Background to this inspection
Updated
14 May 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 service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.
Inspection team
The inspection was carried out by one inspector.
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 service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.
Inspection team
The inspection was carried out by one inspector.
Notice of inspection
We gave a short period notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure that the registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.
We visited the office location on 16 March 2020.
What we did before the inspection
We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report. 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.
During the inspection
We spoke with the nominated individual, who is responsible for supervising the management of the service, with the compliance manager for the group of branches managed by the provider and the registered manager. We spoke with four people and four relatives. We reviewed a range of records, including care records and medicines records. We looked at four staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. We also viewed a variety of records relating to the management of the service such as accidents and incidents and safeguarding records.
After the inspection
We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We reviewed training materials and minutes of recent meetings. We spoke with eight people and their relatives, who were receiving care and support from the service. We sought feedback from health and social care professionals involved with the service and four members of care staff.
Updated
14 May 2020
About the service
Bluebird Care (Totton) is a domiciliary care agency in the New Forest District and County of Hampshire. It provides care and support to people living in their own homes. Forty -four people were receiving support with personal care needs. 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 the inspection, 25 care workers provided care and support to 44 people, two of whom had 24-hour care.
People’s experience of using this service and what we found
People benefited from a service that was extremely well-led and focused on maintaining and if possible improving high standards of care. People who used the service, their relatives and local health and social care professionals said they were very confident that the service ensured people’s safety and well-being and was alert to any concerns. The organisational structure provided staff with strong leadership and support and the provider maintained close oversight of standards. There was a comprehensive and robust system to monitor levels of care. This included spot check visits, audits and analysis of incidents to learn lessons and improve the service. Managers shared learning with staff to enable continuous improvement in standards of care for people.
Staff were highly motivated and exceptionally well-trained and benefited from a strong learning and development programme. This included some specific training delivered by local healthcare professionals where needed to support specific people using the service.
The service worked with other professionals and organisations to promote positive outcomes for people, for example with community nurses on protecting people's skin integrity and with the local reablement team for people who had recently come home from hospital.
People's needs and wishes were at the heart of everything the service did. The service carried out detailed assessments of people’s needs and preferences, in discussion with people and their families to ensure people received care and support tailored to them as individuals. People looked forward to care workers visits and valued the punctuality and continuity of staff. One person told us “they often make my day”. People’s views were valued and responded to, and used to shape the service. Bluebird was seeking people's views about the qualities they valued in care workers to inform their recruitment. People and their relatives praised the caring and capable staff and all told us they would recommend the service to others. A family member said, “I couldn’t ask for anything better either from the office team or the carers”.
Staff had responded effectively to improve people’s lives and enable them to continue to live at home, in accordance with their wishes. Staff were alert to people's changing needs. For example, when one person, with no immediate family was assessed as unsafe to use their gas cooker, staff arranged for the cooker to be disconnected and sourced a frozen meal delivery service and a freezer, so the person could have microwave meals instead.
Staff understood their responsibilities to protect people from abuse and harm. People said they felt safe using the service and trusted the staff. Staff identified individual and environmental risks and managed them appropriately. People received their medicines safely as prescribed.
Staff showed empathy and kindness towards people they cared for. They showed clear commitment to building trusting and caring relationships to enhance people’s lives as much as possible. People said the staff often went over and above their job roles to support them.
People’s dignity and privacy was respected by staff. Care was delivered in a way that promoted people’s independence. Staff said, “Supporting the independence of people in their own homes is key to what we do”.
People and their relatives knew who to speak to if they had a concern. They were confident that if they raised a concern staff would deal with it promptly and appropriately. We saw evidence that this happened. A relative told us how staff were, “On to it at once” when they had raised a concern
People were supported to have the maximum choice and control over 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. Staff sought people’s consent and supported them to have choice, control and independence. A person said, “They always ask if there is anything they could do for me and how I like it done”.
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 July 2017). At this inspection, the rating remained Good,
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.
The overall rating for the service remains Good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.
You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Bluebird Care (Totton) on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.
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.