- Homecare service
Rotherham Regional Office
Assessment report published 17 July 2025
Contents
Ratings
Our view of the service
Date of assessment: 25 February to 21 May 2025. At this assessment we looked at all 34 quality statements.
Rotherham Regional Office is a supported living service registered to provide personal care for autistic people, people with learning disabilities, physical disability, sensory impairment and people with mental health needs.
We assessed the service because we had not visited since 28 September 2017. The assessment was also prompted in part due an increase in medicines errors. We found no evidence during this assessment that people were at risk of harm from these concerns, as the provider’s governance systems were effective, and any risk had been quickly identified and addressed, and people’s medicines were managed safely.
CQC only inspects services where people receive personal care. Personal care is help with tasks related to personal hygiene and eating. Where they do provide personal care, we also consider any wider social care provided during our assessment. At the time of this assessment the service was supporting 18 people who received assistance with their personal care.
We assessed the service against ‘right support, right care, right culture’ guidance to make judgements about whether the provider guaranteed people with a learning disability and autistic people respect, equality, dignity, choices, independence and good access to local communities that most people take for granted.
At this assessment we found the service was exceptional at making sure people were at the centre of their care and support choices. People’s care and support was joined-up, flexible and supported choice and continuity. There was regular and proactive engagement with people, those close to them, and partner professionals. There was a very strong focus on supporting people to thrive, develop skills and enjoy new experiences, and to maintain important relationships.
The service was exceptional at developing appropriate, accurate and up-to-date information in formats that were tailored to individual needs and people’s support plans and records met their requirements for meaningful communication and decision-making. The service strived to deliver care and support in line with best practice. People’s capacity was assessed and staff sought their consent to deliver care and support.
The provider had a very clear shared vision, strategy and culture. This was based on being honest, caring and compassionate, positive, professional, and responsive. Staff and managers were brave in encouraging positive risk taking to help grow the horizons of the people they supported and encouraging staff to speak out if something was not right.
People received very reliable, timely and effective support from staff who understood their needs well. The management team investigated concerns and incidents thoroughly. Where things had gone wrong, they had addressed shortfalls promptly and used the lessons learned to strengthen and improve the safety and quality of the service and make sure safeguarding processes were effective.
There were enough staff with the right skills, qualifications and experience to provide a safe and personalised service. The staff and managers we spoke with were clear about their roles and very passionate about the support they offered, which was centred around and involved people in all decisions about their lives. We saw instances of exceptionally personalised care and support, and improvements in people’s health and wellbeing. This was underpinned by good governance and excellent management oversight.
Staff acted respectfully and professionally. They took the time to understand people’s preferences and to act on them. The provider asked people and staff for their feedback about the service and this was used to make improvements.
People's experience of this service
We met and spoke with 6 people who received the service about their experiences of their care and support. Three people used words to communicate, and 3 people used other means, including vocalisation, gestures, signing, and electronic devices.
People told us they felt happy and safe, and provided very clear feedback about how much they enjoyed living in their own homes and how much they valued the care and support they received. One person said, “Yes, I am happy and safe and I like the staff.” Other people nodded and smiled broadly, indicating they were happy and felt safe using the service. There was a lot of laughter and good natured banter between people and the staff supporting them, indicating real respect and affection.
People felt confident in the staff supporting them. They got on well with them and trusted their judgement. People said staff were very kind and caring. People told us staff supported and enabled them to maintain relationships with those who were important to them. One person said, “Staff really help me.” People knew the registered manager and felt at ease speaking with them and they felt the service was well-led.
We spoke to 3 people’s relatives about their experiences of the service. Two relatives were very appreciative of the service, saying it worked well as there was good consistency in the staff team and the staff supporting their family members knew them well. One relative said, “[My family member] considers the staff as their family. They have a core team.” Another relative said, “Staff know [my family member] well and respond to their needs, understanding their basic communication. Some staff have been there a long time.”
One relative told us about some concerns they had had, although they went on to say the team were working to make things better, and confirmed that things had improved.