This inspection took place on 20 and 24 October 2017 and was announced. The provider was given 24 hours’ because the location provides a domiciliary care service; we needed to be sure that someone would be available in the office.

Bluebird Care (Winchester, Eastleigh and Romsey) provide personal care and support to people in their own homes. At the time of this inspection, they were providing a service to 112 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 between Winchester and Eastleigh.

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 (Winchester, Eastleigh and Romsey).

People were placed at the heart of the service at Bluebird Care (Winchester, Eastleigh and Romsey). The management of the service were dedicated in creating, nurturing and championing a culture within the service that was professional, compassionate and innovate. The registered manager and managing director were prominent role models. They took a leading role in demonstrating the values and standards they expected staff to embody by focussing on continuous improvement leading to positive outcomes for people.

The service had a proven track record of innovation to find creative solutions to meet people’s needs. They had worked in partnership with healthcare providers to design and implement a programme that helped reduce avoidable hospital admissions. This was characteristic of a highly responsive service that was adept at quickly adapting to meet people’s changing needs.

The service used technology to enrich the quality of care it provided. The service had an electronic monitoring system which staff accessed using their work mobile phones. 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 system was monitored by office staff to ensure that any issues could be addressed quickly and required changes to people’s care plans could quickly be updated, ensuring staff had access to up to date records. The service also used technology to aid communication with people and provide resources to staff which supplemented their skill and knowledge, supporting them in their role.

The service was dedicated in providing a learning and development programme that nurtured staff’s knowledge, skill and professional development. Training was wide ranging and comprehensive and blended together learning from people’s real life experiences of receiving care, interactive or practical sessions and reflections on working practice. The service had a career development programme open to all staff and numerous staff had accessed this programme to take on different roles within the service.

The service had a strong sense of social responsibility and played an active role in the community. The management of the service championed a culture which encouraged staff to participate in local events or initiatives which raised awareness or helped to create resources for people using the service.

Staff were caring, compassionate and creative in overcoming obstacles and findings opportunities to go’ the extra mile’ in order to promote people’s independence and wellbeing. People told us they valued their relationships with staff and they were treated with dignity and respect. The servic