Bluebird Care (Swindon)

Updated 26 January 2019

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked whether the provider was 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.

This inspection took place on 13 December 2018 and was announced. We told the provider two days before our inspection that we would be coming. We did this because the registered manager is sometimes out of the office supporting staff or visiting people who use the service. We needed to be sure that someone would be in the office. The inspection team consisted of two inspectors.

Before the inspection we reviewed the information we held about the service and the service provider. The registered provider completed a Provider Information Return (PIR). This is a form that asks the provider to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We also looked at previous inspection reports and notifications received from the provider. A notification is information about important events which the provider is required to tell us about by law. This ensured we were addressing any areas of concern.

We contacted nine people and four relatives. We looked at three people’s care records and medicine administration records (MAR). We spoke with the registered manager, the director, one care co-ordinator and four care staff. We reviewed a range of records relating to the management of the service. These included four staff files, incident reports, complaints and compliments. We also contacted four external professionals to obtain their feedback about the service.

Updated 26 January 2019

Bluebird Care (Swindon) is a domiciliary care service that provides personal care to people living in their own homes in Swindon and the surrounding areas. Not everyone using Bluebird Care receives regulated activity; CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with personal care. Where they do we also take into account any wider social care provided. On the day of the inspection the service was supporting 43 people.

There was 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.

At the last inspection in April 2016, the service was rated Good.

At this inspection we found the service remained Good overall.

The service improved and was exceptionally caring. The feedback received from people and their relatives reflected the staff were very compassionate, kind and established positive and meaningful caring relationships. People referred to staff as ‘angels’ and told us that staff were ‘like friends’.

The caring nature of the service was promoted by the management who told us, “We stress that we’re not an agency, we are a care company”. The senior team led staff by example and this successfully contributed to creating an established and caring team.

Staff exceeded in recognising what was important to people and that even the little things made a huge difference to people. There was evidence the staff often went ‘the extra mile’ to meet people’s needs and improve their lives. This caring approach was also visible within the team with the staff being very caring to one another and toward the local community.

Staff respecting people’s privacy and dignity at all times. People were supported to be as independent as possible so they could continue to live their life in a way they wanted.

All people and relatives, without an exception said they would definitely recommend this service to family and friends.

People received safe care and treatment. People complimented the continuity of care provided by regular staff which contributed to building meaningful relationships. People continued to receive their medicines safely and as prescribed. Risks to people’s individual conditions and well-being were assessed, recorded and updated when people’s circumstances changed. There were sufficient staff to keep people safe.

People received support that met their needs and the service remained flexible to changing people’s needs. People’s rights to make their own decisions were respected. People remained well supported to maintain healthy diet and access health services if required.

The service remained well-led. The provider’s quality assurance processes remained effective and there was a focus on improvement. People and staff were involved and listened to. The service worked well in partnership with other agencies, social and health professionals and external organisations.