Bluebird Care (Derbyshire Dales & Amber Valley)

Updated 22 February 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.

Inspection team

The inspection consisted of two inspectors

Service and service type

The service is a community service registered to provide care and support to people in their own homes, who live in the Derbyshire Dales and Amber Valley areas of Derbyshire.

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.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because it is a small service and we needed to be sure that the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

What we did before inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with five people who used the service and four relatives about their experience of the care provided. We spoke with eight members of staff including the nominated individual, one director, the registered manager, customer care manager, one field supervisor and three care workers.

We reviewed a range of records. This included two people’s care records and medication records. We looked at two staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found. We looked at training data and quality assurance records.

Updated 22 February 2020

About the service

Bluebird Care (Derbyshire Dales & Amber Valley) is a service providing care and support to people in their own homes. At the time of the inspection the service was providing support to 45 people, but only 21 of those were receiving support with personal care. As the Care Quality Commission (CQC) does not regulate domestic support, this inspection relates only to people receiving the regulated activity of personal care.

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

The leadership of the service was very good. People were without exception positive about the service and told us they would have no hesitation in recommending it. The service had a good quality assurance and monitoring systems to ensure people received safe care and treatment. These systems meant the management team were able to identify any shortfalls in the service and act quickly to rectify them.

Staff told us they were very proud to work for the service and felt extremely well supported in their roles. The management team had dedicated a lot of time and resources to staff training and development. Staff said they would recommend the service to family and friends who needed care and as a place to work.

People told us they enjoyed their independence whilst also getting the support they needed to live independently and be part of their local community.

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.

People told us the service was safe. Staff knew how to recognise and report any concerns about people’s safety and welfare. Strong recruitment procedures helped to protect people against the risk of being supported by unsuitable staff. Risks to people safety and welfare were identified and managed.

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

Rating at last inspection and update:

The last rating for this service was Good (published 23 January 2017).

Why we inspected:

This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

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.