Children's home run by Pathway Care Solutions Group Limited

Inspection report children’s home: SC482275 1 SC482275 Registered provider: Pathway Care Solutions Group Limited

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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 children’s home is registered to care for up to four children. It is a part of a large national 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 requires improvement to be good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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good

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

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good

Date of last inspection: 7 February 2018

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

A number of requirements and compliance notices were served following the last inspection. Inspection report children’s home: SC482275 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/02/2018 Full Inadequate 11/10/2017 Interim Not judged 22/03/2017 Interim Declined in effectiveness 15/11/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC482275 3

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Statutory requirements

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

12: The protection of children standard (1) The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. (2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— (a) that staff— (i) 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; (ii) help each child to understand how to keep safe; (iii) have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm; (vi) take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and (vii) are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. In particular, staff should have the skills to identify any safeguarding concern and take effective and swift action. 01/07/2018

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Requirement Due date

13: The leadership and management standard (1) The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home; (2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— (c) ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; and (h) use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. In particular, ensure that leaders and managers have robust oversight of care planning for children and identify any shortfalls in practice without delay. 01/07/2018 Inspection report children’s home: SC482275 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who live in this home are making remarkable progress across all aspects of their lives. Children have settled well and like living in this home. Children have developed good relationships with the staff who care for them and with each other. Relationships are built on genuine mutual trust and respect.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are motivated to attend school and learn. One child had struggled to engage in education and now attends full time. Another is undertaking their GCSEs. Both are proud of their achievements and have positive aspirations for their futures.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported well to access specialist support for their individual needs. Strong relationships have been built between partner agencies and the staff. This relationship ensures that services provided are appropriate and are delivered in line with what will work for the children. As a result, children are accessing services that they have refused to in the past. This is improving their emotional well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to have regular and positive relationships with their families and friends. Staff ensure that children have regular, positive communication with parents. This allows for consistent parenting between this home and the children’s family home. This approach is really positive for the children. It demonstrates real progress for one, as their relationship with their family had previously completely broken down.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are looked after by staff who know them very well. Staff understand what is expected of them in terms of ensuring consistent and appropriate care to the children. A professional from another agency advised the inspector that, ‘The staff group are very committed to caring for the children and readily seek out appropriate support and guidance from relevant professionals.’ The team has developed strong, trusting relationships with the young people. As a result, this reduces the risks of incidents and emotional distress for children.

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improvement to be good

Care is delivered in a way that reduces risk and distress for the children. Staff work with the children in an open and honest way, and are able to identify and act early when children are becoming upset and anxious. It is remarkable that there have been no significant concerns linked to emotional distress, as this was a significant concern at the last inspection.

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improvement to be good

There have been no incidents in the home that have resulted in physical intervention or emergency services being called since the last inspection. This is part is due to the way in which children are care for. In addition, good collaborative relationships with staff and other agencies have been fostered since the last inspection. This has provided united Inspection report children’s home: SC482275 5 and better care for children. As a result of this, risks for them have been reduced significantly and are managed much better.

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improvement to be good

The arrangements in place for the handling, safe keeping and administration are safe and effective. A new system has been put in place that has reduced the risk of medication errors. In addition, staff have been provided with specific training in order to understand how the system works. Staff spoken to by the inspector stated that they felt the new arrangements are safer and easier to manage and understand. As a result, there have been no medication errors since the last inspection.

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improvement to be good

There has been a significant decrease in behaviours that cause concern and safeguarding concerns. Generally, these concerns have received good management oversight. Steps are taken to manage and reduce risk. One safeguarding concern was not identified or recorded as such by a member of staff. This prevented management oversight and failed to ensure that policy and procedures were followed. As a result, the response and support that the child received was not fully appropriate and failed to focus on how risks could be reduced in the future. It highlighted that further training and discussion are required in respect of how well children are helped and protected.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Leaders and managers have taken decisive and effective action to address the shortfalls that were identified at the last inspection. There has been a focus on ensuring that staff receive specialist training so that they have the skills and confidence to offer safe and effective care. Staff told the inspector that their training has been effective and they can see the benefits of this in practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Leaders and managers have worked hard to build open, honest and trusting relationships with partner agencies. In particular, relationships with the local authority and child mental health services have greatly improved. A professional spoken to by the inspector highlighted the positive relationship that they hold with the management team. This has allowed for a more collaborative approach to care and a shared focus on improving outcomes for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Leaders and managers have taken steps to ensure that staff have been provided with the training and ongoing support they require to ensure that the children receive safe and effective care. One social care professional advised the inspector that, ‘Staff are flexible and responsive to the young people’s needs. They have increased their knowledge and understanding of emotional/mental health, use mental health services when needed and have engaged in various training opportunities and clinical supervision.’ They went on to state that, ‘Staff have moved forward significantly and are offering appropriate, safe and in-tuned care to the young people living there.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Leaders and managers have ensured that staff receive regular and meaningful supervision. Staff report that this is a positive, open and honest process. In addition, staff spoken to see the benefits of having additional clinical supervision with a Inspection report children’s home: SC482275 6 psychologist. Staff are positive and motivated to keep improving the service and outcomes for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Leaders and managers demonstrate some good evidence of oversight, reflection and challenge. The inspector did identify one significant incident that the registered manager had not had oversight of. This, in part, is due to the fact that staff are updating care planning documentation and this process does not have a robust system for management oversight. Additionally, it highlights some further training needs for staff in respect of the identification of safeguarding concerns.

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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 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: SC482275 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Pathway Care Solutions Group Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 1 Merchants Place, Bolton BL2 1BX

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Inspector

Tracey Ledder, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC482275 8 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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Inspector

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