Bluebird Care Andover & Stockbridge

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. 71 People were receiving a regulated activity when we inspected.

Care and support was tailored to meet people's individual needs and had made a positive difference to their lives. The service continued to use technology to enhance the service they provided. The support being provided was helping to avoid the risk of isolation and assist people to enjoy their hobbies and interests. Staff demonstrated an understanding of the importance of compassion when caring for people at the end of their life and worked alongside community healthcare professionals to ensure that people had a pain free and dignified death.

Overall people's medicines were managed safely and the systems in place supported this. There were some areas where improvements could be made in line with best practice standards. The registered manager and provider demonstrated a culture of openness and transparency in relation to safety and to learning from incidents. However, our review of people's records showed that there had been a number of incident forms which had not been escalated to the registered manager. People told us they felt safe when receiving care. Staff had a positive attitude to reporting concerns. They were confident the registered manager would act upon these. Risks to people, and to the care workers supporting them had been assessed and planned for. Systems were in place to help ensure there were enough staff to provide people with a service that was reliable and safe. Good practice guidance was followed to ensure infection prevention and control processes were implemented.

The provider had robust systems in place to build a team of reliable and competent staff. Staff were

extremely positive about their induction and training and the provider was continuously looking for ways to improve the training programme. Healthcare professionals consistently described the service as providing very effective care and the service continued to work collaboratively and seek innovative ways to support people with their healthcare needs. 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. Staff supported people to have access to food and drink of their choice and found solutions to encourage people to eat and drink well.

Everyone told us they were supported by staff who were kind and caring. Staff displayed a genuine desire to enhance people's wellbeing and spoke of the importance of making a difference to people's lives. There was a clear focus on staff building trusting and meaningful relationships with people. Staff showed a good understanding of how to protect people's rights and of the importance of supporting people to make express their choices. Staff allowed people to direct their own care and demonstrated a thorough understanding of the importance of providing just the right amount of support to maximise people's independence.