Bluebird Care (Stevenage & North Herts)

Bluebird Care (Stevenage & North Herts) is a domiciliary care agency providing personal care to 43 people 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 were kept safe from avoidable harm because staff knew them well and understood how to protect them from abuse. The registered manager and staff worked well with other agencies to do so.

Risk assessments detailed how to manage identified risks, whilst providing the least restrictive level of support.

People received medicines when they needed them by skilled staff.

People received support from staff who were trained and had supported them for a long period of time so were aware of people's needs. Staff received specific training relating to people's health and well-being.

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 said they felt listened to and respected. People and relatives said staff were kind and caring. Staff showed commitment when speaking about people they supported.

People were happy with the support that was provided to them and that it met their needs.

The provider was able to provide documents in an accessible format for people if they required it.

The registered manager had a good understanding of people they supported and had a passion for wanting to deliver person-centred care. The registered manager had quality assurance systems in place and these systems were reliable and effective in identifying what improvements were needed.

People and staff were involved in shaping the service being provided and felt listened to.

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 good (published 6 December 2017)

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.

This was the first inspection since the service was registered on 25 July 2016. Bluebird Care (Stevenage & North Herts)is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats in the community. It provides a service to older adults. At the time of our inspection, Bluebird Care were providing support to 86 people.

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.

Quality assurance checks and annual audits were completed. However, we found that systems in place were not effective to ensure areas of concern were audited or monitored properly.

People were supported to take medicines by staff that received training and competency checks to ensure they were safe. However, there needed to be a system in place to allow better monitoring by the registered manager.

Complaints were documented and appropriately responded too. However, we found not all complaints had been documented in the same place. To ensure these were reviewed.

We found care plans did not always contain the updated guidance and risk assessments to meet people’s needs. However, there was evidence that demonstrated people’s needs were met but the documentation required improvement.

Recruitment practices were in place to ensure suitable staff were employed. However, gaps in people’s employment history needed to be documented.

People who used the service felt safe. Staff understood how to keep people safe and how to report any concerns.

People received their care on time from staff they knew and were contacted about any changes to staff or delays.

People were happy with the care and support they received. Staff received appropriate training and were supported to develop their skills and knowledge.

Staff had the opportunity to attend meetings; they were supported with supervisions, appraisals and regular spot checks to ensure they had the skills and delivered best practice.

The registered manager was working within the guidelines of the mental capacity act (MCA). Staff understood the importance of choice and consent.

People where required were supported with their nutritional requirements.