Survey about proposals for the recommissioning of Richmond’s supported living and care homes for people with a learning disability

Overview

The contracts for Richmond’s supported living and care homes for people with a learning disability are due to come to an end in 2023.  The Council would like to hear what you think about its proposals for the new contracts.

Earlier this year we asked people about their experience of the services and their hopes for the future:

• 25 people responded to an online consultation survey
• 51 people who live in the services told us what they thought in an Easy Read survey
• 39 family carers and advocates gave their views in a series of online meetings and telephone conversations
• Richmond Mencap’s Working Together Group met online with groups of people who lived in 32 supported living schemes and residential care homes and then prepared a report on what people said

We have used the feedback to help write a Draft Outline Service Specification which summarises what will be in the contract, and which can be found here.

We have also prepared an Equalities Impact and Needs Analysis and would appreciate any comments on it. The Equalities Impact and Needs Analysis can be found here.

Now that we have a formal proposal, we would like to find out what people think about it and to check that we have not missed anything important. 

We will use your feedback to inform the text of the full service specification.

Alongside this survey we will also:

• Engage with the Working Together Group to ensure that the voices of people with a learning disability are heard
• Arrange some further meetings for family carers and advocates – if you would like to be invited to a meeting please leave your contact details at the end of the survey

Description of the services

The services consist of 16 residential care homes and 19 supported living schemes that provide care and support for up to 172 adults with a learning disability. Two new supported living schemes in development will house up to 12 people.  Two of the services are provided in accommodation supplied by the Council and the remainder are supplied by seven Registered Providers of social housing.

The service users’ needs are in the moderate to severe range. Some of the service users need support to manage challenging behaviour and some of the services are specialised in meeting this need.  Some of the service users are autistic.  As would be expected, many of the service users have additional long-term conditions or disability.

Nine of the care homes were purpose built and seven are in houses that were converted into a care home.  In some of the care homes the service users are all of older age groups and voids can be hard to fill when they arise; in these circumstances the Council needs providers that are able to work creatively with it to find solutions that enable buildings to be re-used for younger adults with a learning disability. At least one of the care homes is expected to be deregistered and converted to supported living in the next year.

Eleven of the supported living schemes are shared houses with on-site support.  One shared house is leased from a private landlord and the lease will expire in 2028.  Four are blocks or converted houses of self-contained flats with on-site support, with two more in development.  Four are schemes of flats (shared and self-contained) with outreach support. 

The services are currently provided by six providers and in all cases where they have been rated by the CQC they are rated as Good overall or Outstanding.

Have your say

Please give us your views by clicking on the online survey link below.  Responses to this survey will be confidential.

These survey questions are also available in a paper Easy Read version. If you would like more information about this project or need the questionnaire in another format please contact Alan Hiscutt at Alan.Hiscutt@richmondandwandsworth.gov.uk

What happens next

We will use your feedback to inform the text of the full service specification.