Children's home run by Physis Quantum Limited in Shropshire

Inspection report children’s home: SC487794 1 SC487794 Registered provider: Physis Quantum Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is run by a privately owned limited company. It offers care for up to three young people. The home specialises in caring for young people who have been, or are, at high risk of child sexual exploitation.

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Information about this children’s home

A qualified and experienced manager is in post. He is in the process of registering with Ofsted.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected outstanding

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

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outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC487794 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/03/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness 30/10/2017 Full Outstanding 16/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 09/08/2016 Full Requires improvement Inspection report children’s home: SC487794 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff provide extremely nurturing and therapeutic care in a beautifully maintained, homely environment. They understand young people’s anxieties and the emotional struggles that young people face when they initially move to the home. The young people currently living at the home have been there for a relatively short period of time. However, each young person has already made exceptional progress because of the excellent support that they receive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

All young people attend weekly therapy sessions, go to school and make positive lifestyle choices, improving their health. For example, young people embrace the home’s smoking reduction programme and abstain from misusing drugs and alcohol. These are highly significant achievements for them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Young people are cared for by a consistent and highly committed staff team. The manager and staff are dedicated to ensuring that young people receive outstanding care. As a result, young people build exceptionally positive relationships with staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff and managers know young people incredibly well. This ensures that they help young people to feel calm, preventing their behaviours from escalating. The provider’s clinical team oversees young people’s care and the strategies that staff use to support them. The therapeutic ethos that this creates is firmly underpinned by research.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff and managers continually review the effectiveness of their practice. This reflection is integral to the high-quality care that young people receive. When incidents do happen, staff consider their own behaviour alongside the young person’s, and think about what they could have done differently. This promotes a continual culture of learning and accelerates the progress that young people make.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Partnership working is a particular strength of this service. ‘Team around the child meetings’ regularly take place and include care staff, education staff and the clinical team. These meetings inform decisions about the young people’s care and quickly identify when young people need additional support.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Young people are fully involved in the care that they receive and contribute to the decisions that affect them. Young people and staff work creatively together to produce information packs for other young people. These contain useful research and guidance. For example, one pack outlines the skills that young people need before they are safely able to manage their own mobile phone. As a result, young people better understand the risks that they face and strive to keep themselves safe. Inspection report children’s home: SC487794 4

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

Staff keep young people safe. Behaviour and risk management plans are extensive and provide staff with clear guidance about how to care for young people. Consequently, young people feel safe and are safe.

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

Physical restraint is rarely required. This is because staff have excellent de-escalation skills, and defuse situations before they escalate. On the rare occasions that physical interventions do happen, debriefings with young people and staff show good reflection and ensure that lessons are quickly learned.

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

Young people who previously went missing have significantly reduced this behaviour since living at the home. As a result, other associated risks have drastically reduced, including exploitation, gang crime and substance misuse. This progress is underpinned by high-quality therapeutic work, which helps young people to understand these risks. This approach equips young people with the skills that they need to remain safe in the future.

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

Staff demonstrate an excellent knowledge of safeguarding and fully understand the responsibilities of their role. Senior managers ensure strong oversight of safeguarding issues and consult regularly with staff and young people about any concerns that they may have.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

A new manager has recently started. He is well supported by the previous registered manager, making the transition of roles smooth and effective. The staff recognise and appreciate this. They continue to feel extremely well supported.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Managers provide outstanding support to staff. Staff receive regular, high-quality, creative training. Managers also provide staff with regular supervision, therapeutic support, informative staff meetings and access to external counselling if this is required. The investment in staff support is reflective of the superb care that young people receive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Professionals are extremely positive about the home and the support provided to young people. A social worker told the inspector, ‘Staff understand things on a trauma-informed basis. They understand that young people’s behaviours are because of their experiences, and not because they are naughty.’ Consequently, young people experience individualised, therapeutic care. This starts to address the trauma that they have experienced and supports them to thrive. Inspection report children’s home: SC487794 5

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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 difference 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: SC487794 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Physis Quantum Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: PO BOX 179, Whitchurch SY13 9DE

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Laurence O’Dwyer

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Inspector

Lisa O’Donovan, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC487794 7 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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