This inspection was carried out on the 15 and 16 January 2019 and was announced. Bluebird Care (Wiltshire North) is a domiciliary care agency and provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats in North Wiltshire. It provides a service to people living with dementia, older people, younger adults, physical disability and sensory impairment. There were 75 people using the service at the time of inspection.

Not everyone using Bluebird Care (Wiltshire North) received 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.

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.

At our last inspection we rated the service Good. At this inspection we found the evidence continued to support the rating of Good. There was no evidence or information from our inspection and ongoing 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.

Why the service is rated as Good

People told us they were being supported by kind and caring staff that did not rush them and helped them to maintain their independence. Staff we spoke with told us they enjoyed their jobs and working with the people they supported.

People’s needs had been assessed and personalised care plans were in place giving staff guidance on how to meet people’s needs. Staff worked with healthcare professionals to make sure people got effective care.

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.

People told us they felt safe and systems were in place to assess risks. Risk management plans were detailed and reviewed as needed. Medicines were managed safely, people had their medicines as prescribed.

People were supported by staff that had been recruited safely. Staff were trained and had the skills needed to support people. Staff were aware of the different types of abuse and how to report any concerns.

Systems were in place to monitor the quality and safety of the service. The provider was aiming to continuously improve how the service was delivered. Partnership working was demonstrated with a variety of agencies.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.

The inspection took place on 13 14 and 15 July 2016 and was announced. We gave the service 48 hours' notice of the inspection. This was to ensure that people who used the service were available to meet with us. It was also so that the registered manager and staff could be available. This was the first inspection of the service since it was registered with us in 2014.

Bluebird Care Wiltshire are registered to provide a domiciliary care service to adults in their own

homes.

There was a registered manager for the service. 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 spoke highly about all of the staff who visited and said they always felt safe in their company. They told us staff were kind and caring in their approach. People also said they were able to engage with staff in a positive and good-humoured way which they valued.

There were systems in place to minimise risks to people and to keep them safe from abuse. Staff knew what abuse was and they were also aware of how to report any concerns if they had them.

People spoke very positively about the care and support they received from the staff. Examples of comments people told us were, "They do what I ask in the way I want them to do it and we get on very well”, “They come on time within reason” and, “They do well, and my keyworker has a heart of gold id be lost without her.”

People were being supported with their care needs by staff who were being properly supported and supervised in their work. People also benefited because the staff were given plenty of training and guidance to understand their needs and provide effective care.

Care records were informative and clearly showed how to effectively assist people so that their care needs were met. Care was planned in a way that was flexible for people. Visit times to people were arranged as much as possible for their convenience .

People knew and felt comfortable to make complaints or raise concerns about the services the agency provided.

There was a system in place to regularly monitor the quality of care and service. When it was needed, actions were put in place to improve quality of the care and service people received.

People who used the service and the staff thought highly of the registered manager and the organisation. The staff team understood the visions and values of the organisation and said they followed them in their work. The values included a high priority on ensuring that people were always provided with personalised care. This was to ensure people were treated as unique individuals.

People we spoke with told us they were involved with the planning of their support needs. They told us reviews were held to reassess their needs and relatives were invited to these reviews. One person we spoke with told us “I asked for my carer to change to someone older and they responded straight away”. One relative we spoke with told us “the agency have gone out of their way to involve me in dad's care”.

We saw each plan was personalised and reflected the needs of the individual. We also saw the plans were written in a style that would enable the person reading it to have a good idea of what help and assistance someone needed at a particular time.

The manager was able to show us two examples where they had contacted the local safeguarding team on behalf of people who used the service, as they had concerns about their welfare.

We spoke with three members of staff who told us they felt “very supported” by the agency. A member of staff told us, "I've always found the management supportive, and this is far and away the best place I have worked in over 20 years of caring”.

The people we spoke with told us they felt they could make comments about the service to either staff or the manager. They confirmed they had regular phone contact from the manager asking if everything was to their satisfaction.