Bluebird Care (Wiltshire South)

Bluebird Care (Wiltshire South) is a domiciliary care service, providing personal care to people living in Salisbury and the surrounding areas. At the time of our inspection there were 25 people using the service.

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

Incidents and accidents were reported. However, the electronic reporting system in use did not provide clear oversight from a management perspective. Instead, the service relied on staff verbally reporting incidents as well as formally documenting them. The manager informed us the reporting and analysis process was being reviewed to rectify this. People told us they felt safe using the service. People were cared for by staff who knew how to keep them safe and protect them from avoidable harm. One person’s relative said, "I do feel that [name] is safe.” There were enough staff available to meet people's needs. People told us staff always arrived at the scheduled time, stayed for the specified period and no visits were missed. One person said, “Staff always stay for the allocated time and never leave before. They offer to do other things for me too.” People were supported to take their medicines safely.

People's needs were assessed, and care plans were in place. People were cared for by staff who had been trained to carry out their roles and who were knowledgeable about the support people needed. 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 they were cared for by kind and compassionate staff. Staff understood the need to respect people's privacy and dignity. Comments from people included, “They [staff] are all very friendly and we have a good rapport. There is lots of trust and they are very professional” and, “I cannot fault them, they have been my life saver. They came recommended four years ago and I have since recommended them to my friends”. One staff member said, “I see the clients as one of the family. I like to feel as though I'm helping, not intruding.”

Staff were knowledgeable about people's support needs as well as people's preferences for how they wanted to be cared for. Comments included, "I am happy with the care I get from Bluebird. I know them, they are always on time and they will do whatever I need” and, “The staff always make sure that I have everything I need. I think that is very nice and it proves that they do what they say.” There was a complaints procedure in place and people knew how to complain if they needed to. No complaints had been received.

Quality assurance processes were in place. There was a quality improvement plan in place. Regular audits of all aspects of the service were being undertaken. Positive feedback was received from people. Comments included, “I like my Bluebird people, I am very satisfied” and, “Without Bluebird and the care we receive from them, myself and my family would not be able to have weekends away or go on holiday.”

We have made a recommendation that the service reviews the management and oversight of incidents and accidents to ensure they are robust.

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 under the previous provider was Good published on 07 December 2017.

Why we inspected

This inspection was prompted by a review of the information we held about this service.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Bluebird Care Wiltshire South on our website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service, which will help inform when we next inspect.