Bluebird Care (Stockport)

Updated 27 July 2017

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.

We undertook an announced inspection of Bluebird Care on 3, 4 and 6 July 2017 which was carried out by one adult social care 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. The expert by experience telephoned customers who used the service and relatives of customers who used the service to gain their views and opinions about the service being provided.

In line with our current methodology for inspecting domiciliary care agencies this inspection was announced two days prior to our visit to ensure the registered manager or other responsible person would be available to assist with the inspection.

Before the inspection visit we reviewed the information we held about the service, including the Provider Information Return (PIR) which the registered provider completed before the inspection. The PIR is a form that asks the registered provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We also reviewed information we received since the last inspection including statutory notifications sent to us by the provider. Statutory notifications are information the provider is legally required to send to us about significant events.

At the time of this inspection the agency was supporting 102 customers who were living in their own home. Some customers had their care purchased by a local authority, some were funding their own care through direct payments and others were paying privately for the service.

During this inspection we spoke with managing director, the field care supervisor, the care coordinator, five customers, seven relatives and five care workers one of whom was a lead carer.

We also reviewed a range of records about people's care and how the domiciliary care agency was managed. These included care records for five people, including medicine administration records (MAR's), the recruitment files for five care workers and supervision, appraisal and training records for care workers and records relating to the management of the service such as auditing records.

We also checked that the previous Care Quality Commission rating for the service (Requires improvement) was prominently display for people to see. The last inspection report and rating was display on the notice board in the main office and there was a link on the website which directed people to an electronic copy of the report.

Updated 27 July 2017

This inspection took place on 3, 4 and 6 July 2017. The inspection was announced to ensure that the registered manager or other responsible person would be available to assist with the inspection visit.

At the last inspection on 28 and 29 April 2016 the overall rating for the service was found to be requires improvements. At that inspection we identified two regulatory breaches of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) 2014, which related to staff training and good governance.

Following the inspection the provider sent us an action plan detailing how the identified breaches would be addressed. This inspection was to check improvements had been made and to review the ratings.

During this inspection, we found the two breaches had been met.

Bluebird Care (Stockport) is a domiciliary care service that was registered with the Care Quality Commission in June 2011. They provide care and support in the community to adults who live in the Stockport area.

At the time of our inspection the service was providing a service to 102 customers.

When we visited the service there was a registered manager in post. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run. However the registered manager was not available during this inspection.

We received positive comments from people who used the service (customers are the term used by the registered provider for people receiving a service), relatives and staff.

All of the customers and relatives we spoke with told us they felt safe in the care of the staff who worked for Bluebird Care. Staff were aware of their responsibilities in keeping people safe and had received training in safeguarding adults.

We found there were enough staff to make sure people received the care needed and were being provided. Customers and relatives told us care workers were generally on time and in most cases, if staff were running late for any reason, the office staff would phone to let the person know. All people we spoke with confirmed that staff remained in attendance for the agreed time.

Care staff were given appropriate support through a programme of training and on-going supervision, spot checks of their work and an annual appraisal. Care staff said the training provided them with the skills and knowledge they needed to do their jobs. They were happy in their work, motivated and confident in the way the service was managed.

All of the people we spoke with told us the staff were kind and caring and they told us they felt they were treated with respect and dignity and their privacy was always respected.

People's care plans contained up to date, detailed information about their care and support, including risk assessments and action plans.

The complaints procedure was explained in the ‘service user guide’ which was provided to people when they started with the service. Customers and their relatives told us they knew how to raise a concern or to make a complaint. Where customers had expressed concerns they told us appropriate action had been taken by the service.

The registered provider and registered manager used a variety of methods to assess and monitor the quality of the service. These included customer questionnaires, spot checks whilst staff carried out their caring duties and care reviews.