Background to this inspection
Updated
18 November 2023
The inspection
We carried out this performance review and assessment under Section 46 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act). We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements of the regulations associated with the Act and looked at the quality of the service to provide a rating.
Unlike our standard approach to assessing performance, we did not physically visit the office of the location. This is a new approach we have introduced to reviewing and assessing performance of some care at home providers. Instead of visiting the office location we use technology such as electronic file sharing and video or phone calls to engage with people using the service and staff.
Inspection team
The inspection was carried out by 1 inspectors and 2 Experts by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.
Service and service type
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.
Registered Manager
This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.
At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.
Notice of inspection
We gave a period of notice for the inspection. This was because it was a large service and consent from people and relatives for us to speak with them needed to be sought.
Inspection activity started on 13 October 2023 and ended on 26 October 2023.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority who work with the service. We reviewed the Provider
Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make.
During the inspection
This performance review and assessment was carried out without a visit to the location's office. We used technology such as video calls to enable us to engage with people using the service and staff, and electronic file sharing to enable us to review documentation. Inspection activity began on 13 October 2023 and ended on 26 October 2023. During the inspection we spoke with 7 people who used the service and 13 relatives of people using the service. We spoke with 4 staff, this included the registered manager, and 3 care staff. We received written feedback to specific questions from 8 care staff. We reviewed 4 care plans and 5 medicine records. We analysed data from call records and a variety of records relating to the management of the service were reviewed.
Updated
18 November 2023
About the service
Bluebird Care (Norwich & North Norfolk) is a domiciliary care service providing personal care to people living in their own homes. Not everyone who used the service received personal care. 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. At the time of our inspection there were 47 people receiving the regulated activity of personal care.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.
At the time of the inspection, the location did not care or support for anyone with a learning disability or an autistic person. However, we assessed the care provision under Right Support, Right Care, Right Culture, as it is registered as a specialist service for this population group.
Right Support: Model of Care and setting that maximises people’s choice, control and independence
People, relatives, and staff were asked their opinion about the service and were listened to. There was effective communication. There were enough staff and people did not experience late or missed calls. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.
Right Care: Care is person-centred and promotes people’s dignity, privacy and human rights
People were supported to stay safe. Safeguarding concerns were identified and reported as required. Medicines were managed safely. Staff wore personal protective equipment and displayed good hygiene practices.
Right Culture: The ethos, values, attitudes and behaviours of leaders and care staff ensure people using services lead confident, inclusive and empowered lives.
There was a positive culture. Staff felt well supported and enjoyed working for the service. There were effective governance systems in place. These helped identify any issues and actions were taken to develop and improve the service.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection
The last rating for this service was good (published 7 December 2018).
Why we inspected
This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.
This was an 'inspection using remote technology'. This means we did not visit the office location and instead used technology such as electronic file sharing to gather information, and video and phone calls to engage with people using the service as part of this performance review and assessment.