Home care agency · Hatfield

Bluebird Care (Welwyn & Hatfield)

Rated Good by CQC Rating published 3 May 2018 Rating 8 years old

Typical fee here £31.50–£38.50 an hour Estimate

Free · 2 minutes · No obligation · 34,334 registered providers compared

Rated 8 years ago. CQC's last published rating for this service is from May 2018. Ask what has changed since, such as the manager or the number of people they support. See nearby services rated recently.
A carer bringing tea to an older woman at home Illustrative photo, not of Bluebird Care (Welwyn & Hatfield)
Address
Marquess House, 35 Salisbury Square, Hatfield, AL9 5AF
Run by
Emerald Dreams Limited
Type of provider
Independent (private company)
Service
Home care agency
Dementia
Registered with CQC to support people living with dementia
Registered with CQC
October 2013 (13 years)
Registered manager
Ellen Mary Bennett
Company check
Active, trading since 2013 (13 years), accounts up to date (Companies House 08431967)
Last CQC check
11 Mar 2021
Typical fees Estimated
£31.50–£38.50 an hour for visiting care, weekdays; live-in £1,520–£1,860 a week. An estimate based on local published fees (Bluebird Care branches publish rates a little above the national median). Ask for a written quote. How we estimate

Registered activities: Personal care · Treatment of disease, disorder or injury

Full report at cqc.org.uk · CQC location ID 1-1010950092

About Bluebird Care (Welwyn & Hatfield)

Bluebird Care (Welwyn & Hatfield) is a CQC-registered home care agency in Hatfield, run by Emerald Dreams Limited. Its CQC registration covers adults of all ages, including people living with dementia, physical disabilities, learning disabilities and sight or hearing loss.

At its most recent rating, CQC judged it Good overall (May 2018), with Responsive rated Outstanding. It is one of 99 CQC-registered home care agencies that have an office within 7 miles of Hatfield; 50 of those are rated Good or Outstanding.

Track record

Bluebird Care (Welwyn & Hatfield) has been registered with CQC since October 2013, about 13 years.

CQC has published 3 overall ratings for it (2015–2021), starting at Requires improvement and improving to Inspected but not rated.

It has gone 8 years without a new overall rating. CQC schedules inspections by risk, so this is not a bad sign in itself, though leadership may have moved on.

Reports on record: 4, with the most recent dated 11 March 2021.

Safe, effective, caring, responsive, well-led

  • SafeGood164 of 196 in Hertfordshire
  • EffectiveGood173 of 196 in Hertfordshire
  • CaringGood172 of 196 in Hertfordshire
  • ResponsiveOutstanding11 of 196 in Hertfordshire
  • Well-ledGood138 of 196 in Hertfordshire

Source: CQC, published 3 May 2018. Under each rating: how many agencies in Hertfordshire share it; for example, 11 of 196 agencies in Hertfordshire rated Outstanding for Responsive.

Costs to expect

We estimate visits from Bluebird Care (Welwyn & Hatfield) at £31.50–£38.50 an hour (visiting care, weekdays), based on published prices in the region (Bluebird Care branches publish rates a little above the national median). As an example, an hour each morning and a 30-minute evening call comes to about £370 a week.

Regional live-in prices sit at roughly £1,520–£1,860 per week.

If savings are under the upper limit (£23,250 in England), Hertfordshire Council may pay part of the cost after a free care needs assessment.

Strengths and weak spots in the ratings

For Bluebird Care (Welwyn & Hatfield), Responsive is rated Outstanding; 4 other areas are Good.

Across Hertfordshire, 11 of 196 rated agencies are Outstanding for Responsive (6%).

The report's Responsive section explains what earned the Outstanding rating, which is a useful benchmark when comparing services.

Who it can help

Taken from its CQC registration.

Choice nearby

Choice is wide here: the 25 nearest other agencies are all within 3 miles, 10 of them rated Good or Outstanding, and the closest is MidCo Care Hertfordshire, under 0.5 miles away.

Every one of the 12 nearest rated agencies has a more recent rating than this one, so ask what has changed since its inspection.

It sits in Hatfield East ward, classed by ONS as urban (nearer to a major town or city), among the 40% most deprived neighbourhoods in England. NHS services here are planned by NHS Central East ICB.

What CQC's inspectors reported

  • On arrival at the offices of Bluebird Care we noted that the vertical window blinds were not secure and a desk was positioned along the window.
  • The registered manager took immediate action to move the desk further away from the window and to better secure the window blinds.
  • Feedback from care staff, discussion with the registered manager and review of staff rotas confirmed that there were enough staff deployed to meet people's needs in a safe and timely manner.
  • Newly recruited staff had received training to support them in their roles.

Inspected 18 February 2021; report published 11 March 2021. Quoted from the CQC report summary, Open Government Licence. Read the full report.

Past CQC ratings

  1. Dec 2015 Requires improvement
  2. May 2018 Good
  3. Mar 2021 Inspected but not rated
  4. Today Rating 8 years old

Every overall rating on record for this location, earliest first. The latest rating is lower than the one before.

Reports on the CQC website

Map and area details

Ward
Hatfield East
Parliamentary constituency
Welwyn Hatfield
Integrated care board
NHS Central East Integrated Care Board
Area classification
Urban, nearer to a major town or city
Neighbourhood deprivation
Among the 40% most deprived areas in England
Postcode district
Home care in AL9 (6)

Larger map · Directions · © OpenStreetMap contributors

Ward and NHS boundaries from official postcode data, Open Government Licence. Carers work from this office and visit homes in the surrounding area.

Who runs it

Bluebird Care (Welwyn & Hatfield) is run by Emerald Dreams Limited (company 08431967), incorporated in 2013.

At Companies House, the company is listed as active, its accounts are filed on time, it has 1 active director and there is no insolvency history.

Its registered business activity is other human health activities.

It trades under the Bluebird Care brand, which covers 129 services run by 96 registered providers.

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How Bluebird Care (Welwyn & Hatfield) compares

  • Rated Good. Across Hertfordshire, 86% of the 192 rated home care agencies are Good or Outstanding and 11 are Outstanding.
  • Its rating (May 2018) is more recent than 3% of agency ratings in Hertfordshire.
  • Registered with CQC in 2013: it has been registered longer than 89% of home care agencies in the area.
  • It lists 6 specialisms with CQC; the typical agency in Hertfordshire lists 5.

Comparison set: every registered home care agency in Hertfordshire, CQC data for Oct 2026.

Other agencies close by

Guides for families

Hatfield: home care agencies inspected recently

Quick answers about Bluebird Care (Welwyn & Hatfield)

Is Bluebird Care (Welwyn & Hatfield) a registered provider?
It is. The CQC register records Bluebird Care (Welwyn & Hatfield) as a home care agency, location ID 1-1010950092 and was rated Good overall in May 2018.
Where is Bluebird Care (Welwyn & Hatfield) based?
Marquess House, 35 Salisbury Square, Hatfield, AL9 5AF is the agency's office; check it serves your postcode.
How recent is Bluebird Care (Welwyn & Hatfield)'s CQC rating?
3 May 2018 is when the current rating was published, 8 years ago. Check what has changed since, such as the manager or staffing.
Does Bluebird Care (Welwyn & Hatfield) support people with dementia?
Its registration includes dementia. Useful questions: how many staff hold dementia training, and how is a bad day handled?
Who is the registered provider for Bluebird Care (Welwyn & Hatfield)?
The registered provider is Emerald Dreams Limited, according to CQC.
What kind of care can Bluebird Care (Welwyn & Hatfield) offer?
Registration for Bluebird Care (Welwyn & Hatfield) covers: homecare agencies. Check which of these it offers today.
How did Bluebird Care (Welwyn & Hatfield) score on each CQC key question?
The five CQC areas: Safe: Good; Effective: Good; Caring: Good; Responsive: Outstanding; Well-led: Good. Read Safe and Well-led first; they say most about reliability.
How much does Bluebird Care (Welwyn & Hatfield) charge?
Bluebird Care (Welwyn & Hatfield) hasn't shared a price list with us. Visiting care typically costs around £32–£34 an hour (typical 2026 prices across England). Ask for written prices covering weekends, bank holidays and any travel or set-up charges.

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Register data from the Care Quality Commission, refreshed Oct 2026, used under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Provider-written text is labelled as such. We are an independent directory, not a care provider.

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