Bluebird Care (Medway) customer guide

CUSTOMER GUIDE

  Your life, your care, your way.

Welcome to Bluebird Care. We hope that this guide, will provide all of the information you need about our service.  If you would like to talk to us about any aspect of your care, please do contact us. You can find our contact details on page 7 of this guide. If you would like this information in another language, audiotape or Braille, please let us know.

About our services

What we aim to do

Bluebird Care provides excellent quality care to keep you safe and comfortable in your own home.  We believe that it’s your life and your care, so it must be your way. We see each of our customers as unique, with their own individual lifestyle and needs. We keep you in control and provide you with the care and support that you want, where and when you want it. 

The services that we offer

We provide care and support that may be anything from a 30 minute visit to live in care. Our care workers are able to provide:

• Help with personal care and hygiene;
• Help with getting up and going to bed;
• Prompting or giving medicines and collecting or returning medication from pharmacies or dispensing GP surgeries;
• Preparing meals and helping at mealtimes;
• Collecting pensions and shopping;
• Laundry and housework;
• Support with social activities such as attending a day centre, visiting friends or family, going to your church or club etc.

The people for whom we provide care and support

We provide care and support to:  

• People over 65 years of age;
• People with physical disabilities;

• People aged 18 to 65 years;
• People with a sensory loss or impairment;
• People with learning disabilities or an autistic spectrum disorder;
• People with mental health problems;   
• People with dementia;
• People who misuse drugs or alcohol;
• Children aged 0-3 years;
• Children aged 4-12 years;
• Children aged 13 -17 years.

Where we provide services

The area(s) we cover include: Medway

Our commitment to you

At Bluebird Care we:

• Treat you with the upmost dignity and respect.
• Believe that the customer comes first. This means that we provide the care and support that you need in the way that you want it. We will always respect your personal beliefs and life choices.
• Listen to what you say and agree what we can do and how we can provide the best service for you. Our support helps you to keep your independence.
• Are open and honest with you about what we do. We deliver what we say we will and provide the consistent and reliable service that you expect.
• Protect you from harm by employing compassionate, capable and reliable staff.  Our staff are trained and knowledgeable about your needs. They work to best practice guidelines.
• Act as a good employer to our staff team and support their professional development to make sure that they have the best skills to do the job well;
• Give a service that provides good value for money;
• Monitor the quality of our service and regularly ask for your views so that we can make any improvements that may be needed;
• Take swift action in response to any concerns about your safety or complaints.
• Respect your privacy and keep information we hold about you confidential (see below ‘sharing information’ for more details).
• Have no right to judge how someone chooses to live or how their home looks. We do not tolerate discrimination in any form.

What we expect from our customers

We value our staff and have legal responsibilities for their health and safety.  We will not put members of staff into situations where they are either at risk or where they are subject to harassment or intimidation. We ask you to refrain from smoking during your care worker’s visit.

How we provide our services; your care and support plan

If you have a community care and support plan from your local authority, we will ask your permission to see this, so that we know more about the type of care and support you may need.

Our manager will arrange to visit you at home to explain our service and to agree how you would like your care and support provided. The manager will discuss any risks with you and decide what action needs to be taken to keep people safe. We will record this in your personal care and support plan, a copy of which will be put in the ‘Care and Support Plan’ folder in your home.

We will only begin a service after you, or your legal representative, has given written consent to the care and support plan.  On rare occasions we may need to provide a service to meet an emergency situation. In these cases we will send either a supervisor or other competent person to carry out an initial risk assessment and to provide your care and support. We will complete the full risk assessments and care and support plan within 5 days of your service commencing.  

Changing your care and support plan

We regularly review your care and support plan by talking to you about what is working well and what you may wish to change. This usually happens every six months, but may be sooner if needed. Our care workers are only allowed to follow the instructions in the care plan. They cannot carry out any other tasks. If you would like to change your care and support plan, please contact our office and a member of our team will visit you.

Your care worker

Except in cases of emergency, we will introduce your care worker (s) to you prior to your service beginning. The care worker will know about your care and support plan. At the end of each visit, they will write what care and support they have given you in the ‘daily visit record’ in your care and support plan folder. If you are not satisfied then you can let us know and we will send a different care worker where possible.

All care workers have an identity badge which they must show you so that you can confirm who they are.

What happens when your care worker is away from work

You can rely on our services. We will endeavor to keep the number of care workers who visit you to an absolute minimum, so that you do not see too many different faces.  You will always know the name of the care worker who is coming to visit you and they will be briefed so that you do not need to explain their tasks.

We have enough staff to cover the times when your usual care team are away. We will tell you in advance of any changes. If the change is permanent, then we will always introduce the new care worker to you.

Timing of visits

Care visit times are approximate and may vary up to 30 minutes either side of the normal visit time. If your care worker does not arrive at the expected time please allow at least 30 minutes for traffic hold-ups etc.  If he/she has not arrived after that time please telephone us so that we can check what has happened and the safety of the care worker.

Timesheets*

After each visit the care worker will ask you to sign a time sheet. If you are unable to sign your name we will make special arrangements for you.

*if there is an electronic call monitoring system in use then the care worker will not require you to sign anything as this is done automatically.

About our business

Bluebird Care’s legal status

Bluebird Care Medway operates under licence from Bluebird Care Franchises Ltd of Charles House, Charles Street, Petersfield, Hampshire, GU32 3EH. We are a limited liability company.

We are registered to provide care at home services by Care Quality Commission, National Citygate, Gallowgate, Newcastle Upon Tyne NE1 4PA.  email : enquiries@cqc.org.uk 

The CQC inspect our services to check that they are safe and that we are meeting quality standards. You can view a copy of the latest inspection report by going to their website or asking our office to send this to you.

You can find more information about the Bluebird Care network at www.bluebirdcare.co.uk

Our Bluebird Care team

 

Name of registered franchise owner	Charmaine Grech
Business and company registration address	Hamilton House, 84-86 High Road Rainham, Kent ME8 7JH
Company registration address (if different from the day to day business address)	265 London Road, Rainham Kent ME8 6YS
Company registration number	7403649
Name of registered care manager	Charmaine Grech

Name of Care Supervisor	Lorraine Crawley
Name of care coordinator	Catherine Randall
Our office email contact	gayleholmes@bluebirdcare.co.uk

 

Experienced and qualified staff

 

Office hours:

Our offices are open from 08.30 to 17.00 Monday to Friday during which time we will be pleased to discuss any aspect of your care. Telephone number 01634 780 909

 

We also have an emergency on-call number should you need to contact us out of office hours. This telephone number is for urgent matters only – 07535 070 887  

 

How to contact the Adult Social Care Department of the local authority.

Medway adult and Social Care, Gun Wharf, Dock Road, Chatham, Kent ME4 4TR

Tel : 01634 334 466  Email : ssaccessandinfor@medway.gov.uk

 

Insurance cover

Bluebird Care has public liability insurance and employer’s liability insurance, however, we do not insure customer’s homes or contents. We strongly recommend that this is covered by the homeowner

 

 

Service charges and changes

Charges and payment

We publish a list of charges and provide a copy to our customers and/or their representatives as part of their terms and conditions of business.

 

You will receive an invoice every 2 weeks which you must pay within 7 days. Methods of payment are included in your terms and conditions.

 

You can request a statement of your account at any time. We will give a minimum of 28 days’ written notice of any changes in the fees that you need to pay.

 

Postponing, suspending or cancelling the service

If you wish to change or cancel a single visit, you need to give 28 days’ notice as per our terms and conditions. This includes a situation where you choose to send a care worker away early.

 

You must give 28 days’ notice if you wish to terminate your service otherwise cancellation charges will apply. 

 

Live in services

As an alternative to residential care we provide a live-in care service. This means we will supply a care worker to live in your home, providing the support you need to live your life during the day and provide reassurance of having someone there should you need them at night. Our live in care service supports your independence to remain living at home and in your community.

 

The reasons we may withdraw our service

We would only withdraw a service as a last resort, after we had explored all other options. This may be necessary when:

• It is no longer safe for the customer or care worker;
• The customer abuses our staff;
• The customer does not pay their invoices on time;
• We are unable to provide the service that the customer wants.

 

What happens if our business closes or the owner changes?

We will give you a minimum of 28 days written notice if the owner changes or in the rare event that our business needs to close. If the business is planning to close, we would provide advice and support to enable you to make alternative arrangements. This includes liaising with the Adult Social Care Department of the local authority where needed.

Providing a quality service

 

Managing the quality of our service

We have comprehensive policies and procedures for managing risks and to make sure that we provide a safe, high quality service.  These are inspected by the CGC.

 

For more information about how we work you can ask to see a copies of any of our policies or procedures.

 

How we keep you safe and protect you from harm.

We carefully select our care staff and carry out checks before they start work.  All care workers are then fully trained to carry out their role safely and to recognise signs of abuse.  They will listen to any concerns that you may have about your safety. We have clear procedures for reporting and sensitively responding to any suspicions of abuse.  Care workers have a duty to report any concerns, accidents and serious incidents to their manager.

 

Customers or their families’ can speak to a member of the Bluebird Care management team or the local authority or CQC, if they are concerned about possible abuse.

 

Procedures to safeguard customers’ property.

For reasons of security we never look after keys to customers’ homes. If special arrangements need to be made to access your home, we encourage you to use a key safe.

 

How we support you with your medicines

Our customers receive safe and effective support with their medication needs from competent staff. Our medication policy and procedures make sure that you receive the right medicines, in the right way at the right time. They protect customers and our staff from damage that may arise from mismanagement of medicines.

 

Health and safety

We have both legal and moral responsibilities regarding the health and safety of our staff and customers. We always carry out a risk assessment prior to starting a service. We will agree how the service that you want can be provided safely and record this in your care plan. If necessary we will postpone the start of your service until the right equipment is in place to reduce risks.  Our care workers wear disposable gloves and aprons to minimise the risk of cross infection.

 

Sharing information about you

The information we hold about you is stored confidentially. We co-operate with other agencies to make sure your well being is protected.  However, we will only share information about you either;

• With your consent;
• If it is necessary to keep you safe;
• We have a legal duty to share this information e.g. a crime may have been committed or it is in the public interest.

 

You have a right to see information that we hold about you. For an appointment to view your records please contact the manager.

 

Assessing the quality of our services

Our participation strategy sets out how we involve customers or their representatives in every aspect of their care and support. We welcome your feedback on any aspect of our service so that we can improve our services.

 

We will regularly ask you for your views on our services including:

• An annual survey
• Regular visits by a supervisor.

 

If you would like to see a copy of our annual quality monitoring report, please let us know.

 

Getting help to complain

We listen to feedback about our services and take any concerns seriously.  Our managers look into all complaints and tell customers what we find.  Where there are shortfalls we take prompt action to put this right. Our management team will give you the necessary support to raise any concerns or complaints that you may have. You can feel confident that there will be no negative impact on your care or support. We give you a copy of our complaints procedure and explain this to you when our service starts.

 

Advocacy services

There might be occasions when a person needs help to voice their concerns or complaints. Advocacy services will support a person who needs help to express themselves, have their views heard and to be listened to. The role of an advocate is to remain independent from the service provider (and others) and to focus specifically on promoting the rights and presenting the views of the individual. 

 

Medway and Swale Advocacy Services, Ground Floor, Lingley House, Commissioners Road,

Rochester, Kent ME2 2EE

 

Finding out more

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.