Sage Home Care Limited t/a Bluebird Care (Wirral)

Bluebird Care (Wirral) is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to 34 people across Wirral. Not everyone who used the service received personal care. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also consider any wider social care provided.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

Governance systems were in place, although some areas required improvements. The newly registered manager was aware that quality assurance processed needed to be strengthened as a way of monitoring the quality and safety of care people received.

People’s support needs and areas of risk were established from the outset; staff were familiar with the care needs of the people they supported and their likes, wishes and preferences.

Safe medication administration systems were in place. Staff received appropriate medication training and people told us that they felt ‘safe’ when receiving medication support from the care staff who supported them.

Staff were familiar with safeguarding procedures and knew how to report their concerns as a way of keeping people safe. There was also an up to date safeguarding policy in place; this contained relevant guidance for staff to consult.

People continued to receive support by staff who had been safely recruited. Safe recruitment procedures ensured that people received personal care by staff who had undergone the appropriate recruitment checks.

The registered manager disclosed that staffing levels had been a recent area of concern. However, she explained how this was being managed to ensure people continued to receive the care they needed.

Staff were supported with training, learning and development opportunities. Staff were very complimentary about the new registered manager and told us they found her approachable and supportive.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

People and relatives told us that the staff team were ‘brilliant’, ‘kind’ and ‘lovely’. People we spoke with confirmed that the staff team delivered person-centred care that was tailored around their support needs.

The registered provider had an up to date complaints policy in place. People were provided with the complaint procedure from the outset and told us they knew how to make a complaint if they needed to.

People were encouraged to share their thoughts, views and suggestions in relation to the quality of care they received. Quality questionnaires were circulated and used as a measure to improve the provision of care people received.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was ‘good’. (published 07 April 2017). At this inspection the service remains ‘good’ although improvements are required in the ‘well-led’ area.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.

The service provides personal care to 56 people, in their own homes.

The service requires a registered manager. 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.

Bluebird Care (Wirral)) had a registered manager who had been in post for two years.

The service used safe systems for recruiting new staff. These included checking references and a criminal conviction check using the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) for criminal records.

People told us they were very happy about all the aspects of their care and support in their own homes. We found that the service was appropriately staffed, with staff being competent and well trained. They had an induction programme in place that included training staff to ensure they were competent in the role they were doing at the service and received on-going training. Staff told us they felt supported by the senior staff and the registered manager.

The care was person centred and individual to each person’s needs and the manager and care staff kept accurate and up to date records of the care they delivered. Staff knew how to safeguard people from abuse and report any concerns.

Risk assessments were carried out for people and where they needed help they were given support to administer their medication.

The service was monitored effectively for quality and people using the service were listened to and treated with respect and dignity. Any complaints were dealt with effectively and the outcomes were recorded.

The provider had complied with the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards and its associated codes of practice in the delivery of care. We found that the staff had followed the requirements and principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA). Staff we spoke with had an understanding of what their role was and what their obligations where in order to maintain people’s rights and were aware of the differences in the implementation of the MCA in a person’s own home.