Bluebird Care (Bradford North)

Updated 22 December 2022

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 1 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.

Service and service type

This service 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 it is a small service and we needed to be sure the provider or registered manager would be in the office to support the inspection. Inspection activity started on 6 December 2022 and ended on 7 December 2022. We visited the location's office on 6 December 2022.

What we did before the inspection

We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who worked 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, the nominated individual, 2 office staff, and 5 support staff. The nominated individual is responsible for supervising the management of the service on behalf of the provider.

We spoke with 3 people receiving support and 4 relatives. We reviewed 3 people's support records. We reviewed records and audits relating to the management of the service. We asked the nominated individual 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 22 December 2022

About the service

Bluebird Care (Bradford North) 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 45 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

People were kept safe from risk and harm and staff had a good understanding of safeguarding processes. Risk assessments were robust and relevant. Staffing levels were safe and reviewed regularly by managers. Medicines were managed safely. Infection prevention and control (IPC) systems were in place to reduce people's risk of infection.

People's needs were assessed and reviewed regularly. Peoples' health and nutrition needs were supported, and staff were aware of their responsibility to promote peoples' rights. People had access to healthcare professionals.

People and family members knew how to make a complaint and they were confident their complaint would be listened to and acted upon quickly. Staff approaches promoted dignity & respect.

The provider was open and honest in its approach to supporting people and was in regular contact with people receiving support to ensure they received regular feedback on the quality of support provided. Staff knew how to support people to ensure end of life needs were met.

Managers ensured systems were in place to monitor the running of the service. Staff worked well in partnership with other agencies to deliver effective support. Managers audited support records, including accidents and incidents to assure themselves of quality. Lessons were learned when concerns were raised, and these outcomes were communicated to staff.

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.

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

At the time of the inspection, the location did not care or support for anyone with a learning disability or an autistic person. However, we assessed the care provision under Right Support, Right Care, Right Culture, as it is registered as a specialist service for this population group.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk.

Rating at last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published 10 January 2020) and there were breaches of regulations. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve. At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the provider was no longer in breach of regulations.

Why we inspected

We carried out an announced comprehensive inspection of this service on 5 November 2019. Breaches of legal requirements were found. The provider completed an action plan after the last inspection to show what they would do and by when to improve safe care and treatment, and governance.

We undertook this focused inspection to check they had followed their action plan and to confirm they now met legal requirements. This report only covers our findings in relation to the Key Questions safe, effective, responsive, and well-led which contain those requirements.

For those key questions not inspected, we used the ratings awarded at the last inspection to calculate the overall rating. The overall rating for the service has changed from requires improvement to good. This is based on the findings at this inspection.

You can read the report from our last comprehensive inspection, by selecting the ‘all reports’ link for Bluebird Care (Bradford North) 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.