We carried out a review of the data available to us about Bluebird Care (Chiltern & Dacorum) on 6 July 2023. We have not found evidence that we need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
This could change at any time if we receive new information. We will continue to monitor data about this service.
If you have concerns about Bluebird Care (Chiltern & Dacorum), you can give feedback on this service.
Bluebird care (Chiltern & Dacorum) is a domiciliary care service who provide personal care. The service supported 47 people at the time of the inspection of which 30 people were supported with the regulated activity.
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 received care which met their support needs. People were put at the centre of their support.
People felt safe with the support they received. There was a consistent staff team, which meant people received the calls they needed and got to build up relationships with the same staff.
The staff team were passionate about providing high-quality person-centred care and keeping people independent in their own homes. People received support from health professionals and staff worked collaboratively with outside agencies.
People were positive about the management of the service and feedback from people was always welcomed to improve the service. The management team had a positive ethos and were dedicated in providing good care.
The quality assurance systems in place ensured that the provider and the management team could implement changes to the business to improve the care people received and were able to monitor the quality of the service being given.
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.
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 in 14 February 2017).
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.
Bluebird Care (Chiltern and Dacorum) is a community based service providing care and support to people living in their own homes. At the time of the inspection, there were approximately 59 people being supported by the service.
The service has a registered Manager in place. 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.
There were risk assessments in place that gave guidance to staff on how risks to people could be minimised and how to safeguard people from the risk of possible harm.
The provider had effective recruitment processes in place and there were sufficient staff to support people safely. Staff understood their roles and responsibilities and would seek people’s consent before they provided any care or support. Staff received supervision and support, and had been trained to meet people’s individual needs.
People were supported by caring and respectful staff who they felt knew them well. Relatives we spoke with described the staff as kind and caring.
People’s needs had been assessed and care plans took account of their individual preferences and choices. Staff supported people when required to attend health care appointments with their GPs or hospital visits.
The provider had a formal process for handling complaints and concerns. They encouraged feedback from people and acted on the comments received to continually improve the quality of the service. The provider also had effective quality monitoring processes in place to ensure that they were meeting the required standards of care.
The records we looked at demonstrated that people had appropriate care and support plans, and their consent was sought before they received any care or support. The records were also clear, up to date, well maintained and stored securely.
We found the provider had effective staff recruitment processes, and ensured staff were appropriately trained and competent to carry out their role. We also noted that there were effective systems in place to assess and monitor the quality of the service they provided.
We reviewed the care records for six people currently receiving care and saw that they were offered support at a level which encouraged independence and ensured that specific, individual needs were met. People said that they felt able to approach care staff if they had issues or concerns and were confident that any matter would be resolved in a timely manner.
There were effective systems in place to regularly assess and monitor the quality of service that people received and to enable people to express their views about the service.