Bluebird Care East Devon in New Street, Devon has been rated Outstanding by the Care Quality Commission following an inspection in May.
Inspectors rated the service Outstanding for being effective, caring, responsive to people’s needs and well-led and Good for being safe. The overall rating is Outstanding.
Bluebird Care East Devon is a domiciliary care agency that provides personal care to disabled adults in their own homes. There were 42 people receiving care at the time of the inspection.
Deborah Ivanova, Deputy Chief Inspector, Adult Social Care, said;
“Bluebird Care East Devon is a service that places people at the very heart of its operation and makes them feel valued and respected. We found great examples of the service working in innovative ways to provide outstanding care that enriched people’s lives and allowed them live independently. These included the use of sensor technology to monitor and respond to changes in care needs and the ‘Talk care’ campaign which led to the development of a series of videos to support people’s choice in care planning.
“To achieve an Outstanding rating overall is a commendable achievement and the staff and management at the service should be very proud of the compassionate, person-centred care they are providing”.
Some of the key findings from the inspection include:
- People and relatives were overwhelmingly positive and praised staff describing them as exceptionally caring and compassionate. Comments to inspectors included: "We've found every aspect of care to be outstanding," "I am treated with respect, the carers are more like friends," "Thank you Bluebird Care you have been a help and I think I have made new friends."
- Staff supported people to express their views and be proactively involved in making decisions about their care, treatment and support in innovative ways. The service undertook a 'Talk Care' campaign to promote a conversation about care that was positive, informative, open-minded and inclusive. Views were sought on social media on ageing, perception of what care means and any other questions. From the conversations, they made a series of informative short videos to identify key things people needed to know about care. These were posted on social media and enabled people and families to be better informed about care options and what was important in planning their care.
- The service worked in innovative ways to enrich people's lives. For example, they had a Wellbeing programme, facilitated by a Wellbeing Ambassador who supported the local care team to host monthly wellbeing events including regular coffee mornings, tea dances, exercise to music, reminiscence sessions, quizzes and bingo. These monthly wellbeing events gave people an opportunity to meet and socialise, renew friendships and make new friends with office and care staff and get to know them better.
- Sensor technology was used to enable people to stay living longer at home. Sensors fitted in one person’s home monitored how often they moved around and detected any changes in their normal pattern. For one person using this service, frequent trips to bathroom highlighted early signs of a urine infection. This meant the person was seen earlier by their GP and antibiotic treatment started, which helped them recover more quickly
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Bluebird Care East Devon is a service that places people at the very heart of its operation and makes them feel valued and respected
Debbie Ivanova, CQC’s Deputy Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care