Background to this inspection
Updated
18 October 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.
Our inspection took place on 31 August 2017 and was unannounced.
Our inspection was completed by one adult social care inspector and an Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service. Our Expert by Experience was familiar with the care of older adults who receive support in the community.
Before the inspection, the 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. The provider also submitted a contact list so we could call people who used the service, staff, commissioners and others.
We reviewed information we already held about the service. This included notifications we had received. A notification is information about important events which the service is required to send us by law. We also looked at feedback we received from members of the public, local authorities and clinical commissioning group (CCGs). We checked records held by Companies House and the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
Prior to our inspection, we sent 178 surveys to people who used the service, relatives or friends of people, staff and community healthcare professionals. We received 38 responses. At our inspection, we spoke with the nominated individual, operations director, the registered manager, and other staff based in the office of the service. After our inspection, we telephoned 15 people who received support and spoke with one relative. We also received feedback from two community healthcare professionals.
We looked at 15 people’s care records, five staff personnel files and other records about the safe management of the service and quality of care. After the inspection, we asked the registered manager to send us further documents and we received and reviewed this information.
Updated
18 October 2017
Bluebird Care (South Bucks and Slough) provides personal care to younger and older adults, some who have a dementia, learning disabilities, mental health conditions and physical or sensory impairment. Based in the Burnham town centre since 2009, the service provided support to people in Buckinghamshire and Berkshire. At the time of our inspection, more than 200 people used the service and there were approximately 140 staff.
At our last inspection, the service was rated good.
At this inspection, the service was rated outstanding.
Why the service is rated outstanding:
People were protected from abuse and neglect. We found staff knew about risks to people and how to avoid potential harm. Risks related to people’s care were assessed, recorded and mitigated. We found appropriate numbers of staff were deployed to meet people’s needs and continuity of allocated care workers had improved. People’s medicines were safely managed.
There was good staff training and support. Staff received additional training in specialist areas, such as dementia, and became ‘champions’ who were enabled to teach other workers. People told us staff had the necessary knowledge, experience and skills to provide appropriate care for people. The service was compliant with the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and associated codes of practice. 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. There was collaborative working with various community healthcare professionals.
The service was very caring. There was extensive complimentary feedback from people who used the service, relative and friends, and community professionals we contacted. People and relatives were able to participate in care planning and reviews and some decisions were made by staff in people’s best interests. People’s privacy and dignity was respected when care was provided to them.
Care plans were person-centred and contained detailed information of how to support people in the right way. We saw there was a robust complaints system in place which included the ability for people to contact any office-based staff member or the management team. People and relatives told us they had no current concerns or complaints.
Outstanding care was provided to people because the service was well-led. All staff worked continuously as an effective team to improve care, ensure people were safe and increase the care in the home experience. The service received many local and industry awards for the exceptional care provided to people and for their community involvement. The service embraced innovation and continuous improvement in their care approach to enrich people’s lives. The service had an excellent workplace culture for staff.
Further information is in the detailed findings below.