Archived: Bluebird Care (Herefordshire)

Bluebird Care (Herefordshire) is a service providing personal care to people in their own homes. People supported include younger and older people who may live with dementia, physical disabilities or sensory impairments. Twenty-seven people were in receipt of care at the time of the inspection.

Not everyone who used the service received personal care. 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

People’s risks were clearly identified, and staff were supported to understand what action they needed to take to address people’s safety needs. Staff understood how to recognise abuse and were confident the manager and senior staff would assist people, should any concerns be identified.

People and relatives could rely on care being provided as agreed and planned. The provider recognised some people had recently experienced occasional delays in their care. The provider was addressing this. Staff took action to reduce the likelihood of people experiencing infections. The provider had put processing place to take learning from any incidents.

People decided what care they wanted and how they preferred to be support before care started. Staff used their skills and knowledge when caring for people and were supported to provide good care through induction and training programmes. Staff had opportunities to develop their skills to support people’s specific needs. People were supported to see other health professionals, and to have enough to eat and drink, so they would enjoy the best health possible.

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. The provider recognised the recording of people’s capacity varied and gave us assurances they would ensure staff were consistently provided with guidance on how to support people.

People knew they were valued by staff and had developed good relationships with the staff who supported them. Relatives said staff knew people well and encouraged them to ask for assistance. People made their own decisions about their care, and staff promoted people’s rights to dignity, independence and privacy.

People and relatives planned people’s care with staff said their views were listened to. Staff recognised when people’s needs changed and adjusted the care so their needs were met. The provider planned to increase the range of information available to support people’s communication needs as these changed. Learning was taken from complaints, to prevent reoccurrences. People’s wishes at the end of their lives had been established. The provider told us they planned to further enhance opportunities for people’s wishes to be explored, in case of sudden death.

People and relatives were positive about the care they received and were encouraged to make suggestions about the care provided. There had been changes to the senior management team, and staff told us this had brought about improvements in people’s care and their support. Staff understood how they were expected to care for people and had received compliments regarding the quality of care provided to people. The provider, senior team and external auditors checked the safety and quality of the care, so they could be assured people’s needs and preferences were met. The provider understood their responsibilities to drive through improvements to people’s care, and development of the service was informed by work undertaken with other specialist organisations.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Rating at last inspection

The last rating for this service was Good (published 28 October 2016).

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.

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

The inspection took place on 15 September 2016 and was announced. We gave the provider 48 hours’ notice of the inspection because we needed to be sure that they would be in.

A registered manager was not in post 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 was run. The provider was taking reasonable steps to address this.

People were supported by staff who understood their individual risks and who knew what actions to take if they had any concerns for people’s safety. Risks to people’s health and well-being were assessed and people were supported to receive the support they needed. Where people wanted assistance to take their medicines this was given by staff who knew how to do this safely. People's care plans gave clear guidance for staff to follow in order to promote people’s safety.

Staff had the knowledge and skills they needed to care for people and were encouraged to obtain further training to meet people’s needs. Staff understood how to promote people’s rights and encouraged people to have enough to eat and drink to remain well. People received the support they needed to encourage them to see their GPs when needed, or to have care from emergency services if this was required.

People were very positive about the staff who cared for them and had built good relationships with staff. Staff understood what was important to people. People were treated with dignity and respect and dignity. Staff cared for people in ways which helped them to maintain and celebrate their independence. People and their relatives could rely on staff to provide the care they needed.

Staff encouraged people to decide how they would like their care to be planned and given. Care plans and risk assessments were updated as people's needs changed. Where people were not able to make all of their own decisions the views of their relatives and key parties were listened to. People and their relatives knew how to raise any concerns or complaints about the service. Systems for managing complaints were in place, so any lessons would be learnt.

People and their relatives and staff were encouraged to provide their views on the quality of the service. The provider and senior staff checked the quality of the care people received. Changes had been introduced to develop people’s care and the service further. Staff understood how the senior team and manager expected people’s care to be given, so people would receive the care they needed in the ways they preferred. Staff told us they felt supported to make suggestions for developing the care people received further.