Bluebird Care Redbridge

Updated 17 March 2018

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

This inspection was announced. We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because the manager is often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be in.

We visited the office location on 16 January 2018 to see the registered manager and office staff and to review care records and policies and procedures.

The inspection was completed by one inspector. Before the inspection we gathered information from notifications. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send us by law. We contacted the local authority and Healthwatch to receive feedback about the service. We used information the provider sent us in the Provider Information Return. This is information we require providers to send us at least once annually to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.

During the inspection we reviewed nine people’s care plans and seven staff files which included appraisals, induction, medicine competency checks and supervision records. We reviewed staff meeting minutes, medicine audits and seven medicine administration records. We spoke with the registered manager, the care manager, two care supervisors a senior care supervisor and three care staff.

After the inspection we spoke with 15 people and three relatives over the phone and received written feedback from two relatives. We also reviewed written feedback sent in to the service from 12 people and eight relatives.

Updated 17 March 2018

This announced inspection took place on 16 January 2018. At the previous inspection in November 2015 the service met all regulations. During this inspection the services continues to be "Good".

This service is a domiciliary care agency that provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats. It provides a service to older adults and younger disabled adults. At the time of our visit there were 95 people using the service from several London boroughs.

On the day of our visit, there was a registered manager in place. 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.

People continued to feel safe receiving support from Bluebird Care Redbridge staff. Staff continued to receive safeguarding training and had a working knowledge of the safeguarding processes and how to raise a concern.

Medicines were managed safely by staff that had been assessed as competent. Staff demonstrated an understanding of the infection control principles and guidelines in place to prevent the spread of infection.

We saw an effective risk management and accident management process in place that ensured staff learnt from past incidents in order to improve practice.

People told us they were treated with dignity and respect. They reported that staff were polite and kind. They thought they were enough staff to meet their needs. Although they reported at times visits were later or earlier than planned.

Recruitment practices in place continued to ensure only staff that were suitable to work in a health and social care environment were employed. Staff were supported to develop their skills and knowledge through a comprehensive induction, annual appraisal, training, spot checks supervision and staff meetings. They were aware of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and how they applied it in practice.

Care plans remained up to date, person centred and outlined people’s goals and aspirations as well as outcomes and expectations. They were reviewed regularly together with people and those that mattered to them.

People including those with complex dietary requirements were supported to maintain a balanced diet that met their needs. They were enabled to access healthcare services in order to maintain their health.

People and their relatives told us the service continued to be well managed. They were aware of the complaints process and felt that any concerns raised were investigated and resolved with the exception of the ongoing visit times. We made a recommendation about informing people if there were any changes to staffing and visit times.

There were effective quality assurance systems in place to ensure the quality of care delivered was monitored and improved.