We carried out a review of the data available to us about Bluebird Care Andover & Stockbridge on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about Bluebird Care Andover & Stockbridge, you can give feedback on this service.
Bluebird Care are a large national provider of care and support services to people in their own homes. It operates a franchise model with Belrose Limited, (The provider) managing four of these locations locally one of whom was Bluebird Care Andover and Stockbridge. The support provided included, short term help to recover from illness or following an admission to hospital, daily visits to support with personal care, meal preparation or medicines management, domestic support, companionship and live in care.
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. 71 People were receiving a regulated activity when we inspected.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
The leadership team had nurtured a culture within the service where there was a focus on the provision of outstanding care to people. There were high levels of satisfaction amongst the staff team and all staff told us they felt valued and their achievements were recognised. The views of people and their relatives remained central to driving forward improvement and service development. There were consistently high levels of engagement with staff to ensure that their views were heard and acted upon. The leadership team used its presence within the heart of the local community to undertake a number of initiatives to help benefit local citizens.
Care and support was tailored to meet people’s individual needs and had made a positive difference to their lives. The service continued to use technology to enhance the service they provided. The support being provided was helping to avoid the risk of isolation and assist people to enjoy their hobbies and interests. Staff demonstrated an understanding of the importance of compassion when caring for people at the end of their life and worked alongside community healthcare professionals to ensure that people had a pain free and dignified death.
Overall people’s medicines were managed safely and the systems in place supported this. There were some areas where improvements could be made in line with best practice standards. The registered manager and provider demonstrated a culture of openness and transparency in relation to safety and to learning from incidents. However, our review of people’s records showed that there had been a number of incident forms which had not been escalated to the registered manager. People told us they felt safe when receiving care. Staff had a positive attitude to reporting concerns. They were confident the registered manager would act upon these. Risks to people, and to the care workers supporting them had been assessed and planned for. Systems were in place to help ensure there were enough staff to provide people with a service that was reliable and safe. Good practice guidance was followed to ensure infection prevention and control processes were implemented.
The provider had robust systems in place to build a team of reliable and competent staff. Staff were extremely positive about their induction and training and the provider was continuously looking for ways to improve the training programme. Healthcare professionals consistently described the service as providing very effective care and the service continued to work collaboratively and seek innovative ways to support people with their healthcare needs. 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. Staff supported people to have access to food and drink of their choice and found solutions to encourage people to eat and drink well.
Everyone told us they were supported by staff who were kind and caring. Staff displayed a genuine desire to enhance people's wellbeing and spoke of the importance of making a difference to people’s lives. There was a clear focus on staff building trusting and meaningful relationships with people. Staff showed a good understanding of how to protect people’s rights and of the importance of supporting people to make express their choices. Staff allowed people to direct their own care and demonstrated a thorough understanding of the importance of providing just the right amount of support to maximise people’s independence.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection
The last rating for this service was outstanding (16 January 2017).
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 received any concerning information we may inspect sooner.
Bluebird Care Andover and Stockbridge provide personal care and support to people in their own homes. At the time of this inspection, they were providing a service to 40 people with a variety of care needs, including people living with physical frailty or memory loss. Some people were receiving live-in care services from the provider. The service was managed from an office based in Andover.
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.
We received some outstanding feedback about the provider. Without exception, people, their relatives and healthcare professionals told us they were extremely happy with the care and support provided by Bluebird Care Andover and Stockbridge.
People were placed at the heart of the service at Bluebird Care Andover and Stockbridge. The service worked hard to nurture and champion a person centred culture throughout all levels of the service. The registered manager and managing director led their team by example, showing strong, inclusive and innovative leadership that focused on improving the service and creating positive outcomes for people. There were systems in place to monitor the quality of the service and staff reflected on their practice to identify and implement changes when required.
The service played a prominent role in the community, participating and facilitating numerous schemes, events and initiatives to raise awareness and create facilities and resources for people using the service. The service placed a strong emphasis on partnership working with other organisations to reach positive outcomes for people. We received outstanding feedback from professionals who worked with the service about the quality and reliability of the care provided. Bluebird Care Andover and Stockbridge had worked in partnership to pilot a scheme, which sought to keep people in their own homes when they were at risk of being admitted to hospital. There were many practical examples where the service’s intervention had achieved this goal.
The service provided outstanding training and on-going staff development. Training was constantly being reviewed and reformed to ensure it reflected best practice. It was characterised by an interactive and practical model that gave participants a highly comprehensive induction into working within health and social care. The service had a commitment to develop staff’s skills to give them the opportunity to develop and diversify in their role. This helped to create a staff team which was motivated and committed in their work.
Staff were knowledgeable about the people they supported and understood procedures around safeguarding and whistleblowing, which helped to keep people safe. Staff were sensitive to ensure people’s privacy and dignity were upheld, and were knowledgeable about how to apply legislation designed to protect people’s rights and freedoms.
The service used an electronic monitoring system which staff accessed using mobile phones supplied by the provider. The system helped ensure that people’s most current care plans were available to staff. The system also enabled the service to monitor in real time the support people were receiving in relation to personal care, food and drink or medicines. This helped create a robust system for monitoring the quality and safety of the care provided to people. It also enabled the service to respond quickly and decisively to changes in people’s health and wellbeing.
People were involved in developing and reviewing their care plans. Where people required support around their food and drink, medicines or personal care, the level of support they required was identified in order to promote their independence. People received personalised care, tailored to their individual needs.
The provider sought feedback about the quality of the care provided. People felt comfortable raising concerns or making a complaint if required.