This inspection took place on 16, 19 and 20 January 2017 and was announced. The provider was given 48 hours’ because the location provides a domiciliary care service; we needed to be sure that someone would be available in the office.

Bluebird Care Andover and Stockbridge provide personal care and support to people in their own homes. At the time of this inspection, they were providing a service to 40 people with a variety of care needs, including people living with physical frailty or memory loss. Some people were receiving live-in care services from the provider. The service was managed from an office based in Andover.

There was a registered manager in place. 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.

We received some outstanding feedback about the provider. Without exception, people, their relatives and healthcare professionals told us they were extremely happy with the care and support provided by Bluebird Care Andover and Stockbridge.

People were placed at the heart of the service at Bluebird Care Andover and Stockbridge. The service worked hard to nurture and champion a person centred culture throughout all levels of the service. The registered manager and managing director led their team by example, showing strong, inclusive and innovative leadership that focused on improving the service and creating positive outcomes for people. There were systems in place to monitor the quality of the service and staff reflected on their practice to identify and implement changes when required.

The service played a prominent role in the community, participating and facilitating numerous schemes, events and initiatives to raise awareness and create facilities and resources for people using the service. The service placed a strong emphasis on partnership working with other organisations to reach positive outcomes for people. We received outstanding feedback from professionals who worked with the service about the quality and reliability of the care provided. Bluebird Care Andover and Stockbridge had worked in partnership to pilot a scheme, which sought to keep people in their own homes when they were at risk of being admitted to hospital. There were many practical examples where the service’s intervention had achieved this goal.

The service provided outstanding training and on-going staff development. Training was constantly being reviewed and reformed to ensure it reflected best practice. It was characterised by an interactive and practical model that gave participants a highly comprehensive induction into working within health and social care. The service had a commitment to develop staff’s skills to give them the opportunity to develop and diversify in their role. This helped to create a staff team which was motivated and committed in their work.

Staff were knowledgeable about the people they supported and understood procedures around safeguarding and whistleblowing, which helped to keep people safe. Staff were sensitive to ensure people’s privacy and dignity were upheld, and were knowledgeable about how to apply legislation designed to protect people’s rights and freedoms.

The service used an electronic monitoring system which staff accessed using mobile phones supplied by the provider. The system helped ensure that people’s most current care plans were available to staff. The system also enabled the service to monitor in real time the support people were receiving in relation to personal care, food and drink or medicines. This helped create a robust system for monitoring the quality and safety of the care provided to people. It also enabled the service to respond quickly and decisively to changes in people’s health and wellbeing.

Peo