Background to this inspection
Updated
25 December 2019
The inspection
We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
Inspection team
The inspection was carried out by one inspector.
Service and service type
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes.
The service had a manager. Due to a re organisation of roles in the office the previous manager who was registered had de-registered and the deputy manager was in the process of becoming registered. This meant that the provider was legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.
We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure the provider or manager would be in the office to support the inspection and we wanted to be sure there would be people available to speak with us.
Inspection activity started on 13 November and ended on 15 November 2019. We visited the office location on 14 November 2019.
What we did before the inspection
Before the inspection, we looked at the information we held about the service. This information included statutory notifications the provider had sent to CQC. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send us by law.
We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
We visited the registered office and spoke with the previous registered manager who was now a director, the deputy manager who was in the process of registering to become the registered manager, five care staff, one face to face in the office and four we contacted by telephone.
We spent two days speaking to people and staff over the telephone. In total we spoke at length to seven people, and one relative. We emailed one relative for feedback at their request.
We looked at three people’s care records and a selection of medication and medication administration records (MARs). We looked at other records including quality monitoring records, recruitment and training records for three staff and other records relating to the management of the service.
Updated
25 December 2019
About the service
Bluebird Care is a domiciliary care agency. The service provides personal care to people living in their own homes. Not everyone who used the service received personal care. The Care Quality Commission (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. There were 20 people receiving personal care at the time of the inspection.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People were supported by staff in a way which was exceptionally caring, compassionate and dignified. People had nothing but praise and admiration for the staff who supported them, and said they felt truly involved in their care and treated with respect and dignity.
Staff took time to get to know people, understand them, and tailor support to meet their specified needs and outcomes. Staff spoke fondly and respectfully about the people they supported, and people told us staff were motivated, hardworking, and friendly. Relatives were equally as pleased with the level of care from Bluebird Care and discussed how the support had made positive differences to their family member.
The positive culture of the organisation was apparent, not only from the managers in the office, but from the care staff. Staff felt empowered, well led, and valued by the organisation and told us this made a difference to their work. The manager was creative and passionate about the service, and the lives of people using not just Bluebird Care but accessing care services in general.
The manager was a leader and a spokesperson for various networking groups and volunteering projects, and promoted a culture of shared learning, staff development and improvement of service provision which was greatly received and acknowledged by the staff teams.
Medicines were used safely. There were systems in place for reporting accidents and incidents and learning from them. There were processes in place to protect people from the risk of abuse. Risks people faced were identified and control measures were in place to keep people safe. The recruitment of staff was safe, and people were supported by the right amount of suitably skilled staff.
People were supported in line with the principles which underpin the Mental Capacity act 2005. Preferences for eating, drinking and meal preparation were clearly recorded in care plans in line with people’s assessed need. Staff were trained, inducted and supervised to ensure they were skilled and competent in their roles.
People’s life histories and routines were discussed and recorded in care plans, and people told us they were involved and included in their reviews and care plans. Complaints were documented and responded to, and people told us they knew how to complain. There was no one receiving end of life care, however staff were trained and skilled in end of life.
Rating at last inspection
This was the first inspection of the service since it moved addresses in August 2018. The service was rated ‘good’ at the previous registered address.
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection as the service had yet to be rated since it moved addresses in August 2018.
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 receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.