Bluebird Care (Portsmouth)

Updated 1 May 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 was planned to check 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 took place on 21 and 22 March 2018 and included visits and phone calls to people and their relatives who use the service. We gave two working days' notice of our visit to ensure the people we needed to talk with would be available. The inspection was conducted by two Care Quality Commission inspectors.

Before the inspection the provider completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We reviewed the PIR and other information we held about the service; this included incidents they had notified us about. We also looked at the information we had received from notifications made to us by the service. Additionally, we contacted the local authority commissioning teams and five Health Care professionals to obtain their views of the service.

We spoke with eight people on the telephone and visited and spoke with three people who received support from the service. We spoke with five office staff which included the owners of the service, the HR and Quality Director and the Care and Operations Director. We also met and spoke with two care staff and spoke to a further two care staff on the telephone. We reviewed in depth, four people’s care and medicine records in the office and with their permission, the records for three of these people that were kept in their home. We also saw records about how the service was managed. These included three staff recruitment, training and supervision records, staff rotas, staff training records, accident and incident records, complaints, audits and quality assurance records as well as a range of the provider’s policies and procedures.

Updated 1 May 2018

Bluebird Care ( Portsmouth) is a domiciliary care agency. It provides care to people living in their own houses and flats in the community. The inspection took place on 21 and 22 March 2018 and was announced. We gave the provider two working days’ notice to ensure people and staff we needed to speak with were available.

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. At the time of the inspection visit Bluebird Care (Portsmouth) provided care and support for up to 37 people living in their own homes. Approximately forty five per cent of the care packages were commissioned by social services, the remaining care packages were privately funded

The service’s registered manager had very recently left the employment of Bluebird Care (Portsmouth). The owner confirmed they were actively recruiting to fill the position and hoped to have the position filled as soon as possible. There were robust contingency plans in place to ensure the service was well managed in the interim period. 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.

Relatives and people we spoke with were very satisfied with the service provided by Bluebird Care (Portsmouth). We received positive feedback from the local authority and health care professionals that were involved with the service, comments included, “Bluebird Care was always a first call, they respond quickly to all requests in an honest and professional manner.”

People told us they felt safe with the care staff and staff knew the correct procedures on how to respond and report potential abuse. People said staff treated them with respect and dignity and were friendly, caring and professional.

Staff were given enough time to provide effective care and support to people and told us they felt very well supported by the manager and the management team. There was a robust recruitment process for staff which ensured people were cared and supported by staff who had been safely recruited.

Staff received regular training and supervision which ensured they were provided with the relevant skills and support to develop their role and provide effective care and support for people in their own homes.

Medicines were managed safely.

People's rights were protected because staff and management had a working knowledge of the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

Staff understood people’s care plans and provided individual support and care. People and staff told us communication within the company was good. Staff said there was always someone to speak to if they needed further advice and guidance. Staff said they felt well supported and appreciated the open and honest culture and style of management.

There were robust quality assurance systems and a range of policies and procedures to enable people to receive safe, effective care and support in their own homes.

The service actively engaged and supported the local community. They had implemented a variety of events, incentives and schemes to benefit a range of people and help them improve their health and well-being. They had a range of policies and procedures to ensure all people and staff benefited from the best possible support and care.