Bluebird Care (Northumberland South) was rated Good overall following a March 2023 inspection of the Safe and Well-led key questions, maintaining its previous Good rating from 2018. The service demonstrated safe staffing, robust medication oversight and effective governance, with whistleblowing allegations of a bullying culture noted but unsubstantiated during the inspection visit.
Concerns (1)
moderateLeadership — “CQC had received some whistleblowing concerns from staff employed by the service in the last 12 months. These included allegations of a culture of bullying within the service.”
Strengths
· Continuity of care prioritised; people received support from familiar staff
· Electronic records system tracked and analysed medication errors to support lessons learnt
· Senior carers completed monthly medication checks and medicines matters newsletters circulated to staff
· Registered manager understood duty of candour responsibilities and had up-to-date policy
· Staff worked in partnership with occupational therapists, district nurses and physiotherapists
Quality-Statement breakdown (12)
safe: Systems and processes to safeguard people from the risk of abuseGood
safe: Assessing risk, safety monitoring and managementGood
safe: Staffing and recruitmentGood
safe: Using medicines safelyGood
safe: Preventing and controlling infectionGood
safe: Learning lessons when things go wrongGood
well-led: Promoting a positive culture that is person-centred, open, inclusive and empoweringGood
well-led: How the provider understands and acts on the duty of candourGood
well-led: Managers and staff being clear about their roles, and understanding quality performance, risks and regulatory requirementsGood
well-led: Engaging and involving people using the service, the public and staffGood
well-led: Continuous learning and improving careGood
Bluebird Care (Northumberland South) was rated Good across all five key questions at its December 2017 inspection, maintaining its previous Good rating from November 2015. The service demonstrated strong person-centred care, reliable visit attendance, effective use of electronic care systems, and robust governance, with only a minor issue around care plan navigation within the new electronic system.
Concerns (2)
minorCare planning — “the system also had a range of additional information, meaning important information about people's immediate care needs was not always easily accessible.”
minorRecord keeping — “the service had identified a minor breach of such information, through an administrative error. The provider had responded appropriately and informed the Information Commissioner.”
Strengths
· People consistently reported feeling safe and that staff always arrived on time and stayed the full allocated period with no missed calls.
· Electronic care and medicine records system introduced enabling real-time updates, immediate alerts for missed medications, and accessible centralised records.
· Strong continuity of care with people supported by the same carer or small team of familiar workers.
· Robust quality monitoring including spot checks, telephone quality surveys, staff meetings, and exit interviews.
· Registered manager highly accessible and supportive, including staying late weekly and responding on days off.
Bluebird Care (Northumberland South) achieved a Good rating across all five key questions at its first inspection in September 2015, with no breaches of regulation identified. The service was distinguished by highly person-centred care, strong leadership, proactive use of technology, and a culture of continuous improvement.
Strengths
· People felt safe with staff and spoke very highly of their caring attitudes, describing them as 'excellent' and 'marvellous'
· Robust recruitment procedures including DBS checks, references, and health declarations before staff commenced work
· Medicines managed safely with individual records maintained in people's homes and regular staff competency checks
· Strong continuity of care through small dedicated staff teams supporting the same individuals
· Registered manager held relevant qualifications including Train the Trainer accreditation and applied learning to service improvement