Bluebird Care (Thurrock & Castle Point)

Updated 6 December 2017

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.

The inspection to the domiciliary care agency office took place on 4 September 2017 and telephone calls were made to people who use the service and those acting on their behalf and staff on 8 and 9 November 2017. The inspection was announced and the provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service and we needed to be sure that someone would be in.

The inspection team consisted of one inspector.

Before our inspection we reviewed the information we held about the service including safeguarding alerts and other notifications. This refers specifically to incidents, events and changes the provider and registered manager are required to notify us about by law.

We spoke with six people who used the service, two people’s relatives, the registered manager and the registered provider. We spoke with four members of staff in relation to their employment at the service.

We reviewed five people’s support plans and support records. We looked at the service’s staff support records for five members of staff. We also looked at the service’s arrangements for the management of medicines, complaints, compliments, safeguarding information and the provider’s quality monitoring and audit information.

Updated 6 December 2017

Bluebird Care (Thurrock and Castlepoint) provides personal care and support to people in their own homes. This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats and specialist housing. It provides a service to older people and younger disabled adults.

The inspection was carried out on 4 September, 8 and 9 November 2017. At the time of the inspection there were 29 people who used the service.

The service had a registered manager in post. 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.

Staff had a good understanding and knowledge of safeguarding procedures and were clear about the actions they would take to protect the people they supported. Risks to people’s health and wellbeing were appropriately assessed and managed to ensure their safety.

There were sufficient numbers of staff available to meet people’s needs. Appropriate recruitment checks were in place which helped to protect people and ensure staff were suitable to work at the service. Staff told us they felt well supported in their role and were supervised at regular intervals.

Support plans were sufficiently detailed and provided an accurate description of people’s care and support needs. People were supported to maintain good healthcare and had access to a range of healthcare services. People were supported to be able to eat and drink satisfactory amounts to meet their nutritional and hydration needs.

Staff understood the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. Staff demonstrated how to apply the principles of this legislation to their everyday practice and to help ensure that peoples’ rights were protected.

People were treated with kindness and respect by staff. Staff understood people’s needs and provided care and support accordingly. Staff had a good relationship and rapport with the people they supported. People told us they were treated with respect and dignity.

An effective system was available to respond to complaints and concerns. The provider’s quality assurance arrangements ensured they provided a good quality service and to meet regulatory requirements.