Bluebird Care (Bury & Bolton)

Updated 21 December 2023

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. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

This inspection was carried out by an inspector and 2 Experts 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.

Service and service type

Bluebird Care (Bury & Bolton) is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

We gave the service 24 hours' notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to be sure the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 14 November 2023 and ended on 27 November 2023. We visited the office on 14 November and 15 November 2023.

What we did before the inspection

We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make.

We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with the registered manager and 2 care coordinators. We spoke to 4 support staff. We spoke with 5 people receiving support and 5 relatives.

We reviewed 8 people's support records, including 3 records of medicines administration. We looked at staff files in relation to recruitment, and a variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures.

We asked the registered manager to send us documents before and after the on-site inspection. These were provided in a timely manner and this evidence was included as part of our inspection.

Updated 21 December 2023

About the service

Bluebird Care (Bury & Bolton) is a domiciliary care service providing personal care to people in their own houses and flats in the community. At the time of our inspection there were 75 people using the service. 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. At the time of inspection, the service was providing personal care to 66 people.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee autistic people and people with a learning disability the choices, dignity, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. Right support, right care, right culture is the statutory guidance which supports CQC to make assessments and judgements about services providing support to people with a learning disability and/or autistic people. We considered this guidance as there were people using the service who have a learning disability and or who are autistic.

People felt safe, and staff knew what to do if they thought people were at risk. Staff managed people's medication safely. Staff recruitment processes were robust and staffing levels ensured peoples' needs were met. The provider followed current infection prevention and control guidance.

People's needs were assessed, and support was coordinated, innovative, and personalised. Staff were trained to provide support whilst promoting independence. Staff approaches promoted dignity & respect.

Staff were trained and competent in providing individualised support whilst promoting people’s independence. The registered manager ensured staff were well supported and able to carry out their roles effectively. People were involved in decisions about their support needs and the service was committed to working in partnership with healthcare professionals to improve and maintain people's health and wellbeing.

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 staff were polite and always asked before providing support. Staff approaches promoted dignity & respect. Staff knew how to support people to ensure end of life needs were met.

People and family members knew how to make a complaint. They were confident their complaint would be listened to and acted upon quickly. Lessons were learned when concerns were raised, and these outcomes were communicated to staff.

The provider was open and honest in its approach to supporting people. They were in regular contact with people receiving support to ensure they obtained feedback on the quality of support provided.

The registered manager ensured systems were in place to monitor and audit the quality and running of the service.

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 was good (published 28 November 2017)

Why we inspected

This inspection was a planned inspection based on the date the service was last inspected.

Follow up

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