Background to this inspection
Updated
13 July 2021
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. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
Inspection team
One inspector carried out the visit to the agency’s office. Four inspectors made telephone calls to people, relatives and staff.
Service and service type
This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care and support to people living in their own homes.
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 24 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because we needed to be sure the registered manager would be available to support the inspection.
Before the inspection
We reviewed the information we had received about the service. This included any notifications of significant events, such as serious injuries or safeguarding referrals. Notifications are information about important events which the provider is required to send us by law.
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.
We used all of this information to plan our inspection.
During the inspection
Inspection activity started on 6 May 2021 and ended on 14 May 2021. We visited the office location on 6 May 2021 to speak with the registered manager and to review records.
We checked care records for four people, including their assessments, care plans and risk assessments. We looked at four staff files and records of quality monitoring checks and audits.
We spoke with five people who used the service and six relatives by telephone to hear their views about the agency. We received feedback from five staff about the training and support they received to carry out their roles.
After the inspection
The registered manager sent us further information, including staff training records. We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found.
Updated
13 July 2021
About the service
Bluebird Care (Rushmoor & Surrey Heath) is a domiciliary care agency providing care and support to people in their own homes. The agency was supporting 37 older people at the time of our inspection, some of whom were living with dementia. Three people were receiving live-in care.
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
Recent changes in the agency’s management team had caused disruption to the service some people received. People told us they were happy with the care they received but some people said visit times had become unpredictable and communication with the office unreliable. Some relatives also highlighted poor communication as a concern. They gave us examples of how this had negatively affected their family members’ care. The recent changes had also affected care staff, some of whom told us they had not been well-supported in their roles. They said issues or concerns they raised were not always resolved.
The registered manager had begun to implement improvements, including communication with people and relatives and the introduction of quality checks. However these initiatives had not brought about sufficient improvement at the time of our inspection to ensure people received a consistent, well-planned service.
People told us they felt safe when staff provided their care. They said they were happy with the care workers who visited them and had established good relationships with them. Relatives told us staff treated their family members with dignity and respect.
Staff were recruited safely and understood their roles in protecting people from abuse. Any risks involved in people’s care were assessed and mitigated. Staff had an induction when they joined the agency and access to relevant training.
People’s medicines were managed safely. Staff monitored people’s health and well-being and reported any changes they observed. The agency had established effective working relationships with other professionals involved in people’s care.
People were supported 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.
For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk
Rating at last inspection
We carried out a targeted inspection on 19 November 2020 (published 14 January 2021) in response to concerns raised with us. We did not rate the service at the targeted inspection and found no evidence to substantiate the concerns.
This service was registered with us on 17 July 2019 and this is the first inspection at which a rating has been awarded.
This service was previously registered under a different provider at a different address. The last rating for the service under the previous provider was Good, published on 22 April 2017.
Why we inspected
This was a planned inspection based on the date of registration.
Follow up
We will continue to monitor intelligence 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.