Children's home run by Pathway Care Solutions Ltd in Bolton

Inspection report children’s home: SC008810 1 SC008810 Registered provider: Pathway Care Solutions Ltd 04004053

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is registered to care for four children who have emotional and behavioural difficulties. It is owned and managed by a private organisation.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Improved effectiveness

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Key findings from this inspection

 All children make good progress. In some areas, such as education and health, this is excellent given the children’s starting points.  Children contribute fully to their care and to the running of the home. Staff Inspection report children’s home: SC008810 2 obtain the views of children using a range of activities, including meetings and questionnaires.  Children settle quickly when new to the home. Strong relationships with staff and between children help to make this a settled placement.  Children are safe. There have been no incidents of children going missing and no allegations against staff, and the use of physical intervention is rare. Staff and leaders attend regular network meetings with other professionals to share information and to further develop their safeguarding knowledge.  The registered manager and assistant manager provide very strong leadership to an enthusiastic and committed staff team.

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Key findings from this inspection

 New staff complement the existing staff team, providing a very good, diverse range of skills and experiences.

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Key findings from this inspection

The children’s home’s areas for development:

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Key findings from this inspection

 The registered manager should evaluate all incidents to identify learning for staff.  The composite risk assessment must reflect the complete range of risks posed by children.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

02/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 04/10/2016 Full Good 23/02/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 22/09/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC008810 3

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Statutory requirement

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

that staff assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child. (Regulation 12(1)(2)(a)(i)) 01/11/2017

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Recommendation

 The registered person should be skilled in anticipating difficulties and reviewing incidents, such as learning from disruptions and placement breakdowns. They are responsible for proactively implementing lessons learned and sustaining good practice. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24) This specifically relates to ensuring that learning from incidents is disseminated throughout the staff team to improve practice.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good, and in some areas excellent, progress given their starting points. This is particularly evident in their education and health.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Ensuring that children receive the right education and continue to achieve academically is a real strength of this home. All children now attend full-time education. For one, a full-time education package was implemented within 24 hours of moving into the home. Staff and education providers communicate very well, ensuring that all staff understand the timetable and plans for the term, enabling them to support children with their studies. Inspection report children’s home: SC008810 4 Children’s health is very good. The therapy team works closely with staff, ensuring that children receive the right support to help them to understand their emotional health and well-being. Primary healthcare needs are addressed, ensuring that minor ailments are treated appropriately and regular check-ups take place. One child has overcome their fear of the dentist and now attends regularly. Staff have been extremely proactive,

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

working alongside specialist nurse teams in order to provide one child with a medication break. This has transformed his demeanour, and has provided him with the confidence to socialise with others within and outside of the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children participate in activities in the home, often engaging in role-play games. They understand and, on most occasions, respect the boundaries of such games. They also enjoy activities in the community such as going to the cinema, visiting parks, going on bug hunts and trampolining. One child has made friends with a peer from the organisation’s other home nearby and they enjoy a number of activities together. This not only provides a number of exciting experiences but also helps to improve skills in social interaction.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children learn age-appropriate self-help and independence skills. These include understanding road safety, tying shoelaces, undertaking household chores and understanding the value of money. They increasingly take responsibility for their personal routines, which not only increases their skills but also their confidence and self- esteem.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff proactively work with placing authorities to increase contact opportunities with siblings, and to ensure that contact with family and friends is a safe and enjoyable experience.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff exude warmth, nurture and care, building effective relationships that encourage and support children to grow. These strong relationships help children to settle swiftly when they are new to the home, and provide real stability in what, for some, has been a very chaotic childhood.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Those who move on from the home do so in a planned way. Detailed transition plans and ongoing support from staff ensures that the process is as smooth as possible.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Care planning is child-centred. Detailed plans provide staff with information on the aims of the placement and how best to care for each child. Regular reviews of targets identify the progress each child makes towards their goals. Records of effective key-work provide good evidence of progression and learning. Key-work is used effectively to explore topics including the role of the advocate, keeping safe, eating healthily, education and behaviour. Work on relationships in both key-work and in residents’ meetings helps children to develop positive relationships, reducing the likelihood of bullying.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Consultation with children is good. Daily conversations, key-work sessions, questionnaires, individual meetings and group meetings provide opportunities for children to share their views about their care and the operation of the home. Inspection report children’s home: SC008810 5

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff and managers understand the role of the designated officer and continue to build positive relationships with safeguarding professionals. The registered manager attends regular network meetings, sharing good practice and intelligence to help safeguard children. An extensive range of training to address issues such as sexual exploitation, radicalisation and sexualised behaviour enhances the safeguarding knowledge and skills of staff.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

There have been no incidents of children going missing since the last inspection. Staff remain alert to the possibility of such incidents, maintaining close supervision of children and reviewing procedures during team meetings.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Children and staff participate in regular fire evacuation drills so that they know what to do in the event of a fire. Regular safety checks on fire systems ensure that they are kept safe. Recruitment practice is sound with appropriate checks performed and information stored in the home. This means that children are protected from unsuitable people working with them.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff encourage positive behaviour, implementing individual reward systems for each child. Staff review the consequences imposed for negative behaviour in order to improve their effectiveness. Staff try to implement a restorative approach.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The use of physical intervention continues to decrease. Recording of physical intervention is good, with clear descriptions of the behaviour leading to the intervention, a description of the hold used, and an evaluation by the manager. When the registered manager is involved in an intervention, this is independently reviewed and evaluated by another senior leader within the organisation.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

A significant incident took place in the home, which involved a child accessing the office. The registered manager reviewed this incident but has not recorded any learning points for staff, despite some concerning elements within the record. A recommendation is made to ensure that evaluation of such incidents helps to improve staff practice.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff carry out an impact or compatibility risk assessment when a new child comes to the home to identify any potential concerns or conflicts with existing children. This is quite detailed in all aspects, except the recognition of concerns and risks around sexualised behaviour. This is an area of risk for all three children currently in the home. Although this was addressed during the inspection, a requirement is made to ensure that all risks are clearly identified in a timely manner, enabling staff to understand how to keep children safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is appropriately qualified and very experienced. She recently gained a promotion to cover the temporary absence of the responsible individual. This Inspection report children’s home: SC008810 6 dual role has not had a negative effect on the operation of the home, due in part to the appointment of an extremely experienced assistant manager. This highly effective leadership team inspires and motivates the staff team, continually improving the care and outcomes for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager knows the strengths of her team and areas to develop. Staff have coped well with a change in the age group of the children in the home. Staff have grown in confidence, and the manager now feels that they need to learn to take the lead more. An improvement plan provides an overarching framework for development and improvement. This plan is reviewed regularly, identifying where progress has been made and areas that require further work. This ensures that improvement is on track.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Following recent recruitment, the home is now fully staffed. New staff bring a variety of skills and experiences to the team. Induction to the home is thorough and includes the opportunity for new staff to shadow existing staff, providing hands-on experience.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are either qualified to the appropriate level, are currently undertaking the relevant course, or are new to the service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff support is good. Regular supervision provides an opportunity for staff to reflect on their progress, discuss their relationships with children, and challenge themselves with regards to their ongoing development. Group supervision and team meetings offer a forum for healthy debate and group learning. Staff benefit from support from the therapeutic team, discussing areas such as solution focussed therapy, attachment and understanding children with potentially sexualised harmful behaviours. Training is varied and is delivered in a range of formats such as on-line and through face-to-face workshops. This includes workshops with other professionals, such as the police, which promotes work in partnership.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff work well with other organisations to provide holistic care and to keep young people safe. The assistant manager has recently become a parent governor at the school where one child attends. This further promotes good partnership work and understanding between different organisations.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

External and internal monitoring is good. The independent visitor attends the home monthly, providing an account of progress and identifying any shortfalls in the home. Staff are currently gaining a better understanding of this role, which enables them to help to make any necessary changes resulting from the visit. The registered manager’s own review of care and progress provides an in-depth account of progress and areas for further action. A detailed statement of purpose and children’s guide ensures that stakeholders and children clearly understand what the home provides.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the differences made to the lives of children and young people. They watched how professional staff work with children Inspection report children’s home: SC008810 7 and young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care provided. Wherever possible, they talked to children and young people and their families. In addition, the inspectors have tried to understand what the children’s home knows about how well it is performing, how well it is doing and what difference it is making for the children and young people whom it is trying to help, protect and look after.

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Information about this inspection

Using the ‘Social care common inspection framework’, this inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service, how it meets the core functions of the service as set out in legislation, and to consider how well it complies with the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’. Inspection report children’s home: SC008810 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Pathway Care Solutions Ltd 04004053

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 1 Merchant’s Place, River Road, Bolton, Lancashire BL2 1BX

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Inspector

Judith Longden, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC008810 9 achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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