Hales Group Limited - Sheffield

On this page

• Overview
• Shared direction and culture
• Capable, compassionate and inclusive leaders
• Freedom to speak up
• Workforce equality, diversity and inclusion
• Governance, management and sustainability
• Partnerships and communities
• Learning, improvement and innovation

Well-led – this means we looked for evidence that service leadership, management and governance assured high-quality, person-centred care; supported learning and innovation; and promoted an open, fair culture. This is the first assessment for this service. This key question has been rated requires improvement. This meant the management and leadership was inconsistent. Leaders and the culture they created did not always support the delivery of high-quality, person-centred care.

This service scored 61 (out of 100) for this area. Find out what we look at when we assess this area and How we calculate these scores.

The provider did not have a clear shared vision, strategy and culture which was based on transparency, equity, equality and human rights, diversity and inclusion, and engagement. They did not always understand the challenges and the needs of people and their communities. Hales Group Sheffield had a value base which promoted honesty, teamwork, trust and confidence. However, this vision was not always shared with staff. Some staff told us staff morale was low and they didn’t feel valued by the management team. We shared these concerns with the registered manager who told us they would engage with staff more and increase opportunities for feedback and reflection.

Not all leaders understood the context in which the provider delivered care, treatment and support. They did not always embody the culture and values of their workforce and organisation. Leaders did not always have the skills, knowledge, experience and credibility to lead effectively, or they did not always do so with integrity, openness and honesty. People, relatives and staff shared their views about the way the management team dealt with their concerns. Often people, relatives and staff did not feel engaged and involved in the service and told us the management team rarely responded to their concerns. However, people, relatives and staff were confident the registered manager would listen and improve the service and had confidence in their abilities.

People did not always feel they could speak up and that their voice would be heard. The provider had a whistle blowing policy in place and the registered manager told us they would support staff to raise concerns. However, 1 staff member said, “Making suggestions or raising concerns are sometimes listened to but the reply you get is they will speak with [management team]. No feedback is given.”

The provider valued diversity in their workforce. They worked towards an inclusive and fair culture by improving equality and equity for people who worked for them. Hales group Limited Sheffield was an equal opportunities employer that did not discriminate in terms of age, class, gender, disability, religious views or ethnic origin, to ensure all staff received fair employment. People were given a choice about who had access to their home to provide care, and this was discussed during the development of their care plan.

The provider did not always have clear responsibilities, roles, systems of accountability or good governance. They did not always act on the best information about risk, performance and outcomes, or share this securely with others when appropriate. The provider had systems and processes in place to ensure the service was operating within expected standards. However, audits had not always been effective. Areas for improvement had not always been identified and when they had, initial changes had been made but were not always sustained. This led to some negative experience for some people, relatives and staff. For example, some people and relatives raised concerns regarding call times and the duration of calls, lack of timely response from the management team when they had raised concerns, and staff don't always seem well trained, and some people lack confidence in the staff. We raised these concerns with the registered manager who sent us an action plan which evidenced they had taken swift action. However, systems need to improve to ensure concerns are identified and sustained.

The provider understood their duty to collaborate and work in partnership, so services worked seamlessly for people. They shared information and learning with partners and collaborated for improvement. The provider worked well with external professionals, and we received positive feedback from them. Quarterly performance meetings were held with leaders in the organisation and commissioning leads. These looked at monitoring visit feedback and response to actions noted on performance monitoring visits. One professional said, “Hales Group Sheffield, do understand their duty and always work well and has good communication with any other organisation who is involved, any information that could be shared with any other partnership would be to help to benefit the service user. Overall, I find my dealings with Hales very satisfactory; [manager] is very consistent in her approach to anything that crops up.” Another professional said, “Hales Group Sheffield have great policies and procedures in place that help make sure safe systems of work are normal practice.”

The provider focused on continuous learning, innovation and improvement across the organisation and local system. They encouraged creative ways of delivering equality of experience, outcome and quality of life for people. They actively contributed to safe, effective practice and research. The provider had a home care quality improvement action plan which identified areas for improvement. Once tasks were completed, they remained on the action plan and were reviewed monthly until any actions were fully embedded in to practice. As part of this assessment, we raised some concerns with the registered manager, such as lack of feedback to people, relatives and staff, delayed calls and staff not staying for the agreed duration, and staff not feeling valued. The registered manager sent us an action plan to show how they would address the concerns.