We carried out an announced inspection on 25 October 2016 and made telephone calls to people who used the service and staff on 31 October 2016.

Bluebird Care (Chiltern and Dacorum) is a community based service providing care and support to people living in their own homes. At the time of the inspection, there were approximately 59 people being supported by the service.

The service has 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.

There were risk assessments in place that gave guidance to staff on how risks to people could be minimised and how to safeguard people from the risk of possible harm.

The provider had effective recruitment processes in place and there were sufficient staff to support people safely. Staff understood their roles and responsibilities and would seek people’s consent before they provided any care or support. Staff received supervision and support, and had been trained to meet people’s individual needs.

People were supported by caring and respectful staff who they felt knew them well. Relatives we spoke with described the staff as kind and caring.

People’s needs had been assessed and care plans took account of their individual preferences and choices. Staff supported people when required to attend health care appointments with their GPs or hospital visits.

The provider had a formal process for handling complaints and concerns. They encouraged feedback from people and acted on the comments received to continually improve the quality of the service. The provider also had effective quality monitoring processes in place to ensure that they were meeting the required standards of care.

When we visited Bluebird Care on 13 February 2013 we spoke with five people using the service, one relative and four staff currently working at the service. People told us that they were happy with the care and support they received. They told us they felt safe and the staff were friendly and supportive. One person said “The staff are always polite and pleasant.”

We reviewed the care records for six people currently receiving care and saw that they were offered support at a level which encouraged independence and ensured that specific, individual needs were met. People said that they felt able to approach care staff if they had issues or concerns and were confident that any matter would be resolved in a timely manner.

There were effective systems in place to regularly assess and monitor the quality of service that people received and to enable people to express their views about the service.

When we inspected Bluebird Care (Chiltern & Dacorum), we visited the office on 26 February 2014, where we spoke with the branch manager and one of the senior managers. We also spoke with six care staff. The expert by experience spoke with 11 people using the service, and the relatives of eight other people by telephone. Although most people were happy with the care they received, some were dissatisfied with the frequent changes to the care staff, and that staff did not always arrive at agreed times. When asked further about this, one person said, "They are very, very caring, but the timing is poor." However, these comments did not support our findings that the provider had taken necessary steps to minimise the risk of late visits.

The records we looked at demonstrated that people had appropriate care and support plans, and their consent was sought before they received any care or support. The records were also clear, up to date, well maintained and stored securely.

We found the provider had effective staff recruitment processes, and ensured staff were appropriately trained and competent to carry out their role. We also noted that there were effective systems in place to assess and monitor the quality of the service they provided.