Bluebird Care (Carlisle)

Updated 3 January 2020

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.

The inspection team

This inspection was carried out by an inspector and an Expert 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

Bluebird Care (Carlisle) is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.

The service had a manager registered with CQC. This means they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection:

The inspection was announced. We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because we wanted to speak with people using the service and the registered manager. We needed the registered manager to contact people to ask their permission for us to speak with them.

Inspection site visit activity started on 18 November 2019 and ended on 21 November 2019. We spoke with people about the quality of their care and support on 18 November 2019. We visited the office location on 20 and 21 November 2019 to see the registered manager and staff; and to review care and management records.

What we did before inspection

We completed our planning tool and reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. This included notifications we had received from the provider, about incidents that affected the health, safety and welfare of people supported by the service. We looked at previous inspection reports. We also sought feedback from partner agencies and health and social care professionals. We used all of this information to plan our inspection. The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.

During the inspection

We spoke with 10 people supported by Bluebird Care (Carlisle). We looked at 12 survey responses from surveys the provider had asked people to complete. We also saw the findings gathered from 35 returned surveys. We spoke with nine members of staff including the registered manager, office based and care staff.

To gather information, we looked at a variety of records. This included medicines records and sections of four peoples care records. We also looked at other management records including audits, surveys and meeting minutes. We did this to ensure the management team had oversight of the service and they could respond to any concerns highlighted or lead in ongoing improvements.

Updated 3 January 2020

About the service

Bluebird Care (Carlisle) is a domiciliary care agency providing care and support to people in their own home. This includes personal care, shopping, activities and appointments. The agency provide support to people with a range of care needs and includes older people, people living with dementia and people with learning or physical disabilities.

The organisation had recently moved location within Carlisle. At the time of our inspection Bluebird Care (Carlisle) provided services to 95 people. 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.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People were safe and protected from abuse because staff assessed and managed risk. They told us staff were reliable, arrived at the agreed time, carried out their care and support as planned and stayed the correct amount of time. People received their medicines as they needed and staff were trained and their competency checked. Staff were recruited safely and had an informative induction.

Staff supported people to access healthcare and liaised with health and social care professionals. They assisted people with meals where needed, and had the training, skills and experience to provide good care. People were helped 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. Staff assessed people's capacity to make decisions and supported them with decision making.

Staff provided care that met people’s needs and preferences. People told us staff were caring and patient and encouraged them to remain as independent as they were able. They felt staff respected their privacy and dignity and treated them as individuals, with different needs, wants and lifestyles. People and where appropriate, their relatives were involved in making decisions about their care.

Staff assessed people’s communication needs and were familiar with the ways they communicated. People told us they knew how to complain and any concerns were taken seriously and acted upon. Bluebird Care (Carlisle) supported people at the end of life. Staff understood the importance of supporting people to make this as comfortable, pain free and peaceful as possible.

People said staff responded promptly to any feedback about their care. They said staff encouraged them to give their opinions about the service and to make decisions about their care. The registered manager and management team monitored and audited the service to check on the quality of care. They worked in partnership with other services and organisations, followed good practice guidance and understood and acted on their legal obligations

For more details, please see the full report which is on the Care Quality Commission (CQC) website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection:

The last rating for this service was good (published 24 May 2017). Since this rating was awarded the service has moved premises. We have used the previous rating to inform our planning and decisions about the rating at this inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection.

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.