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Blue Ocean Services

Overall: Good read more about inspection ratings

243 Eltham High Street, London, SE9 1TX (020) 8690 8333

Provided and run by:
Blue Ocean Services Limited

Important: This service was previously registered at a different address - see old profile

Latest inspection summary

On this page

Background to this inspection

Updated 3 March 2023

The inspection

We carried out this inspection under Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act) as part of our regulatory functions. We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations associated with the Act. We looked at the overall quality of the service and provided a rating for the service under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Inspection team

The inspection team consisted of 1 inspector and 1 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.

Service and service type

Blue Ocean Service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was a registered manager in post.

Notice of inspection

We gave 48 hours’ notice of the inspection. This was because we needed to ensure the registered manager would be available to assist us with the inspection.

Inspection activity started on 23 December 2022 and ended on 20 January 2023. We requested a range of documents that were sent to us by the provider between 28 December 2022 and 16 January 2023. The inspection was completed remotely. We spoke to the registered manager on video calls. We made calls to staff on 20 January 2023. We made calls to people and their relatives on 18 January 2023.

What we did before inspection

The provider was not asked to complete a Provider Information Return (PIR) prior to this inspection. A PIR is information providers send us to give key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We reviewed the information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We used all of this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We reviewed a range of records related to 5 people’s care and support. This included people’s care plans, risk assessments and medicine records. We reviewed 5 staff files in relation to recruitment and training. We reviewed records related to the management of the service, which included complaints, audits and a range of policies and procedures.

We spoke with 6 staff members. This included the registered manager and 5 care workers.

We continued to seek clarification from the provider to validate evidence found after the inspection. This included training records and information related to staff recruitment. We provided formal feedback to the management team on 19 January 2023 via video call.

We spoke with 4 people and 5 relatives. We contacted 5 health and social care professionals but received no feedback.

This performance review and assessment was carried out without a visit to the location’s office. We used technology such as video calls to enable us to engage with people using the service and staff, and electronic file sharing to enable us to review documentation.

Overall inspection

Good

Updated 3 March 2023

About the service:

Blue Ocean Services is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own homes. At the time of the inspection 19 people were using the service.

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.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

People and their relatives spoke positively about the service. One person said, "They make me feel safe just by the way they are confident with what they are doing, and they carry it all through properly."

People and their relatives told us they thought the care workers were well trained.

Risk assessments for people’s home environment and medicines were assessed and documented. Staff understood how to mitigate risks. Staff knew what action to take in an emergency.

People told us they felt safe and they were cared for by staff who were well-trained and understood how to protect them and report any concerns.

People and their relatives said they would be comfortable contacting the office if things went wrong. One relative said, “The office are very easy to talk to.”

Staff told us they enjoyed their work and felt well-supported by the registered manager. One care worker said, “I have been working with them for nearly 7 years, I would not have stayed so long if I was not happy here.”

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.

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

Rating at the last inspection and update

The last rating for this service was requires improvement (published on 2 August 2019) At this inspection we found improvements had been made and the service is rated as good.

Why we inspected

The inspection was carried out to follow up on action we told the provider to take at the last inspection.

Follow up

We will continue to monitor information we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If we receive any concerning information we may inspect sooner.