Bluebird Care (Cornwall North)

Bluebird Care UK is a national franchise. A franchise is when a franchisee (the provider) has bought the right to sell a specific company's (the franchisor's) products in a particular area using the company's name. The franchise operates over two hundred locations across the United Kingdom.

The office of Bluebird Care (Cornwall North) is located in the centre of Camelford, and it is readily accessible for people using the service and staff. This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides support for people living with dementia, older people, physical disabilities care, learning disabilities and autism spectrum disorder and sensory impairment. At the time of our inspection 93 people were receiving support from the service.

The service provides three types of support to people in the community. The first one is for short visits to provide personal care or domestic support. The second service is to provide a 24 hour package of care with a core staff team supporting a person in their own home. The third service is to provide short term live in cover for people whose main carer might request a respite service.

There was a registered manager in place at the time of our inspection. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

The culture of Bluebird Care (Cornwall North) was exceptionally inclusive. The providers values were person-centred and made sure people were at the heart of the service. Staff shared this view and had a common vision to provide a service where people were enabled to live their lives as they chose and maintain their independence. Staff demonstrated they cared through their attitude and engagement with people. Staff clearly understood the need to respect people’s individual wishes and choices. One person told us, “They [staff and managers] are exceptional. I have the utmost respect for them all. They all go over and above in what they do.” This was reflected many times by managers, staff and people using the service throughout the inspection.

The service was proactive in ensuring equality and diversity standards were integral to people's care plans. For example making sure people’s needs were clear to help staff in delivering care and support. Staff told us the information helped them to identify any diverse needs and to respect people for who they were. People told us staff were respectful. One person said, “I have a disability but [staff names] understand and respect me for who I am. Not the disability.”

The provider and registered manager were innovative and demonstrated governance systems were embedded into the core framework, to ensure continual development and monitoring of the quality of care and support they delivered. They worked in partnership with other organisations to make sure they followed current best practice and provided a high quality service.

Senior staff were dedicated to providing quality care to people. They valued staff and promoted their development. There was an open culture at the service where staff felt exceptionally supported, able to raise any concerns and put forward suggestions for improvements. The provider encouraged people to provide feedback on how things were managed and to share their experiences of the service in creative ways which suited their needs.

The service used technology to support staff in their work. All staff had links to the system used, with password access to information about the people they were supporting to ensure the information was protected. They told us the system was excellent and was updated constantly so any changes were recorded as they occurred.

The registered manager and staff were confident about the action to take if they had any safeguarding concerns. The registered manager had raised issues with the local authority when alerted to concerns. Risk assessments clearly identified any risk and gave staff guidance on how to minimise the risk. They were designed to keep people and staff safe while allowing people to develop and maintain their independence.

There were processes in place to protect people and the security of their home when they received personal care, including staff wearing uniforms and carrying identification. People received information about who they should expect to be delivering their care so they were aware of who was due to call upon them. If there were any sudden changes people told us they were always informed, with the time and name of the staff member.

Medicine procedures were safe. The service supported people with their medicines by prompting them and administering them. Where medicine was administered records were completed by staff.

Recruitment and selection was carried out safely with appropriate checks made before new staff could start working for the service. Staff had the skills, knowledge and experience needed to care for people. They received training to carry out their role and were knowledgeable about how to support and care for people. They had the skills, knowledge and experience to provide safe and effective support. People had been supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible.

There was a strong focus on continually striving to improve. This included the introduction of an innovative electronic care recording system to support an effective delivery of a high quality service to people. The system supported the registered managers and supervisors to monitor the delivery of people's care as it happened. The provider, registered manager and staff told us it was working extremely well and that it had helped in improving communication and responding to changes. People's care was being delivered more safely, effectively and responsively due to the provider's utilisation of technology to support the planning, delivery and monitoring of care.

The management team strove continually to improve the quality of service they provided. There were robust processes in place to seek people's views on the service and monitor the quality of the service.

Information from customer surveys and the actions the provider took were shared openly and honestly with people. Feedback from people through surveys and complaints was used to continuously drive improvement.

The provider engaged with other Bluebird Care franchisees in the south west region and nationally to discuss operational issues and good practice examples. Bluebird North Cornwall had received an organisational award for best service in the South West. The registered manager and staff told us this recognition meant a lot as it had made them feel valued as a team.

Bluebird Care (North Cornwall) provides a personal care service to people living in their own home. On the day of the inspection 65 people were supported by Bluebird Care with their personal care needs.

The service had a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run. The registered manager and provider were both involved in the day to day running of the service.

People, those who mattered to them and staff all spoke positively about the service. Comments included, “I can’t give them enough praise,” and “They’re excellent,” These comments were echoed by health and social care professionals who told us the service was the gold star they looked for and the service they would want their relative to use.

There was an extremely positive culture within the service, the management team provided strong leadership and led by example. The provider and registered manager had clear visions, values and enthusiasm about how they wished the service to be provided and these values were shared with the whole staff team. Staff had clearly adopted the same ethos and enthusiasm and this showed in the way they cared for people.

People told us staff provided high quality personalised care and support. Care records were focused on empowering people to have control. Staff responded quickly to people’s change in needs, which was communicated to those that needed to know. Staff were passionate about delivering the care and support people wanted during each call; even if it was not what had been planned or meant they would need to stay longer. Comments included, “They do absolutely anything I want, nothing is too much trouble.”

The registered manager ensured end of life care for people and the support provided to relatives were of a very high standard. They assessed and planned in detail to ensure everyone’s needs were met. Staff responded with empathy and compassion, often going beyond the requirements of their job role to show how much they cared.

People were supported by staff who received tailored training that reflected their individual needs, and supported how they wanted and needed to receive their care. Staff put their training into practice and delivered outstanding care. Relatives commented, “Full marks to Bluebird on their training. I couldn’t ask for more.” People felt really well cared for, that they mattered and valued their relationships with staff. People’s comments included, “I wanted to say how good it is seeing a Bluebird regularly. It takes away the isolation and they are all a tremendous help to us.” and “We’re absolutely delighted. It’s great to find a care company that cares so much.”

People and those who mattered to them were involved in identifying their needs and how they would like to be supported. People’s preferences were sought and respected. Staff focused upon a person’s whole life to promote their wellbeing and gave people an outstanding quality of life. People, relatives, staff and health and social care professionals consistently told us Bluebird Care always focused on providing the best care possible for each individual.

Everyone described the management to be very open, supportive and approachable. Comments included, “They’ve always got time for you even just to have a coffee and a chat. Nothing’s ever left, it’s always sorted.” Staff talked about their jobs in a very positive manner and were highly motivated. Comments included, “I really enjoy my work,” and “I love working for Bluebird.” People told us they regularly saw the registered manager or senior staff members and staff gave examples of when the registered manager and provider had attended calls to provide extra support.

People were supported by staff who supported them to maintain their independence as far as possible. Staff had an in-depth appreciation of how to respect people’s privacy and dignity.

People told us they felt safe. Staff had undertaken training on safeguarding adults from abuse, and put their knowledge into practice. Where staff had raised alerts the service managed the concerns promptly and worked in partnership with other social care professionals to keep people safe.

People were protected by the service’s safe recruitment practices. Staff underwent the necessary checks which determined they were suitable to work with vulnerable adults, before they started their employment.

People’s risks were anticipated, identified and monitored. Staff managed risk effectively and actively supported people’s decisions, so they had as much control and independence as possible.

People knew how to raise concerns and make complaints. People and their relatives who had raised concerns confirmed they had been dealt with promptly and satisfactorily.

The provider had a robust quality assurance system in place and gathered information about the quality of the service from a variety of sources including people, relatives and other agencies. Learning from incidents, feedback, concerns and complaints were used to help drive continuous improvement across the service.

We spoke with eight people who used the service and two relatives. They told us that every thing was absolutely fine. All of the people we spoke with told us the carers are usually on time and that they often get the same ones, this is good for continuity. One person said, 'I receive good care and am kept informed'. All of the people told us the carers are fantastic, they understand our needs, they are a skilled team'. We were told Bluebird Care provide a really good service.

During our inspection, we spoke with the two directors, manager, care supervisor and two care staff. They demonstrated a good knowledge of the care needs of people who received a service and they spoke fondly of each person.

We found peoples' views and experiences had been taken into account in the way the service was provided and delivered in relation to their care.

People's privacy and dignity was respected and people experienced care, treatment and support that met their needs and protected their rights.

We found that people who used the service were protected from the risk of abuse because the provider had taken reasonable steps to identify the possibility of abuse and prevent abuse happening.

We saw there were appropriate checks undertaken before staff commenced work for the service and staff received training, supervision and on-going support.

Records were kept securely at the office.

Everyone we spoke to was complimentary about the standard of care. One person told us "I'm very happy with the care I get" and a relative told us "they do a wonderful job".

The people we asked knew they had a care plan, kept a copy in their homes and told us that staff "write things down every day". People told us that their care plans reflected the care they received. One person told us "I tell them what to do and they do it".

People told us that staff offered them choices in their daily routines and that they had a "blue book full of information" given to them by the agency, to refer to if needed, about their care.

People told us they built up good relationships with staff because they tended to receive the same staff. People told us they felt staff had the skills necessary to do their jobs, for example, one person told us "I've got confidence in them".

There was a clear safeguarding procedure in place. People told us they felt safe with the staff who visited them and one person told us "I trust them totally".

There was a quality assurance system in place and people told us they had confidence that their concerns would be dealt with professionally. One person told us "I know they would listen to me if I had a problem".