All inspections: Bluebird Care (Harrow)

Bluebird (Harrow) is a domiciliary care agency that is registered to provide personal care to adults living in their own homes. At the time of this inspection 90 older people were supported by the agency.

At the last inspection, the service was rated Good. At this inspection we found the service remained Good.

Care workers had received up to date training in areas related to safety. They had completed training in safeguarding and medicine handling.

People told us they felt safe with the support they received from staff. There were arrangements in place to help safeguard people from the risk of abuse.

Staffing levels were flexible so that if people needed extra support because of illness or other commitments there were staff available for this.

Care workers were knowledgeable and skilled in their role. We saw they had received training in essential areas of their role.

People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

People were supported to access health care professionals where required. Care workers worked with other healthcare professionals to monitor people's conditions.

Care workers were caring and compassionate. People were treated with privacy, dignity and respect.

People's needs had been assessed and information from these assessments had been used to plan the support they received.

There were systems in place to assess and monitor the quality of the service. These included an audit medicines management, care records, health and safety and staff records.

This inspection took place on 12 February 2015 and was announced. 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 service was last inspected in October 2013 and was found to be fully compliant with all the regulations we checked at that time.

The service provides support with personal care to adults living in their own homes. There were 135 people using the service at the time of our inspection. The service had a registered manager in place. 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. However, at this inspection we met with the care manager, who was standing in for the registered manager. The registered manager was on leave.

People told us they felt safe. Safeguarding procedures were in place and staff knew how to respond to allegations of abuse. Risk assessments were in place which provided information about how to reduce the risks to people.

There were sufficient staff to meet people’s assessed needs and robust staff recruitment procedures were in place. Staff undertook regular training and were provided with supervision and appraisals from senior staff.

People were supported to eat and drink in a safe manner. Their support plans included an assessment of their nutrition and hydration needs. People told us they chose what they ate and staff supported them with meals.

People told us they were treated with dignity and respect. Staff we spoke with understood the need to protect people’s privacy and dignity. People told us staff knocked on their doors before they could enter their homes.

The service carried out assessments of people’s needs to determine if they could be met before they commenced providing care. Care plans were in place which detailed people’s support needs and staff understood the needs of the people they supported.

People told us care was provided in a personalised manner. There were effective systems in place for dealing with complaints.

There was a clear management structure in place and staff told us that senior staff were accessible and approachable. The service had quality assurance and monitoring systems in place which included seeking the views of people, spot checks and checking of missed calls.

We spoke with three people who used the service and one relative by phone. They told us that they had been treated with respect and dignity. One person said that they were 'happy' with the care provided and another said care workers were 'extremely polite and respectful'.

Care staff we spoke with were aware of the importance of treating people with respect and ensuring that people were always given a choice.

The care of people had been assessed and care plans prepared. These were signed by people receiving care or their representatives.

People we spoke with were positive about care workers and indicated that they were reliable and competent.

Staff we spoke with told us that they felt supported by management and felt comfortable raising concerns with them. Staff said that the training they received was useful. They were also positive that the provider encouraged them to develop their skills and gain further qualifications relevant to their role.

The provider had sent customer questionnaires to people who used the service in May 2013 to obtain feedback. They received a response from 68 people and the feedback was generally positive.

We observed that the provider had an effective system to assess and monitor the quality of service that people received.

Records were accurate and fit for purpose and could be located promptly when needed.

Archived: Bluebird Care (Harrow) Also known as MJ CareCentre Limited T/A Bluebird Care (Harrow)

All Inspections

28 April 2017

During a routine inspection

12 February 2015

During a routine inspection

16 October 2013

During a routine inspection