Background to this inspection
Updated
3 July 2015
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, to look at the overall quality of the service, and to provide a rating for the service under the Care Act 2014.
This inspection took place on 14 January 2015, 16 January 2015, 19 January 2015 and 26 January 2015. The inspection was announced. The provider was given 24 hours’ notice because the location provides a domiciliary care service and we needed to be sure that someone would be available.
The inspection team consisted of one inspector.
We reviewed the information we held about the service including notifications received from the provider. This refers specifically to incidents, events and changes the provider and manager are required to notify us about by law.
We spoke with three people who used the service, seven relatives or those acting on people’s behalf, nine members of staff, the registered provider, the registered manager and the care co-ordinator. We also spoke with three healthcare professionals.
We reviewed five people’s care plans and care records. We looked at the service’s staff support and recruitment records. We also looked at the service’s arrangements for the management of medicines, safeguarding alerts, complaints and compliments information and quality assurance and audit information.
Updated
3 July 2015
Bluebird Care Southend & Rochford provides personal care and support to people in their own homes. Bluebird Care Southend & Rochford is part of a wider franchise network.
The announced inspection was completed on 14 January 2015, 16 January 2015, 19 January 2015 and 26 January 2015. At the time of the inspection there were 27 people who used the service.
A registered manager was 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 told us that they felt safe however; staffing levels were insufficient to meet people’s needs. Not all staff had received appropriate training to enable them to deliver care and support to people who used the service safely and to an appropriate standard. Formal arrangements were not in place to ensure that newly employed staff received a comprehensive induction.
Not all of people’s healthcare needs were recorded and there were no instructions recorded for staff about how to meet these. People’s care plans did not always reflect current information to guide staff on the most appropriate care people required to meet their needs.
The systems in place to deal with people’s comments and complaints required improvement as there was little evidence to show how actions, decisions and outcomes of concerns raised had been addressed. In addition, we found that not all concerns or complaints raised had been logged.
The provider and registered manager did not have an effective and proactive quality monitoring and assurance system in place to ensure that the service performed safely and to an appropriate standard so as to drive improvement.
The CQC is required by law to monitor the operation of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) and to report on what we find. Information relating to people’s ability to consent to their care and support was recorded within their care plan and where appropriate included the involvement of their relative or those acting on their behalf.
People told us they were treated with kindness and consideration by staff. Staff demonstrated a good knowledge and understanding of the people they cared for and supported. People told us that their personal care and support was provided in a way which maintained their privacy and dignity.
You can see what action we told the provider to take at the back of the full version of the report.