Bluebird Care (Cambridge and South Cambs)

We undertook an announced inspection of Bluebird Care (Cambridge and South Cambs) between 5 and 9 July 2018.

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats in the community. It provides a service to older adults, younger adults, people living with dementia or mental health needs and people with sensory impairments. At the time of our inspection there were 58 people using the service.

Not everyone using Bluebird Care (Cambridge and South Cambs) receives a 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 care needs were exceeded by staff who were considerate and compassionate by understanding and acting upon people's needs, no matter what these were. Staff knew the people they cared for well and promoted independence, privacy and dignity at every opportunity. People and their relatives were involved in the care and support provided. The provider focussed importance on matching staff to people taking into account their age, interests and background. This helped people to get on and develop positive relationships. Staff enabled people to retain their independence and they encouraged people to live fulfilling lives. Staff promoted people's well-being by encouraging people to remain as active as practicable. People were at the heart of the service.

The service continued to provide safe care as people were supported by staff who had been trained and were knowledgeable about safeguarding, undertaking risk assessments, medicines' administration and infection prevention and control. A sufficient number of safely recruited staff provided people with care that met their needs. Lessons were learned and changes were made when things did not go as planned.

People were supported with their eating and drinking to achieve a healthy lifestyle where appropriate and assessed as a need. Staff enabled and supported people to access healthcare services when this was required. The registered manager and staff team worked with other organisations to help ensure that people's care was coordinated and person centred. 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.

Concerns were responded to before in a positive way and any complaints were managed methodically and learned from. Staff worked well with other stakeholders to ensure that when people had a need for end of life care, this would be well managed to help ensure people could have a dignified death.

The registered manager led by example and fostered an open and honest culture within their staff team. Quality assurance, audit and governance systems continued to be effective in driving improvements. Staff were given the means to achieve their potential including regular support and training which was based on each staff member's role. Staff were reminded of their responsibilities and this made a positive difference to the quality of people's lives. People's, relatives, staff's and external stakeholders' views influenced how the service was run. The registered manager and their staff team worked in harmony with other organisations.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.

The five questions we ask about services and what we found