This announced inspection took place on 23 January 2019.

At our previous inspection of Bluebird Care (Huntingdonshire) on 12 January 2018, the service was rated 'Requires Improvement'. There was also a breach of Regulation 18 of the CQC Registration Regulations (2009). We asked the provider to complete an action plan to show what they would do and by when to improve the key question is the service well-led to at least good. They sent us an action plan and told us they would make these improvements by 20 February 2018.

This was for the following reasons because we had not always been informed about events that we should have been. We carried out a focused inspection to check if improvements had been made.

At this inspection, we found the service had made the necessary improvements under the key question is the service well-led, which is now rated as 'Good'.

Bluebird Care (Huntingdonshire) is a domiciliary care service and provides personal care to people in their own homes. At the time of our inspection, there were 18 people using the service.

Bluebird Care (Huntingdonshire) operates from an office based on the outskirts of Huntingdon.

Not everyone using Bluebird Care (Huntingdonshire) received a regulated activity; Care Quality Commission (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.

The service was well-led. The registered manager and provider had notified the CQC about incidents they are required to. Improvements had been made in the way the provider worked with others involved in people's care. Procedures and policies that were in place had been adhered to. Quality assurance systems were effective in identifying incidents that we needed to be informed about. The provider was correctly displaying their previous inspection rating.

Further information is in the detailed findings below.

Bluebird Care (Huntingdonshire) is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats. It provides a service to older adults, younger adults, people living with dementia and people with a sensory impairment. Not everyone using Bluebird Care (Huntingdonshire) received a regulated activity; Care Quality Commission (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.

Bluebird Care (Huntingdonshire) provided the regulated activity of personal care from an office based on the outskirts of Huntingdon. At the time of this inspection there were 22 people using the service.

The inspection took place on 12 January 2018 and was announced. We gave the service 48 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because it is small and the manager is often out of the office supporting staff or providing care. We needed to be sure that they would be in.

This is the first inspection of this service under its current registration.

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.

Staff knew what keeping people safe meant as well as how to achieve this by managing any identified risk. Staff were trained in safeguarding people and were informed about who they could report any incident of harm to. However, we found that not all incidents of harm had been reported to the local safeguarding authority.

People were given information in a format that they could understand about staying safe.

Robust checks were in place to check that staff were only employed once they had been safe and suitable to care for people using the service.

People's needs were met by staff who were trained appropriately for their role and they were deployed to ensure people’s needs were met.

People were not always administered their prescribed medicines safely. Advice had however been sought from healthcare professionals to ensure people’s safety. Staff were trained and deemed competent to administer people's medicines by staff who had the skills to do this.

Staff were supported in their role and they knew what standard of care was expected. Incidents were used as an opportunity for learning and to help drive improvements.

People were enabled to access healthcare services. People's nutritional needs were met by staff who knew each person's needs well. Staff knew when people needed support and also when to respect people's independence.

The equipment that staff supported people with was regularly checked to make sure that it was safe.

A positive and good working relationship existed between the registered manager, staff and relevant stakeholders. People were supported in partnership with other organisations including healthcare professionals to help provide joined up 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 were involved in their care and relatives or friends helped provide information, which contributed to people's independent living skills.

People's care plans contained sufficient information about the person to assist staff with providing person centred care. Staff understood how to provide care that was compassionate as well as promoting people’s independence.

People were provided with information about, and or enabled to access, advocacy services when required.

Complaints were investigated in line with the provider's policies and procedures. Complaints were acted upon bef