Background to this inspection
Updated
17 August 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.
This inspection took place on 28 April 2017 and was unannounced. The provider was given 48 hours' notice because the location provides care to people in their own homes and we needed to be sure that a senior member of staff would be at the registered office. The inspection was carried out by a single inspector.
Prior to the inspection the provider completed and returned to us 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.
During the course of the inspection we spoke with five relatives of people who used the service by telephone, along with five people using the service. We were not able to contact other people because they were not available to answer our calls. We also spoke with the registered manager, the directors of the service, and seven care workers. We examined various records, including records of seven people who used the service, such as risk assessments, and care plans. We looked at seven staff files and checked training and recruitment records. We looked at various policies and procedures including safeguarding, whistleblowing and complaints procedure.
Updated
17 August 2017
Bluebird (Harrow) is a domiciliary care agency that is registered to provide personal care to adults living in their own homes. At the time of this inspection 90 older people were supported by the agency.
At the last inspection, the service was rated Good. At this inspection we found the service remained Good.
Care workers had received up to date training in areas related to safety. They had completed training in safeguarding and medicine handling.
People told us they felt safe with the support they received from staff. There were arrangements in place to help safeguard people from the risk of abuse.
Staffing levels were flexible so that if people needed extra support because of illness or other commitments there were staff available for this.
Care workers were knowledgeable and skilled in their role. We saw they had received training in essential areas of their role.
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.
People were supported to access health care professionals where required. Care workers worked with other healthcare professionals to monitor people's conditions.
Care workers were caring and compassionate. People were treated with privacy, dignity and respect.
People's needs had been assessed and information from these assessments had been used to plan the support they received.
There were systems in place to assess and monitor the quality of the service. These included an audit medicines management, care records, health and safety and staff records.