EarlyBird Lifestyle Support Ltd

On this page

• Overview
• Assessing needs
• Delivering evidence-based care and treatment
• How staff, teams and services work together
• Supporting people to live healthier lives
• Monitoring and improving outcomes
• Consent to care and treatment

Effective – this means we looked for evidence that people’s care, treatment and support achieved good outcomes and promoted a good quality of life, based on best available evidence. This is the first assessment for this service. This key question has been rated Outstanding. This meant people’s outcomes were consistently better than expected compared to similar services. People’s feedback described it as exceptional and distinctive.

This service scored 92 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

The service demonstrated an exceptionally person-centred and responsive approach to assessing needs ensuring care was consistently safe, effective, and tailored to individual lifestyles.

Prior to care commencing, the service spoke with people on the phone to assess if they were able to meet the person’s needs, before completing comprehensive and holistic needs assessments. These explored all key areas including communication, physical and mental health, mobility, cultural and religious preferences, and nutrition. Assessments were further strengthened through home visits, enabling staff to understand each person’s living environment, daily routines, and any environmental risks. This ensured care delivery was both practical and personalised to the home setting.

The service placed strong emphasis on building trust and establishing positive relationships from the outset. People were meaningfully engaged with before care began, supporting a smooth transition and promoting confidence in the service. In 1 example, this involved care and support staff attending multiple visits to a person in hospital before their discharge to their home. This enabled the person to spend time with their future care staff so they could get to know one another, supporting the development of a trusting relationship. This approach was also adopted by office staff. For example, the care co-ordinator valued building meaningful relationships with people and achieved this by visiting people in their own homes to extend the services assessment of people’s needs. The care coordinator highlighted the importance of getting to know people in this way to facilitate effective service delivery.

Highly detailed and personalised care plans were developed, reflecting people’s individual preferences, routines, and desired outcomes. These were informed by comprehensive background information and supported by the use of nationally recognised assessment tools to ensure accuracy and consistency.

The service demonstrated a proactive approach to monitoring and reviewing needs and updating care plans. Timely reviews were undertaken following incidents or changes, alongside regular planned reviews involving people and their relatives. One relative told us, “When anything changes, I can call them and they are supportive in making amendments.”

Staff demonstrated a clear understanding of how to identify changes in people’s needs within a domiciliary environment and took prompt action to ensure care remained appropriate. This included adapting routines, updating support strategies, and liaising with other professionals when required. In 1 example, this meant staff recognising a person’s changing needs, resulting in them requiring additional support with personal care. The service worked with the local authority to adapt the care package and successfully ensure the person's care needs were met without delay.

People consistently received care, treatment and support that was evidence-based and in line with good practice standards. The provider demonstrated a proactive approach to staying up to date with best practice, regularly reviewing guidance and embedding this service procedures everyday care delivery.

People received compassionate person-centred care, ensuring people’s individual needs were met in line with the latest clinical and professional guidance. This included nutrition, personal care, and health monitoring. Care delivered was closely monitored by leaders and quality audit frameworks.

Record keeping was exemplary, with accurate, clear and timely documentation that supported effective communication and continuity of care. Information sharing across the service was seamless and contributed to safe, coordinated support.

Staff were highly engaged in continuous learning and innovation. They were encouraged to develop and showcase improvements in practice through independently maintained portfolios aligned to the provider’s internal gold standard framework, a set of 5 key standards developed by the provider using best practice guidance and research data. This meant staff had to actively record and demonstrate how they were achieving the providers standards through daily care provided to people. This created a culture of autonomy, reflection and innovation at all levels, promoting a high standard of care for people. This directly impacted the care people received. For example, one staff member told us how managing this portfolio encouraged them to review and consider their communication approach with one person. This was supported by feedback from people indicating staff consistently promoted good outcomes for people. One person wrote, “I really appreciate [staff member] and value all their hard work. A great and fantastic service they deliver, so amazing. [Staff member] is such a lovely person with such a kind spirit, so caring, ever so helpful and cheerful. [Staff member] always heals me when I'm down.”

The service demonstrated a strong culture of teamwork and collaboration. Staff worked in a joined-up manner, ensuring effective communication both within and across teams. Information was consistently shared between staff and services, which supported continuity of care and helped ensure people received coordinated and responsive support.

Staff spoke positively about their colleagues and the team environment. One staff member described the team as, “Really helpful and supportive,” adding that, “Everyone gets on really well.” Another member of staff told us, “Morale of the team is quite good. We pitch in as a team. Nothing is ever too much.”

The service demonstrated an exceptional and consistent focus on supporting people to live healthier lives, with wellbeing at the centre of all care and support. People were encouraged and empowered to take an active role in managing their own health, building both confidence and long-term independence.

Access to healthcare was consistently promoted and well-coordinated. Staff supported people to schedule, attend, and follow up on medical appointments, ensuring that health needs were identified early and managed effectively. This proactive approach helped to maintain good health and prevent deterioration.

The service placed a strong emphasis on enabling healthier lifestyles rather than simply meeting immediate care needs. Evidence showed a notable impact on individuals’ emotional health. In 1 case, a person’s wellbeing and sense of self-worth significantly improved as a direct result of consistent, dedicated support from staff. Through encouragement, goal-setting, and positive reinforcement, the person developed greater confidence and became more engaged in their daily life and community. Feedback from people obtained by the provider indicated this positive impact on people’s wellbeing as a result of the care and support they received was wide spread.

The service culture was underpinned by a genuine commitment to acting in people’s best interests. Staff demonstrated compassion, motivation, and a clear understanding of how to support healthier living. This holistic and enabling approach resulted in sustained improvements in health, independence, and overall quality of life for the people supported.

The service demonstrated an exceptional commitment to monitoring care and improving outcomes for people. Robust and effective systems were in place to assess, review and respond to people’s needs, ensuring care and treatment consistently led to positive, person-centred outcomes.

People were supported to achieve meaningful outcomes in their health, independence and wellbeing through proactive and responsive monitoring processes. For example, consistent monitoring and skilled interventions in relation to skin integrity resulted in the successful healing of a person’s wounds, significantly improving their comfort and health.

The service excelled in delivering personalised re-enablement support. This was evidenced by a notable reduction in 1 person’s dependency on care following a discharge from a mental health facility. The service worked closely with the person to redevelop their independent living skills through tailored support, responding to their changing needs and reducing care hours only when safe and appropriate to do so. This demonstrated a strong focus on promoting independence and maximizing people’s abilities through positive outcomes.

Staff showed a clear commitment to supporting people to achieve their personal goals and live fulfilling lives. In 1 example, a person was empowered to gain their driving licence and learn to drive, transforming their independence and quality of life. This had a significant and meaningful impact on the person’s day-to-day living, enabling them to travel independently to appointments and social activities without relying on others. As a result, they gained a stronger sense of control over their own life and were enabled to develop and maintain relationships more easily within their community. This example demonstrated how person-centred support and encouragement from staff led to positive, lasting outcomes, promoting independence, choice and overall wellbeing.

The service’s strong focus on outcome-based care and continuous monitoring, was driven by effective systems and strong leadership. This consistently resulted in positive outcomes for people.

The service demonstrated an embedded a culture of person-centred consent, where people were consistently placed at the heart of all care and treatment decisions. Care planning was highly individualised, with clear evidence that people’s views, preferences and wishes were actively sought, respected and reflected in their care and daily support. People received information about care and treatment in a way they could understand and had appropriate support and time to make decisions.

Staff showed a strong understanding of the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA), supported by comprehensive training and regular knowledge checks during supervision. They consistently applied this knowledge in practice, ensuring consent was gained in a meaningful and appropriate way during all aspects of care. Where there were concerns regarding a person’s capacity, the provider worked proactively and in partnership with the local authority to ensure robust, decision-specific capacity assessments were completed by suitably qualified professionals.

Care plans were detailed and provided clear, practical guidance to staff. They emphasised the importance of involving people in all decisions and promoting independence and choice, particularly where people were deemed to lack capacity. Staff were encouraged to empower people rather than take control, reflecting best practice and a strong rights-based approach. This was fully embedded in the service culture, as demonstrated by a staff member who told us, “Support is customer led, they take control.”