts offers a consultancy service for organisations which are looking for in-depth advice and help: www.communitycatalysts.co.uk
Shared Lives Plus UK Ltd 2010. www.sharedlivesplus.org.uk www.communitycatalysts.co.uk | 2 Registered charity: 1095562. Registered company: 4511426
This guidance does not intend to encourage outsourcing, nor discourage it. Shared Lives Plus is neutral on that issue: we see examples of strong Shared Lives schemes delivered by councils and by independent schemes and there is evidence of significant investment in both kinds of scheme in some areas, as local authorities are becoming more aware of the savings and improved outcomes which high quality Shared Lives can deliver. So we see this time of change as one of opportunity for Shared Lives services to reach many more groups and communities with their unique brand of personalised, family and community based care and support. But Shared Lives is distinct from other forms of care and support. Without those differences and values being understood, there is a real risk that the gains in outcomes and reductions in costs being achieved by good in-house Shared Lives schemes will be lost. Some key differences between Shared Lives and other services are: A service is not Shared Lives unless the appropriate processes are in place, managed by a regulated Shared Lives scheme. Shared Lives carers are self-employed, not employees of the council. They are free, in theory, to contract with any registered Shared Lives scheme they wish. An effective Shared Lives service is a partnership between the Shared Lives carers and their scheme. The quality of the support delivered by the scheme and of the relationship between the scheme workers and carers is crucial to the quality of the Shared Lives service. Shared Lives carers dont clock on and off. They typically provide much more than they can be said to have been paid for. They expect to feel valued and they need regular breaks. Shared Lives carers and service users are matched for compatibility. Successful matches pay huge dividends: they may be lifelong supportive relationships. But matching involves an up-front investment of time. Shared Lives carers have family homes, not vacant beds to be filled.
Shared Lives is regulated as home care, not residential care and funded through council funds and also benefits, including Housing Benefit. This makes it highly competitive in comparison to residential care and enables it to be offered to groups with lower personal budget allocations. This guide suggests ways in which commissioners can improve decisions on outsourcing, in particular through genuinely involving Shared Lives workers, carers, service users and their families at every stage in decision making.
There are a number of questions to ask about a schemes capacity: Is the scheme at or exceeding capacity? Is the service well used by all potential service user groups? Could shared lives carers vacancies be used more effectively?
Shared Lives Plus UK Ltd 2010. www.sharedlivesplus.org.uk www.communitycatalysts.co.uk | 3 Registered charity: 1095562. Registered company: 4511426
Would investment in additional capacity allow the scheme to become more productive?
Shared Lives Plus is aware of a number of in-house schemes who are being asked to support well over the optimum number of Shared Lives arrangements. This has two negative impacts. Firstly, the quality of placements can deteriorate because of inadequacies in setting up and monitoring matches. Secondly, the scheme has no capacity to improve productivity through more efficient working, or to innovate and develop new services. Good schemes achieve positive outcomes in areas such as: Mental and physical health Involvement in employment/ training Ability to self-care/ independent living skills Number, quality, strength of unpaid relationships Self-determination/ efficacy - ability to make and act on choices Contribution to family and community life Resilience, ability to cope with crises/ change
In-house Shared Lives schemes have not always been asked to gather evidence of outcomes or even outputs data routinely, so commissioners may need to work with the existing scheme to gather evidence of outputs and outcomes before decisions are taken about development possibilities and outsourcing options. Even schemes who lack formal or academic evidence of outcomes, should be able to gather evidence from a number of sources: the schemes inspection results and safeguarding record; quotes from service users and their families; feedback from referrers; notes taken during placement reviews or needs assessments; feedback collated from annual satisfaction surveys of users, carers, referrers; case studies which give examples of positive outcomes; formal surveys of the outcomes above: eg the number of unpaid relationships an individual has at referral and six or 12 months later.
Some schemes reach a wide range of communities and service user groups; others have had a narrower focus. It would be useful to understand the current and potential scope of Shared Lives in your area. Around the UK, there are examples of Shared Lives services delivering outstanding outcomes for: people with learning disabilities; older people with dementia; people with mental health problems and people with substance misuse problems; disabled children in transition to adulthood and care leavers; parents with learning disabilities; day care and breaks as well as long-term arrangements; the provision of intermediate care (re-ablement) to improve hospital discharge; arrangements aimed at developing peoples independent living skills which demonstrably lead on to more independent living arrangements.
Shared Lives services can be highly effective in delivering low cost high quality solutions in areas where there is unmet need and specialised requirements. For instance, Shared Lives schemes providing day support in rural areas can reduce the need for transport to central day facilities, as well as delivering personalised outcomes for the individuals involved. Shared Lives Plus UK Ltd 2010. www.sharedlivesplus.org.uk www.communitycatalysts.co.uk | 4 Registered charity: 1095562. Registered company: 4511426
There are many unpredictable variables, particularly in the early stages if the scheme is new or starting from a small scale base. A small independent scheme may not become cost-effective and may be very vulnerable to fluctuations or challenges until it has grown. Shared Lives Plus and our social enterprise Community Catalysts offer in-depth advice and support to councils considering the spin out route, drawing on our experience not only of outsourcing Shared Lives but also of supporting micro-enterprises, which are often set up by former employees of councils. Whatever the form of outsourcing, it will be crucial to arrive at the best form of contracting or combination of contracts. Will support be commissioned as a block contract, spot contract, or framework contract, or will funding be entirely personal budget based. Different approaches will have implications for the choice and control of service users, but also for the risks taken by the scheme, and therefore for the successful delivery of Shared Lives in the area. How will those risks be shared between the scheme and the commissioning body? The council might wish to put safeguards against problems occurring in place, particularly in the early stages.
Shared Lives Plus UK Ltd 2010. www.sharedlivesplus.org.uk www.communitycatalysts.co.uk | 5 Registered charity: 1095562. Registered company: 4511426
Contracts can involve a clearer definition of outputs and outcomes and careful monitoring of delivery against targets.
None of these advantages are a given: they will require a well-planned organisation with strong management and governance. There are also risks which should be considered. Authorities planning a staff spin out will need to consider the skills of the current team and those required in the new organisation: entrepreneurial and marketing skills; influencing and lobbying skills; strong business and financial management skills; a good understanding of governance responsibilities.
Additional risks to be considered include: The schemes new freedom could lead to mission drift. Many external providers are used to providing services with a very different culture and value base and may struggle to adapt to the expectations of Shared Lives. If Shared Lives carers have not been effectively engaged in the process, they may reject the new organisation and move to another scheme or leave caring altogether.
The risks above point to a need for the commissioner to have a good understanding of the strengths and flexibilities of Shared Lives and of the factors which are important to an effective Shared Lives service. There is also clearly a requirement for an established, formal role for Shared Lives carers, service users, families and other stakeholders to play in the outsourcing process and in developing the new provider. In-house service managers sometimes express fears about the impact on quality of any outsourcing decision. It is Shared Lives Plus view that quality is not guaranteed by any particular model of delivery, and that there are example of high quality services in both the council-run and independent sector and both are subject to the same inspection regime. It is useful to consider: What is currently in place in terms of Quality Assurance (QA)? What evidence do you have of the impact of this? What QA system will the new provider be expected use?
In addition to inspection and other quality measures, many small and medium not for profits use PQASSO or a similar QA tool to monitor and improve the quality of their structures, functions, finances and governance. The regulation and inspection regime for Shared Lives, of course, remains the same for all models of provision.
Shared Lives Plus UK Ltd 2010. www.sharedlivesplus.org.uk www.communitycatalysts.co.uk | 6 Registered charity: 1095562. Registered company: 4511426
Note that the gross cost of the service is the total payment to the Shared Lives carer, plus the costs of running the scheme. The net cost to the local authority, will be the gross cost less the contribution the service user makes through Fairer Charging for their personal care, and also less any additional payments they make to the Shared Lives carer for rent, food, heating, lighting. Shared Lives will not necessarily meet all an individuals support requirements. For instance, where Shared Lives is meeting an individuals long term support and accommodation needs through providing stable family life, that individual should nevertheless have the opportunity to take part in activities outside of their home during the day. A scheme may have several different units of support, such as a week of support and accommodation, a day of day care, or a 48 hour break. The costs of those units might also differ according to the persons level of support need. Some schemes have a clear, banded system of costs, with, for instance Band A being high need, Band B, medium need and Band C, low need It is likely that an independent scheme would need a system of this kind, so it may be worthwhile moving to that system ahead of any outsourcing decision. Shared Lives Plus have produced a guide to carer payment models for members. Schemes should be able to estimate how many staff members were needed to deliver each kind of support and commissioners should discuss with managers whether that ratio was efficient, realistic and sustainable. Shared Lives Plus have produced guidance on calculating optimum staff workloads. The payment to the Shared Lives carer is made up of several elements: The users contribution to rent, food, heating and lighting, paid for from the persons own money and/ or their benefits including Housing Benefit.
Shared Lives Plus UK Ltd 2010. www.sharedlivesplus.org.uk www.communitycatalysts.co.uk | 7 Registered charity: 1095562. Registered company: 4511426
The social care-funded element, paid by the council to the carer, or paid to the individual as a personal budget, which they then pay to the carer via the Shared Lives scheme. Under Fairer Charging rules, the service users ability to contribute to this will be assessed and they may be charged for part or all of this cost. Anything else the scheme pays to the carer, to cover: o any training or supervision they are paid to attend; o travel expenses o covering when they are sick; o their respite; o their insurance; o CRB checks; o their Shared Lives Plus membership.
Local arrangements as to what the Scheme covers from the list above and what the carer pays for themselves will vary. Within an area, the cost of individual carers will also vary. For instance, some may attend more training or use more sickness cover. Some carers and support arrangements need more support than others (see Shared Lives Plus Support Profiling Tool and Workload Analysis tool). Full costs of staff members may have the potential to change if there was a move from in-house to outsourcing, as councils have very different infrastructure costs to not for profits. Any potential bidder will need to work out its costs on a full cost recovery basis. This could include estimating marketing costs, finance teams time, payroll, proportion of a senior manager, CQC registration, public liability insurance. Remember that all of these figures will necessarily be estimates and averages, with a considerable margin of error, so overly detailed calculations of current and potential unit costs are likely to be misleading and counter-productive.
The full range of savings by service type on page 16: www.sharedlivesplus.org.uk/en/publications/surveys-and-research. However, the actual costs in your area will differ from the costs in the Business Case, which was based on care costs in the South East of England at a particular moment in time. Laing and Buisson estimated that the average residential care home fee was 482 per week in England in 2009 (684 for nursing homes). For support to review your high cost placements and to consider lower-cost family and communitybased alternatives, contact Community Catalysts: 01423 790126, www.communitycatalysts.co.uk.
Shared Lives Plus UK Ltd 2010. www.sharedlivesplus.org.uk www.communitycatalysts.co.uk | 8 Registered charity: 1095562. Registered company: 4511426
Shared Lives carer group, which held regular support groups and Quality Days, was wellestablished and assertive. In one local authority run scheme in Wales, Shared Lives carers have been supported to elect representatives to a group which liaises with the scheme and council decision makers. Shared Lives Plus Shared Lives carer members have highlighted the elements of a successful scheme: Systems to ensure full information about service users needs is given to prospective Shared Lives carers, including any needs which could have safeguarding implications. Terms and conditions which reflect the value placed upon Shared Lives carers and on which Shared Lives carers have been consulted. Clear transparent information about how Shared Lives carer fees are calculated for different kinds of support and people with different levels of need. Simple, proportionate recording systems which avoid unnecessary intrusion into family life. Staff who understand the particular insurance requirements of Shared Lives carers. Staff providing carers with the right information, including information about Shared Lives Plus. Support for an independent Shared Lives carers group and a commitment to listening to their collective voice. A programme of training and learning opportunities, which are available flexibly. A clear procedure for investigating allegations whilst providing service users, families and Shared Lives carers themselves support during any investigation.
Our scheme is going to be outsourced. So far the independent consultants have asked me for a battery of facts and figures but have yet to meet with me, my team, Shared Lives carers or service users. I know nothing of the process and feel things are about to be 'done to' our service. Shared Lives Plus UK Ltd 2010. www.sharedlivesplus.org.uk www.communitycatalysts.co.uk | 10 Registered charity: 1095562. Registered company: 4511426
Shared Lives Plus UK Ltd 2010. www.sharedlivesplus.org.uk www.communitycatalysts.co.uk | 11 Registered charity: 1095562. Registered company: 4511426