Both Thomas Morrison and Mark Harvey of Gainsborough were invited to the House of Commons last week to talk about their experiences of living in a Shared Lives Arrangement with their Adults Supporting Adults Provider (carer), Nigel Bishop. The event hosted by MP Nick Hurd provided opportunity for other local MP’s and government officials to meet with people from all over the country who use and provide the service and to discuss the benefits of Shared Lives.
Shared Lives is a unique form of care whereby an adult who needs support is carefully matched to live with a family and share their home and community life. This enables the person accessing the service to live better, healthier and lead a less isolated life. All Shared Lives schemes are regulated by the Care Quality Commission and the latest State of Care report, for 2013-14, showed Shared Lives outperforming all other types of adult social care services. Across the UK, there are approximately 12,000 people supported by 8,000 Shared Lives providers (carers) who are recruited, trained and approved by 153 local schemes.
Adults Supporting Adults (ASA) have been have been providing Shared Lives for some 25 years and currently supports 70 plus clients in Long Term and Short Break/Respite Arrangements. County-wide, ASA support a further 250 people through a variety of unique community based services, for which they were recently recognised by winning the East Midlands Great British Care Awards for Innovation.
Nigel Bishop who has been providing Shared Lives for many years with ASA said.” The day was a real success and both gentlemen enjoyed their day out, especially the train journey there and back. Both Mark and Thomas have lived with me for a long time now and it is such a rewarding role. To see someone flourish, to be as independent as possible and be part of the community makes the job really worthwhile. You have to be committed because it can be challenging at times, but ASA are always there to support you whenever you need it. I would encourage anyone to give it a go.”
Chief Executive of ASA, Trixie Bennett, said, “We are delighted to be invited to such an event and be able to share our experiences of how we support people to be more independent, but unfortunately, Shared Lives is a much under-utilised service within Lincolnshire. In this time of significant cuts to adult social care budgets, viable alternatives must be found to support the most vulnerable in our society, of which Shared Lives should be considered more frequently. We are always looking to recruit new Shared Lives providers and if people are interested then they should call ASA on 01529 416270 or visit our website at www.asaorg.co.uk”
First picture. Mark far right and Thomas 2nd left with Andrea Sutcliffe, the Chief Inspector of CQC and Trixie Bennett, Chief Executive of ASA. Nigel not in picture.
