Hales Group Limited - Rotherham

Updated 8 June 2023

We carried out this performance review and assessment under Section 46 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (the Act). We checked whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements of the regulations associated with the Act and looked at the quality of the service to provide a rating.

Unlike our standard approach to assessing performance, we did not physically visit the office of the location. This is a new approach we have introduced to reviewing and assessing performance of some care at home providers. Instead of visiting the office location we use technology such as electronic file sharing and video or phone calls to engage with people using the service and staff.

Inspection team

This inspection was carried out by an inspector and an Expert by Experience. An Expert by Experience is a person who has personal experience of using or caring for someone who uses this type of care service.

Service and service type

This service is a domiciliary care agency. It provides personal care to people living in their own houses and flats.

Registered Manager

This provider is required to have a registered manager to oversee the delivery of regulated activities at this location. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Registered managers and providers are legally responsible for how the service is run, for the quality and safety of the care provided and compliance with regulations.

At the time of our inspection there was not a registered manager in post, but the manager was completing the registration process.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was announced. We gave short notice of the inspection in order for the registered manager to provide us with the documentation we needed to look at.

Inspection activity started on 28 March 2023 and ended on 20 April 2023. We spoke to the manager of the service on 18 April 2023.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since it had been registered with us. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. We used the information the provider sent us in the provider information return (PIR). This is information providers are required to send us annually with key information about their service, what they do well, and improvements they plan to make. We used all this information to plan our inspection.

During the inspection

We spoke with 4 people who used the service and 6 relatives. We also spoke with the manager of the service and 15 members of staff. We reviewed a range of records which included 4 people's care records and various medication records. We looked at 4 staff files in relation to recruitment and staff supervision. A variety of records relating to the management of the service, including policies and procedures were reviewed.

This performance review and assessment was carried out without a visit to the location’s office. We used technology such as video calls to enable us to engage with people using the service and staff, and electronic file sharing to enable us to review documentation.

Updated 8 June 2023

About the service

Hales Group Ltd - Rotherham is a domiciliary care agency providing support for people in their own homes. Not everyone using the service received personal care. CQC only inspects where people receive personal care. This is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do, we also consider any wider social care provided. At the time of our inspection there were 89 people using the service.

People’s experience of using this service and what we found

We expect health and social care providers to guarantee people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices and independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted. ‘Right support, right care, right culture’ is the guidance CQC follows to make assessments and judgements about services supporting people with a learning disability and autistic people and providers must have regard to it.

Right Support

Detailed care records were kept for people and other care agencies to refer to. This ensured that care staff were up to date on people's care needs. People were supported to have maximum choice and control of their lives and staff supported them in the least restrictive way possible and in their best interests; the policies and systems in the service supported this practice.

Right Care

People’s care was person-centred and promoted their independence, their dignity and their privacy. Staff were caring and compassionate when they supported people.

Right Culture

The manager of the service supported and celebrated excellence in the staff team. Meeting people’s needs and improving their outcomes was at the heart of the service. Performance management and analysis of data ensured that the service continued to provide good care and support for people.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk

Rating at last inspection

This service was registered with us on 20 October 2021 and this is the first inspection.

Why we inspected

This was a planned inspection to check whether the provider was meeting the legal requirements and regulations and to provide a rating for the service.

This was an 'inspection using remote technology'. This means we did not visit the office location and instead used technology such as electronic file sharing to gather information, and video and phone calls to engage with people using the service as part of this performance review and assessment.