Children's home run by Hexagon Care Services Limited in Preston

Inspection report children’s home: SC480240 1 SC480240 Registered provider: Hexagon Care Services 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 home is one of a number of children’s homes operated by a private company. It provides care and accommodation for up to seven children who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The home may only provide care and accommodation for single gender occupancy.

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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 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: 29 November 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC480240 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

29/11/2017 Full Good 09/02/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 08/06/2016 Full Good 17/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC480240 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

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on— mutual trust and respect; an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and positive responses to other children and adults. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that staff— meet each child’s behavioural and emotional needs, as set out in the child’s relevant plans; encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding; help each child to develop and practise skills to resolve conflicts positively and without harm to anyone; communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding; strive to gain each child’s respect and trust; understand and communicate to children that bullying is

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Requirement Due date

unacceptable; and have the skills to recognise incidents or indications of bullying and how to deal with them. (Regulation 11(1)(2)(I)(iii)(iv)(v)(viii)(xii)(xiii)) 15/03/2019

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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. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— 15/03/2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC480240 4 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; help each child to understand how to keep safe; have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm; understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person; take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies; that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as

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Requirement Due date

to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12(1)(2)(a)(I)(ii)(iii)(iv)(b)) In particular, this relates to the policy and procedures in place when young people are missing from home. In order to meet the quality and purpose of care standard the registered person must ensure— that children receive care from staff who— understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children; use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose; ensure that staff— understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose; protect and promote each child’s welfare; provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the

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Requirement Due date

child’s background. (Regulation 6(1)(2)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(iv)(v)(vii)(c)) In particular, this relates to policy and procedure for the home’s arrangements at bed time for the young people. 15/03/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child; are kept up to date; and are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36(1)(a)(b)(c)) 15/03/2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC480240 5 In particular, this relates to the home maintaining records for young people when they have left the home.

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Recommendations

 Records of restraint must be kept and should enable the registered person and staff to review the use of control, discipline and restraint to identify effective practice and respond promptly where any issues or trends of concern emerge. The review should provide the opportunity for amending practice to ensure it meets the needs of each child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.59)  A child’s bedroom should not generally be entered without their permission. Usually, rooms should only be searched if the child has been informed or asked for their permission. Immediate searching may be necessary where there are reasonable grounds for believing that there is a risk to the child’s or another person’s safety or well-being. The reason for the search should be clearly recorded to demonstrate that the search was necessary. (‘Guide to the children’s

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Recommendations

homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.20)  Staff should understand the systems for rewarding and celebrating positive behaviour and recognising where children have managed situations well. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 47, paragraph 9.39)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people make progress when they move into the home. The manager and staff understand the needs of the young people who they care for and do their best to ensure that their needs are met. The manager and staff develop good relationships with the young people and provide them with various opportunities to share their views, wishes and feelings with staff. The registered manager and staff prioritise the educational needs of young people. Should young people move into the home when they are not engaged in education, the manager and staff liaise with educational professionals to make sure that suitable education arrangements are put in place for young people. Consequently, all of the young people living at the home are engaged in education, training or employment. Staff monitor the young person’s health and provide the necessary support to ensure that routine appointments and checks are up to date. The young people are encouraged

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

to try a variety of different foods to ensure that they have a healthy, varied and well- balanced diet. The young people also engage in various activities that support their social and emotional development. The manager and staff help to maintain and nurture young people’s positive relationships with their families. Contact arrangements successfully provide opportunities Inspection report children’s home: SC480240 6 for young people to maintain meaningful and safe contact with people who are important to them. Additionally, the manager and staff communicate regularly with significant family members to ensure that information about the young people is shared. A family member said, ‘I usually have daily communication from the home keeping me up to date on the young person and it is clear that the manager and staff only want the best for him.’ Bed-time routines and arrangements are not individualised to the individual needs of

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

young people. All young people living in the main house are expected to go to their bedrooms at the same time each evening by 8.45 pm, regardless of their age or circumstances. Additionally, some of the rooms downstairs, including the kitchen, are locked. Although this is partly due to the home’s fire risk assessment procedures it is unrealistic that young people cannot, therefore, access all areas of the home and need to ask staff for food or drink after 8.45pm.

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improvement to be good

Safeguarding practice at the home needs to be strengthened to ensure that the young people are kept safe from harm. The procedures for when young people are missing from home do not help to protect them. When young people have been missing from home, they are often considered to be absent and not missing from care. Consequently, the young people do not always receive the most appropriate support in line with the statutory guidance on children who run away or go missing from home or care. For example, the young people are not always offered an independent interview. This is a missed opportunity to uncover and learn from information that could help to protect young people from the risk of going missing again, or indeed to protect them from risks that they may have been exposed to while missing. There have also been several incidents between the young people that have resulted in young people being injured, or their personal items being stolen. As a result, some

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improvement to be good

young people have preferred to spend time alone in their bedrooms. These incidents have further compromised the safety of some young people. Despite some young people complaining that they feel ‘bullied’, staff do not always identify or implement strategies to manage these risks and keep the young people safe. There have been a number of incidents that have required the use of physical intervention at the home. On two occasions, the physical intervention record for one young person does not demonstrate that the young person has been offered medical advice or treatment in line with the home’s own policies and procedures. Consequently, this does not demonstrate that the young person received the most appropriate support following the intervention. The record relating to room searches carried out at the home does not provide a clear explanation as to why the room search was necessary. The manager was unable to

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improvement to be good

provide sufficient information to the inspectors as to why the room search was deemed to be necessary, as the young person is no longer living at the children’s home and his Inspection report children’s home: SC480240 7 records have been sent to his placing local authority.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is suitably experienced and qualified to fulfil his role. The registered manager is supported by a deputy manager who shares the registered manager’s motivation to provide a good quality of care and improve outcomes for the young people. The registered manager and staff work collaboratively with other professionals and family members to ensure that young people receive the best possible care and intervention. The manager and staff challenge other professionals effectively when they feel that professionals are not doing their absolute best for the young people. This helps to ensure that outcomes are improved for the young people. Staff feel supported by their manager and receive regular supervision that enables them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the young people. Monthly team meetings take place that enable staff to discuss and share good practice and provide the staff with

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

information to enhance their knowledge and skills. The continuous professional development of staff is promoted, and they are provided with opportunities to enhance their knowledge and skills through regular training and development opportunities. Specialist training is often completed in line with the individual needs of the young people living at the home, for example autistic spectrum disorder and substance misuse. This helps to ensure that the staff are able to provide the young people with the most appropriate care and support to meet their needs. Monitoring and review systems at the home help the manager to identify the home’s strengths and weaknesses. He is then able to alter practice where necessary to make improvements that are in the best interests of the young people. The monitoring and review systems have helped to ensure that the manager has a clear vision for the development of the home.

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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 Inspection report children’s home: SC480240 8 children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’. Inspection report children’s home: SC480240 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Hexagon Care Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 2nd Floor, 1 Tustin Court, Riversway, Preston, Lancashire PR2 2YQ

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Inspector

Lisa Mulcahy, social care inspector Maria McGranaghan, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC480240 10 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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