Bluebird Care (Reigate) provides personal care services to people in their own homes. At the time of our inspection 87 people were receiving a personal care service from the agency, most of whom were older people or people with physical needs.

The inspection took place on 12 December 2016 and included a visit to the agency’s office, interviews with care workers and phone calls to people who used the service.

The service did not have 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. The current manager had been managing the service since 10th October 2016 and was in the process of applying to be registered.

People told us that they felt safe as a result of the care they received. Several people cited the agency as the reason they were able to remain living in their own home. The service had appropriate systems to safeguard people from the risk of harm or abuse and staff were knowledgeable about how to keep protect people and keep them safe.

There were systems in place to ensure the service safely recruited sufficient and appropriate staff to support people. Once employed, staff completed a comprehensive programme of induction and training to ensure they had the necessary skills and experience to meet people’s needs. Communication systems across the service were good and staff were effectively supported to deliver high quality care.

People were supported to maintain good health. The service worked in partnership with a range of other healthcare professionals to provide a holistic approach to care. Where people were supported with their medicines, this was done safely so that people received their medicines as prescribed.

Staff understood the importance of supporting people to maintain adequate nutrition and hydration. Care plans identified where people needed additional support and steps were taken to ensure these people received sufficient food and fluids each day.

People’s needs and homes were fully assessed before care was provided. As such, any risks associated with their care were now identified and managed safely. The service was responsive to changes in people’s needs and tailored their services accordingly.

People were involved in the planning and reviewing of their care and supported to be as independent as possible. Staff respected people and understood the importance of gaining consent from people. Staff demonstrated an awareness of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and knew what to do if a person refused to accept their care.

Staff were kind and compassionate and demonstrated the values of the agency to provide caring and high quality support. As such, people received care that was provided in a respectful way that promoted their privacy and dignity.

Bluebird Care (Reigate) had good management systems in place to ensure people received consistently good care. People praised the support they received from their care workers in addition to the reliability and efficiency of service that they receive from the office.

The management team were continually looking at ways to improve service delivery and sought and listened to feedback from people and their representatives. A recent change which meant that care workers were now allocated to defined geographical areas had had a positive impact for both people and staff. Similarly, the introduction of live monitoring of people’s support both protected the most vulnerable and enabled effective sharing of information with other health care professionals.