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

Inspection report children’s home: SC480086 1 SC480086 Registered provider: Hexagon Care Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately run home provides care for up to six children who have social and emotional difficulties. The manager has been registered since 2014.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 10 September 2018

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC480086 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/09/2018 Full Good 15/02/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness 11/07/2017 Full Good 23/08/2016 Full Requires improvement Inspection report children’s home: SC480086 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 home 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

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))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the location area risk assessment mitigates risks in the local area and that incidents trigger a review of children’s individual risk assessments. 21/06/2019

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Requirement Due date

keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and

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Requirement Due date

notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16 (3)(a)(b)) 21/06/2019

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Requirement Due date

If the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005(a) applies to the home–

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Requirement Due date

the registered person must ensure that the requirements of that Order and any regulations made under it, except for article 23 (duties of employees), are complied with in respect of the home. (Regulation 25 (2)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that fire doors are not propped open and that fire drills are undertaken in line with the home’s procedures. 24/05/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy 21/06/2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC480086 4 (‘the behaviour management policy’) which sets out–

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Requirement Due date

the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home.

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes–

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Requirement Due date

the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (‘the authorised person’)–

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35(1)(b)(3)(a)(iii)(b)(i)(ii)(c)) The registered person must–

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Requirement Due date

maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, a record in the form of a register showing in respect of each child the child’s address immediately before being accommodated in the home; the child’s address on leaving the home; and the statutory provision (if any) under which the child is accommodated. (Regulation 37 (1) schedule 4 (1)(c)(d)(f)) 21/06/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if–

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(e)) 21/06/2019

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must provide a copy of the independent person’s report to HMCI. (Regulation 44 (7)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the submission of reports to HMCI is timely. 21/06/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (‘a quality of care review’) at least 21/06/2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC480086 5 once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review (‘the quality of care review report’).

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Requirement Due date

supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed. (Regulation 45 (1)(3)(4)(a)

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Recommendations

 Staff should provide a nurturing and supportive environment that is homely. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9) In particular, ensure that the grounds of the property are clear of rubbish and debris.  Staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4) Inspection report children’s home: SC480086 6

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improvement to be good

The quality of the home has slipped since the last inspection. The home has recently experienced a turbulent time, with a significant increase in incidents of children going missing from the home. This has affected children’s experiences.

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improvement to be good

Although the staff work hard to forge positive relationships with children, the children’s overall experiences and progress are mixed. One child was moved from the home after prolonged periods of being missing. A different child had a successful move to a foster carer. A third child had a well-planned move into the home and has settled in quickly.

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improvement to be good

One child is taking their GCSEs and continues to attend and make progress at school. The staff understand the importance of education for children. However, two children have disengaged from their school placements despite the best efforts of the staff, who encourage children to attend education. Alternative placements have been identified for both children.

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improvement to be good

The home is well decorated throughout, and the children can decorate their rooms as they wish. However, the rear garden of the home is littered with rubbish and debris, including cigarette butts. This detracts from what is otherwise an attractive and well- appointed home for the children.

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improvement to be good

The staff encourage children to take physical exercise. A range of activities is offered at the home and in the community. The children benefit from and enjoy activities such as bowling, trampolining, trips to the seaside, horse riding and spa visits.

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improvement to be good

The children regularly see their families and friends. Staff take the children to see their families and encourage these relationships, when appropriate.

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improvement to be good

The staff obtain children’s views and opinions through weekly house meetings and by talking to the children at daily afternoon tea meetings and in individual key-working meetings. Staff respond to questions or requests from the children. This inclusive approach involves children in planning their care. A child said, ‘They [the staff] really listen but also encourage me to speak my mind. This has really helped me to control my temper, which was really bad when I first moved here.’

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improvement to be good

The staff de-escalate unwanted behaviours. Physical interventions are rare, with just five since the last inspection. Physical interventions are proportionate. However, the records of these interventions lack the dates, times and details of interviews with staff and children. The failure to debrief staff and children following a physical intervention compromises the safety and well-being of both. Inspection report children’s home: SC480086 7 A child was restrained recently to prevent them from running into the road outside the home. This restraint was proportionate. However, despite this being a new behaviour, the incident did not lead to a review of the risk assessment for the child. Risk assessments are not consistently informed by emerging risks.

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improvement to be good

The number of incidents of children going missing has increased since the last inspection. Guidance on managing these incidents is clear. Staff follow children if they leave the home without permission and look for them in the local area.

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improvement to be good

The home’s location risk assessment considers the risks posed by a lack of street lighting and poor footpaths on the road on which the home is located. However, it does not adequately consider the 40 mile per hour speed limit on the road immediately outside the home, local roadworks and a building site. Therefore, the assessment of local risks to children is ineffective.

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improvement to be good

Fire safety measures are insufficient. Three internal fire doors were propped open with doorstops. Fire evacuations have not been undertaken according to organisational policy. Failure to adhere to fire safety is a serious risk to both staff and children. The registered manager made immediate plans to rectify these two fire safety shortfalls.

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improvement to be good

The staff have strong relationships with the children. The children spoke positively about the staff and said that they feel safe living at the home.

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

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since June 2014. She has a relevant level 5 diploma qualification and is experienced in children’s residential care.

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

A social worker for one of the children recently raised a complaint with the designated officer about conduct at the home. Despite the seriousness of this incident, Ofsted was not notified by the home’s management. This lack of notification affects Ofsted’s ability to monitor safeguarding concerns.

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

The most recent internal review of the quality of care was undertaken by the manager in a timely manner. An independent person undertakes monthly monitoring visits. However, the wider organisational systems meant that these reports were not received by Ofsted for several months. The failure to provide Ofsted with these reports prevents Ofsted from monitoring the home effectively.

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

The manager has updated several records, including the statement of purpose. However, statement of purpose was not submitted to Ofsted within 28 days of the update. This the further affected Ofsted’s ability to monitor the service.

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

Record-keeping is poor. The home’s admission and discharge book does not record information with enough accuracy. There are dates missing from residents meeting minutes and information is missing from the consequences log. This means that there are gaps in information, should children or anyone else wish to access these records in Inspection report children’s home: SC480086 8 the future.

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

The staff feel supported by the manager and the deputy. The staff receive supervisions in line with organisational policy. The staff benefit from an in-depth training programme and receive training to safeguard children. Consequently, they are confident in their roles. All staff eligible staff hold a relevant level 3 diploma.

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

Multi-agency work is a strength of the home. Feedback from external professionals was positive. Professionals were confident about the quality of the relationships that they have with staff at the home. All professionals spoken with acknowledged the difficult period that the home has been through. A police officer said, ‘Recently, the home has had a wrong mix of children and everyone has had a rough time. Before that, I could not have asked for any more. They have been absolutely fantastic.’ Inspection report children’s home: SC480086 9

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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’.

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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: 1 Tustin Court, Port Way, Ashton-on-Ribble, Preston, Lancashire PR2 2YQ

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Inspector

Ricky D’Arcy, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC480086 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 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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