This inspection took place on 3 and 4 May 2018 and was announced. The provider was given 48 hours’ notice because they provide a domiciliary care service and we needed to be sure key people were available. When the service was last inspected in January 2016 they received an Outstanding rating. This was because the service had good leadership and management in place, provided an exceptionally effective service and was very caring.

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.

Bluebird Care UK is a national franchise. A franchise is when a franchisee (the provider) has bought the rights to sell a specific company’s products in a particular area using the company’s name. Throughout the report we have referred to Bluebird Care (Alton & Alresford) as Bluebird Care.

The registered provider, Belrose Limited, operates three registered locations: Winchester, Andover and Alton & Alresford. It is registered to provide personal care services to people in their own homes. At the time of this inspection Bluebird Care supported 105 people, however a personal care service was provided to 72 people. Of these, seven received live in care services.

Why have we rated this service as Outstanding?

People received an exceptionally safe service. The service had robust contingency plans in place to ensure when events occurred these did not impact upon service delivery. During the snowy weather in March 2018 the plans they put in place resulted in no care calls being missed. This was because of the total commitment of the care and management team. The systems in place for the management of medicines were exceptional. Records of administration were made electronically and care assistants could not log out of a care call until this had been completed. This meant those people who needed support with their medicines were able to take their tablets as prescribed. Any changes to people’s medicines could be updated immediately in the care records and acted upon. Staff completed safeguarding adults and moving and handling training to ensure they maintained people’s safety. Risk assessments were completed as part of the care planning process. Where risks were identified there were plans in place to reduce or eliminate the risk. Safe staff recruitment procedures were followed to ensure people were not looked after by unsuitable care and support workers. There were sufficient numbers of care assistants to meet people’s care and support needs safely.

The service was exceptionally effective. Before people received a service, a comprehensive assessment of their care and support needs was carried out. For people who had email access they were sent a video message where the customer care manager introduced themselves. The assessments were person centred and involved finding out about things that were important to the person. The staff team was well trained and the provider had a career pathway in place for all staff. Trainee care assistants completed the induction training and then had a three month probationary period during which they completed Care Certificate training. Ongoing training was arranged for all staff and included specialist training where people had specific care needs.

People were provided with assistance to eat and drink well where this had been identified as a care need. The care assistants and management team worked with other health and social care professionals to ensure people’s health and wellbeing was maintained.

People were supported to be as independent as possible. Their mental capacity was assessed as part of the whole assessment process. People were involved in making dec

The inspection took place on 11 and 12 January 2016 and was announced. This was to ensure people and staff we needed to speak to were available to speak with us.

Bluebird Care UK is a national franchise. A franchise is when a franchisee (the provider) has bought the right to sell a specific company’s (the franchisor’s) products in a particular area using the company’s name.

The provider operates three Bluebird Care franchises, of which Bluebird Care (Alton & Alresford) was the second to open. It is registered to provide personal care to people who experience dementia, people with learning disabilities or who are on the autistic spectrum disorder, older people and people with a physical disability or sensory impairment. They are also registered to provide personal care to children aged 13-18 years and younger adults. The service provides both a home care and support service and a live-in care service. At the time of the inspection there were 55 people using the service and provided with the regulated activity of personal care.

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 extremely satisfied with the quality of the service they received. A person’s relative told us “I cannot speak highly enough. I am very happy with the care” and “They provide care to a good standard.” Other people’s comments included “I have lovely carers,” “They are really good” and “Staff are always very cheerful and ask if there is anything extra I need.”

The service had a track record of being an excellent role model for the provision of outstanding domiciliary care provision. The registered manager provided clear leadership to the staff team and was valued by people, staff and the provider. There was a positive culture and the provider’s value system placed people at the heart of the service. There was a whole team culture whose focus was on how could they do things better for people? Staff felt able to raise any concerns with management.

There was a strong focus on continually striving to improve. There were robust processes in place to seek people’s views on the service and monitor the quality of the service. Information from customer surveys and the actions the provider took were shared openly and honestly with people. Feedback from people through surveys and complaints was used to continually drive service improvement.

The provider valued their staff and saw them as an asset to deliver high quality care to people. They appreciated that people wanted consistency in their care and that the way to achieve this was through staff retention. To achieve this they had identified a range of ways to retain their staff which enabled them to attract and retain good quality staff to deliver high quality care to people.

People consistently told us staff were well trained. Staff underwent a rigorous induction programme prior to providing people’s care. People were empowered to be directly involved in training the staff in how to deliver high quality and effective care based on best practice. The dignity care staff champion shared their learning with peers. The registered manager had used innovative and creative ways of training and developing staff that enabled them to apply their learning in their practice in order to deliver outstanding care for people.

The provider had developed strong links with the local community. They worked alongside other organisations to ensure they followed current good practice in the delivery of people’s care.

There was a strong focus on the use of technology in the delivery of people’s care and the provider understood how its’ use could improve people’s experience of the care staff