Background to this inspection
Updated
11 March 2022
We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 as part of our regulatory functions. This inspection was planned to check whether the provider is meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Health and Social Care Act 2008.
As part of CQC’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic we are looking at how services manage infection control and visiting arrangements. This was a targeted inspection looking at the infection prevention and control measures the provider had in place. We also asked the provider about any staffing pressures the service was experiencing and whether this was having an impact on the service.
This inspection took place on 24 February 2022 and was announced. We gave the service two hours’ notice of the inspection.
Updated
11 March 2022
Bluebirds Nursing Home is a ‘care home’. People in care homes receive accommodation and nursing or personal care as a single package under one contractual agreement. CQC regulates both the premises and the care provided, and both were looked at during this inspection. Bluebirds Nursing Home is registered to accommodate up to 25 people; at the time of our inspection, there were 24 people living in the home. The service provides care and support to people who have a range of neurological conditions, including dementia.
At the last inspection in January 2016, the service was rated good. At this inspection, we found the evidence continued to support the rating of good and there was no evidence or information from our inspection and on-going monitoring that demonstrated serious risks or concerns. This inspection report is written in a shorter format because our overall rating of the service has not changed since our last inspection.
There was a registered manager in post. 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 supported to develop and maintain life and social skills and maintain as much independence as possible, using individually created support programmes. These programmes were developed and overseen by a skilled, multi-disciplinary staff group, who shared a strong person centred ethos.
People told us their relationships with staff were positive and caring. We saw that staff treated people with respect, kindness and courtesy. People had detailed personalised care plans in place to enable staff to provide consistent care and support in line with people’s personal preferences.
Staff had been appropriately recruited in to the service and security checks had taken place. There were enough staff to provide care and support to people to meet their needs.
People were consistently protected from the risk of harm and received their prescribed medicines safely. Staff followed infection control procedures to reduce the risks of spreading infection or illness.
The care that people received continued to be effective. Staff had access to the support, supervision, training and on-going professional development that they required to work effectively in their roles. People were supported to maintain good health and nutrition.
Staff understood the principles of the Mental Capacity Act, 2005 (MCA) and ensured they gained people's consent before providing personal care. People were encouraged to be involved in decisions about their care and support and information was provided for people in line with the requirements of the Accessible Information Standard (AIS).
People knew how to raise a concern or make a complaint and were confident that if they did, the management would respond to them appropriately. The provider had implemented effective systems to manage any complaints that they may receive.
The service had a positive ethos and an open and honest culture. The registered manager and unit manager were present and visible within the home. The provider had systems in place to monitor the quality of the service and continually drive improvement.
Some improvements were required to ensure that records provided a clear account of the care provided to people. We discussed these concerns with the management team and were assured that appropriate action had been taken to improve staff practice.