Black Country Management Limited trading as Bluebird Care Walsall

On this page

• Overview
• Shared direction and culture
• Capable, compassionate and inclusive leaders
• Freedom to speak up
• Workforce equality, diversity and inclusion
• Governance, management and sustainability
• Partnerships and communities
• Learning, improvement and innovation

Well-led – this means we looked for evidence that service leadership, management and governance assured high-quality, person-centred care; supported learning and innovation; and promoted an open, fair culture. At our last assessment we rated this key question good. At this assessment the rating has remained good. This meant the service was consistently managed and well-led. Leaders and the culture they created promoted high-quality, person-centred care.

This service scored 75 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

The provider had a shared vision, strategy and culture. This was based on transparency, equity, equality and human rights, diversity and inclusion, engagement, and understanding challenges and the needs of people and their communities. People and their relatives spoke positively about the service and how it was managed. A person told us, “The service is very well led and very approachable. I have no complaints and would recommend them.” A relative told us, “The management is excellent, as is the office. They respond straight away by phone or email within minutes. I have no complaints and would recommend them.” Staff also spoke highly of the culture in the service. A staff member told us, “It is a good company we get travel time; other companies don’t do this, I do not feel overwhelmed and stressed anymore and this company has helped me find the passion again in the care sector.” The registered manager told us the ethos for the service was to operate in a way which helped people feel safe, secure and supported by the staff team and they did this through their care plans, community checks and supervisions to make sure they communicated with everyone and they were okay. Records we saw supported this.

The provider had inclusive leaders at all levels who understood the context in which they delivered care, treatment and support and embodied the culture and values of their workforce and organisation. Leaders had the skills, knowledge, experience and credibility to lead effectively. They did so with integrity, openness and honesty. People and their relatives spoke highly of the management team and their approach. A relative told us, “The registered manager and company are very approachable, and the office delegate requests very proactively. They are always ready to assist at any time. I have no complaints and would recommend them.” Staff confirmed they received support from the registered manager and felt they could approach them at any time. A staff member told us, “I am able to make suggestions and make improvements. For example, I can make suggestions to the registered manager about changes to peoples care and the management team feel we are knowledgeable.” The registered manager told us they ensured everyone in the company came together as a group and they worked on the premise of equality, diversity and inclusion.

The provider fostered a positive culture where people felt they could speak up and their voice would be heard. The registered manager told us they had a policy in place to support staff with speaking up if they had any concerns. The registered manager told us people, relatives and staff were encouraged to share any concerns with them and other agencies including the CQC if needed. Staff confirmed they felt able to raise issues internally and understood the process of raising concerns externally if they felt it was needed. A staff member told us, “When things go wrong, I can be open with the registered manager and ask for support.” Staff confirmed they would know who to contact if they needed to raise concerns outside of the organisation.

The provider valued diversity in their workforce. They worked towards an inclusive and fair culture by improving equality and equity for people who worked for them. The provider had an equality and diversity policy in place. The registered manager told us they had systems in place to ensure policies were followed. Staff had received training in equality and diversity and there were processes in place such as within recruitment practices to ensure this policy was followed. Staff told us they felt included and supported by these policies.

The provider had clear responsibilities, roles, systems of accountability and good governance. They used these to manage and deliver good quality, sustainable care, treatment and support. They acted on the best information about risk, performance and outcomes, and shared this securely with others when appropriate. The registered manager had systems in place to check on the quality of the service people received. For example, surveys were completed with people, and their relatives and this feedback was used to make improvements to the service. Analysis was carried out of all incidents, accidents, complaints, safeguarding and compliments to draw learning and make changes to the service. Systems were in place to monitor and maintain people’s skin integrity. Risk analysis was completed to ensure people remained safe and there were a series of audits to ensure safe practice which included medication, infection prevention control and communication audits. All outcomes from the audits and checks were included in a quality improvement plan which monitored delivery of the changes. The plan included areas such as changing the delivery of some training to a face-to-face course and sharing information with people through a newsletter for the service. We saw these improvements had been delivered.

The provider understood their duty to collaborate and work in partnership, so services worked seamlessly for people. They shared information and learning with partners and collaborated for improvement. The registered manager told us they worked in partnership with other agencies to provide support to people. For example, they worked with the district nurse, doctors and speech and language therapists to provide care to people and develop plans to support them. They also worked closely with local palliative care team and pharmacy. Parters told us they received no concerns over the quality of the care people received from the provider and the registered manager engaged with local partners. Records showed the provider engaged with other agencies to ensure people had support they needed.

The provider had systems in place for continuous learning and improvement to support equality of experience, outcome and quality of life for people. The registered manager told us they valued the input of people, relatives and staff in providing learning and driving improvements. They told us staff discussed improvements in their individual supervisions, giving the example of them making changes to peoples call times to improve their experience. People and relatives shared their views about the service on a regular basis, and these informed how the provider improved the service. Staff told us they felt able to share information and influence change. People and relatives confirmed they were fully engaged in the service. Any learning identified was used to inform a quality improvement plan. The plan included changes to the delivery of training making this face to face, a newsletter being produced and changes to the weekly risk meeting.