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

Inspection report children's home: 1223501 1 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

The home is owned and managed by a private organisation. It provides care for up to four young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The registered manager has managed the home since it was registered in February 2016.

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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

Date of last inspection: 27 November 2018

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: 1223501 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

27/11/2018 Full Outstanding 18/10/2017 Full Outstanding 03/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 19/07/2016 Full Outstanding Inspection report children's home: 1223501 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 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— that staff—

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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)) 29/11/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (‘case records’) for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry.

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Requirement Due date

Case records must be kept— in a secure place after the child has ceased to be accommodated in the home. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c)(2)(d)) 29/11/2019

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Requirement Due date

Schedule 4 sets out the other information that the registered person must keep in relation to a children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the records are kept up to date; and

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Requirement Due date

retain the records for at least 15 years from the date of the last entry. (Regulation 37 (1)) 29/11/2019 Inspection report children's home: 1223501 4

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs and should understand the key role they play in the training and development of staff in the home (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11). Specifically, staff should have access to training related to young people’s individual needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people benefit from a consistent and stable staff team. This means that young people have time to build positive and trusting relationships with staff. One independent reviewing officer said, ‘[Young person’s name] has had several placement breakdowns, which led to a mistrust of carers. I have observed a good professional relationship between him and staff, with staff going above and beyond to ensure his needs are met and that he is able to be a child.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff strive to create a warm and nurturing environment for young people. One young person said, ‘It’s really good here. No other care home has looked after me so well.’ Young people are becoming more confident and learning new skills. Staff have supported one young person to travel to school on his own. This has been an important step towards independence and one which the young person is very proud of achieving. One independent reviewing officer said, ‘[Name of the home] is a lovely, nurturing home and it is evident that the staff team enjoy[s] the work they do, which in turn provides positive outcomes for the young people.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people have been supported to re-establish and maintain contact with family members. Careful planning and support have enabled one young person to have regular contact with a sibling. They recently enjoyed a swimming trip together, which was unsupervised for the first time. One professional said, ‘They facilitate and promote contact with [young person’s name]’s sibling and are excellent advocates for him.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people access a wide range of activities during the evenings and weekends. The young people value this and they told inspectors that it was one of the things they most enjoy about living at the home. Staff promote their individual interests and are keen to introduce them to new activities and experiences. They have recently enjoyed a holiday to an activity centre together. One independent reviewing officer said, ‘I can honestly say this is the happiest he has ever been.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

However, young people did experience a short, unsettled period when a young person who was not well matched was admitted to the home. The manager undertakes impact risk assessments when planning admissions. However, these assessments are not sufficiently robust and do not adequately consider the impact on all the young people. Inspection report children's home: 1223501 5 On this occasion, the manager did not make enough use of all the available information to inform her decision. The young person’s placement quickly broke down, and his behaviours had a negative impact on the other young people. A requirement has been made to improve practice in this area.

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

Young people currently living at the home are settled and rarely exhibit risk-taking or challenging behaviours. Incidents that require staff to use restrictive practices are infrequent. When incidents do occur, they are well documented. Debriefs with young people and staff after incidents provide an opportunity to learn and adapt practice.

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

Staff demonstrate a good understanding of safeguarding policy and procedures. When a serious safeguarding incident occurred in the home, they responded quickly and effectively to protect the young people from further harm. The nature of this incident was difficult for staff to predict or prepare for, and all necessary actions were taken afterwards to prevent future occurrence.

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

Young people benefit from individual key work sessions that are focused on their needs and vulnerabilities. Staff prepare well for these sessions and they deal sensitively with difficult issues. This gives young people an opportunity to openly discuss their feelings with staff whom they trust. One social worker said, ‘[Young person’s name] seems to have quickly formed trusting relationships with staff members whom he can talk to. They have put good routine and structure into place and helped the young person feel safe and valued.’ Staff also organise regular group work sessions. These provide informal learning opportunities about key topics such as bullying, sexual exploitation and e-safety.

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

Staff consistently use rewards to reinforce positive behaviours. They have created an initiative called ‘star of the week’ to encourage young people to achieve agreed targets. Young people are keen to earn the award and are adapting their behaviours and attitudes in an effort to do so. Sanctions for poor behaviours are rarely used.

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

Young people are supported to eat a balanced diet and adopt a healthier lifestyle. As a result, some young people are losing weight, and they are all taking part in lots of exercise outside the home. In addition, a room has been converted for the young people to use as a gym. They access this safely under staff supervision.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is suitably qualified and experienced for the role. She has strong leadership skills and is a visible presence in the home. She is committed to providing high-quality care that nurtures young people and helps them fulfil their potential.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is aspirational for young people. She will advocate on their behalf to ensure that they have access to the services and support they require. She will involve external professionals when required to help ensure that young people’s needs are met. One social worker said, ‘I am impressed with the level of communication between the Inspection report children's home: 1223501 6 home and local authority. The manager of the home advocates for the young person and links well with school.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff benefit from regular supervision and annual appraisals. There are regular team meetings that focus on the needs of the young people. There is a comprehensive staff development plan in place that identifies key targets for each member of staff. One member of staff said, ‘There is great team work, and the home has a lovely caring atmosphere.’ Additional training is required to support the staff team’s understanding of the impact of young people’s additional needs, for example [those presented by young people who have] attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a monitoring system in place to quality assure the care provided to young people. However, omissions in management oversight were noted during the inspection. For example, the records of a young person no longer resident at the home were no longer kept on site. This made it difficult to access key pieces of information during the inspection. Furthermore, the admissions and discharge book had not been updated after the discharge of one young person. Requirements have been made to address these areas.

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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: 1223501 7

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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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Inspectors

Sophie Thomson, social care inspector Mandy Williams, social care inspector Inspection report children's home: 1223501 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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