Bluebird Care (Lewes)

Updated 13 November 2019

The inspection:

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection checked 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.

Inspection team:

The inspection team consisted of one 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. The expert at this inspection had experience of caring for older people.

Service and service type:

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats. It provides a service to older adults and younger adults with physical disabilities.

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection:

The inspection was announced. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service. We wanted to be sure that someone would be in to speak with us.

What we did:

We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return. This is information providers are required to send us with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. This information helps support our inspections.

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. This included details about incidents the provider must notify us about, such as incidents and abuse. We used this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection:

We reviewed a range of records. This included four staff recruitment files, training records, records relating to the management of the service and a variety of policies and procedures and quality assurance processes developed and implemented by the provider. We reviewed four people’s care records. We spoke with seven members of staff, including the providers, the registered manager, a care co-ordinator, and care staff. We met with the providers and registered manager in the office, and observed them working in the office, dealing with issues and speaking with people over the telephone. During our inspection we spoke with seven people and four relatives over the telephone.

Updated 13 November 2019

About the service:

Bluebird Care Lewes is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes in the community. On the day of the inspection, the service was supporting 70 people with a range of health and social care needs, such as a physical disability, sensory impairment or people living with dementia. Support was tailored according to people’s assessed needs within the context of people’s individual preferences and lifestyles to help people to live and maintain independent lives and remain in their homes. Not everyone using Bluebird Care Lewes receives the regulated activity; CQC only inspects the service being received by people provided with ‘personal care’; help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do we also take into account any wider social care provided.

People’s experience of using this service:

We found areas of outstanding practice in the effectiveness of the care provided by Bluebird Care Lewes. The use of pioneering technology used in a person centred way ensured that people received outstandingly effective care that met their current and changing needs.

The provider had developed innovative and effective systems that promoted people’s health, improved their independence and enabled them to live in their own home for as long as possible.

People were happy with the care they received, felt relaxed with staff and told us they were treated with kindness. They said they felt safe and well supported. One person told us, “Yes, they are lovely, they get me up safely and put me to bed safely. They are careful when getting me from bed to chair”.

People’s independence was promoted and told us their needs were met. They told us that they had a regular team of care staff who arrived on time and knew them well. A relative told us, “Overall, I am genuinely impressed, to keep [my relative] at home knowing they are wonderful carers is all we could wish for”.

Sufficient staff were available to ensure people's wellbeing and safety was protected. A robust recruitment and selection process was also in place.

People felt they were offered choice in the way their care was delivered and that they had no concerns around their dignity and privacy in their own homes being respected. One person told us, “They make sure I have everything I need. They are polite, punctual and do their job well. They are respectful and keep the place tidy”.

Staff had received training considered essential by the provider and feedback from people indicated that they knew the best way to care for people in line with their needs and preferences. 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.

The provider had systems of quality assurance to measure and monitor the standard of the service and drive improvement. These systems also supported people to stay safe by assessing and mitigating risks, ensuring that people were cared for in a person-centred way and that the provider learned from any mistakes.

People told us they thought the service was well managed and they received high quality care that met their needs and improved their wellbeing from dedicated and enthusiastic staff. One person told us, “I don’t know what I’d do without them, they are marvellous”.

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

Rating at last inspection: Good (report published 8 November 2016).

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on the previous rating.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor the intelligence we receive about this home and plan to inspect in line with our re-inspection schedule for those services rated Good.