The inspection took place on 14 and 15 May 2018. This service is a domiciliary care agency based in Chichester, West Sussex. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats in the community. At the time of the inspection it provided personal care to 114 people in their own homes, in the Chichester and mid West Sussex area. These people were aged between 30 and 100 years and had a range of care needs. Bluebird Care (Chichester) is part of a franchise brand of services of Bluebird Care which operate across the United Kingdom.
The service had a registered manager. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are ‘registered persons’. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.
People were consulted about their care and had agreed to the care being provided. The provider had policies and procedures regarding the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and care workers received training in this.
People said they received a reliable service although there were comments that some of the arrival time could be improved; care workers also reported not having sufficient travel time between each appointment. The provider was aware of this and had already acted to address this. The provider had introduced an IT system whereby care workers used a smart phone to access care records and to record the care tasks. The system enabled the administrative and management team to oversee all care appointments and alerted them if any calls or tasks had not been completed.
People and their relatives said they would recommend the service to others and reported they received a responsive and caring service. Comments from people included the following for example, “They do anything I ask. I’m fairly unsteady on my feet. If they get everything done that I need them and they still have time they will make me a cuppa and have a chat with me. When you’re on your own it’s good to know you have someone nice who you can trust coming in and they’ll do what I ask.”
People said they felt safe with the care workers and received safe care. Care workers had completed training in safeguarding procedures and knew what to do if they had any concerns about the safety of welfare of people.
Risks to people were assessed and there were details in care plans of how to mitigate these risks and keep people safe. These included procedures for transferring people and we observed care workers did this safely.
Care workers followed procedures to prevent and control infection.
The provider took action to look into any concerns such as safeguarding incidents.
Care workers were supported by a range of training courses and regular supervision. There was an induction procedure for new care workers as well as the monitoring and appraisal of their work. Staff felt supported and had access to management staff for advice and guidance.
People were supported with food and drink, where this was applicable, which was recorded in care records. Health care needs were monitored and referrals made to health care professionals.
The provider looked into and responded appropriately to complaints.
There were no people in receipt of end of life care and the provider had plans to train key staff in this and to register for accreditation with the Gold Standards Framework for end of life care.
People, their relatives and care workers stated the provider was open and responsive to any concerns raised or suggestions. People were consulted and involved in their care reviews and there was a system for asking people for their views about the service which was part of the ongoing monitoring of the agency.