Children's home run by Heath Solo Limited

Inspection report children’s home: 2511611 1 Registered provider: Heath Solo Limited

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This home is operated by a private company. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for one young person irrespective of gender. The home specialises in caring for young people who have been, or who are, experiencing emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been in post since the home’s registration in May 2019. He manages two children’s homes.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

p.1

inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

p.1

inadequate

There are serious and widespread failures that mean children are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded, and the care and experiences of children are poor, and they are not making progress.

p.1

inadequate

Date of last inspection: this is the home’s first inspection since registration

p.1

inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

p.1

inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 2511611 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

N/A Inspection report children’s home: 2511611 3

p.2

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.

p.3

Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on mutual respect and trust, have an understanding about acceptable behaviour and positive responses to other children and adults.

p.3

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

p.3

Requirement Due date

that staff meet each child’s behavioural and emotional needs, as set out in the child’s relevant plans; help each child to develop socially aware behaviour; encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding; 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; help each child to understand, in a way that is appropriate according to the child’s age and understanding, personal, sexual and social relationships, and how those relationships can be supportive or harmful; help each child to develop the understanding and skills to recognise or withdraw from a damaging, exploitative or harmful relationship;

p.3

Requirement Due date

that staff strive to gain each child’s respect and trust, understand how children’s previous experiences and present emotions can be communicated through behaviour and have the competence and skills to interpret these and develop positive relationships with children;

p.3

Requirement Due date

that staff are provided with supervision and support to enable them to understand and manage their own feelings and responses to the behaviour and emotions of children, and to help children to do the same.

p.3

Requirement Due date

(Regulation 11(1)(a)(b)(c)(2)(a)(i)(iii)(vi)(vii)(viii)(ix)(x)) 23/02/2020

p.3

Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. 23/02/2020 Inspection report children’s home: 2511611 4 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

p.3

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; 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.

p.4

Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm.

p.4

Requirement Due date

Regulation 12(1)(2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii)(b))*

p.4

Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

p.4

Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare.

p.4

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

p.4

Requirement Due date

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose; ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate; ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child; understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home; use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home.

p.4

Requirement Due date

(Regulation 13(1)(2)(a)(b)(c)(e)(f)(h))* 23/02/2020 Inspection report children’s home: 2511611 5 The care planning standard is that children receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home.

p.4

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that arrangements are in place to manage and review the placement of each child in the home; and plan for, and help, each child to prepare to leave the home or to move into adult care in a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with the child’s placing authority, and that each child’s relevant plans are followed.

p.5

Requirement Due date

Ensure that impact risk assessments are thorough and are undertaken prior to a child coming to live in the home. Ensure that all care planning documents and agreed local authority plans are adhered to by managers and staff. 23/02/2020

p.5

Requirement Due date

The registered person must compile in relation to the children’s home a statement (‘the statement of purpose’) which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1. The registered person must keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it and notify HMCI of any revision and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. The registered person must ensure that the home is always conducted in a manner which is consistent with its statement of purpose.

p.5

Requirement Due date

(Regulation 16(1)(3)(a)(b)(5)) 23/02/2020

p.5

Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that, 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—

p.5

Requirement Due date

the name of the child; details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure; the date, time and location of the use of the measure; a description of the measure and its duration; details of any methods used, or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure; the name of the person who used the measure (‘the user’), and of any other person present when the measure was used; the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and a description of any injury to the child or any other person and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure; 23/02/2020 Inspection report children’s home: 2511611 6 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’) has spoken to the user about the measure and has signed the record to confirm it is accurate;

p.5

Requirement Due date

and within 5 days 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.

p.6

Requirement Due date

(Regulation 35(3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii))

p.6

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 once every 6 months.

p.6

Requirement Due date

*These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

p.6

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The current standards of care and support provided at this home mean that the child’s safety, health and emotional well-being needs are not being adequately met. The lack of coordinated placement planning to support the child effectively at a critical period in his life is placing him at significant risk and potentially compromising his future life chances.

p.6

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

In recent months, the home has relied heavily on staff from the provider’s other homes to provide care for the child. On the day of the inspection, a staff member from another of the provider’s homes was on duty. This staff member had not previously met the child living in the home and did not know his name. The lack of continuity of care compromises the child’s health, well-being and safety. It does not enable the child to build positive relationships with a consistent team of staff who he can get to know well.

p.6

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Records do not provide a full insight into the child’s life. For example, the few records that are on the child’s files detail informal discussions, rather than providing a more comprehensive record of planned sessions that address the individual needs of the child. This is particularly evident in the lack of recorded key-working sessions in relation to drug misuse to show the work undertaken to educate the child about the risks that he is exposing himself to. Therefore, there is limited information with which to measure the child’s progress or identify the effectiveness of the support provided.

p.6

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Contrary to the home’s admissions policy and procedures, children have not benefited from a detailed compatibility risk assessment or a thorough appraisal of their needs. The Inspection report children’s home: 2511611 7 registered manager offered a placement to a child without clearly identifying, assessing or addressing their full range of needs and the staff’s skills and experience in relation to meeting those needs. For example, the impact risk assessment for the child was completed after the child came to live at the home. The delay has essentially made this assessment redundant, and has resulted in managers and staff being unable to manage the child’s behaviour.

p.6

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

Safeguarding practice in this home is not sufficiently robust and the arrangements for safeguarding the child are inadequate. Furthermore, the poor leadership and management structures, coupled with a fluctuating and inexperienced staff team, mean that the child continues to engage in risk-taking behaviour, which compromises his safety and well-being.

p.7

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

The registered manager and staff have demonstrated a lack of understanding in relation to their roles and responsibilities in protecting the child, and have not always taken effective action when there is a concern about his welfare. For example, staff reported and recorded that they had found drugs and drug paraphernalia in the child’s bedroom. Staff removed the items from the child’s bedroom. However, it is unclear what happened to the drugs or the drug equipment. The registered manager stated that he did not know how or when the drugs and the paraphernalia had been disposed of and said ‘I can only assume that they [drugs] have been binned [put in the bin] or flushed [put into the toilet cistern]. The police and the child’s social worker confirmed that they had not been made aware of this incident and it had not been reported as a safeguarding incident.

p.7

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

Managers and staff are unable to identify, manage or minimise risks to the child. Poor- quality risk assessments prevent the staff from having a clear understanding of his needs and vulnerabilities, including his previous known risks. These assessments do not provide staff with effective strategies to enable them to keep the child safe. For example, information on family contact within the local authority care plan confirmed that due to an increased level of risk to the child, contact with his parent was only to take place within the children’s home. Despite the registered manager being aware of this, the child’s placement plan stated that the child could have ‘unsupervised contact twice a week with his parent’. This does not demonstrate safe care practices.

p.7

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

The child’s safety is further compromised by the lack of management oversight of physical restraint. This lack of oversight fails to demonstrate that the interventions used have been carefully considered to ensure that they are appropriate, and that they have only been used as a last resort to protect the child involved.

p.7

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

There is no management oversight of sanctions and the manager has failed to evaluate the appropriateness or effectiveness of the measures used by staff. Consequently, staff continue to use ineffective behaviour management strategies and the child is not learning to reflect on and improve his behaviour. Inspection report children’s home: 2511611 8

p.7

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The registered manager is suitably qualified and has the experience to undertake his role. However, his failure to ensure that effective care planning is in place for the child, and that the staff team strictly adheres to safeguarding procedures to protect the child, has led to the serious shortfalls found during this inspection.

p.8

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There have been failings in management oversight and monitoring of the home to identify areas of weakness and to take decisive action to resolve these. Robust internal monitoring does not take place regularly and, as a result, the quality and standard of care have fallen to an unacceptable level. The manager has not adequately reviewed records in the home, or evaluated incidents that have occurred, to identify shortfalls in staff practice and highlight patterns and trends. For example, on incident reports held within the home, the manager’s overview was recorded as ‘N/A [not applicable]’.

p.8

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager has failed to ensure that he uses the monitoring and review systems, such as the regulation 45 reports, to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided at the home. Consequently, areas for improvement have not been addressed and decisive action has not been taken to resolve issues. The lack of rigour by the registered manager has not helped the home to sufficiently protect the child and maintain good enough standards of care.

p.8

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff lack the skills, knowledge or experience to understand the current needs of the child or have the skills to support them effectively. For example, staff were unaware of the therapeutic plan that is in place for the child. Furthermore, staff and the registered manager could not access the plan on the provider’s computer system. Despite the home’s statement of purpose stating ‘the therapeutic model that the staff at [name of home] work within, guided by the therapy team, is the ARC [attachment, regulation and competency] model’, the staff members who were interviewed had no knowledge of this.

p.8

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The lack of rigour by the registered manager has not helped the home to sufficiently protect the child and maintain good enough standards of care. This has led to the child’s safety and well-being not being promoted at all times. Inspection report children’s home: 2511611 9

p.8

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.

p.9

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: 2511611 10

p.9

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Suite 1.3, My Buro, 20 Market Street, Altrincham, Cheshire WA14 1PF

p.10

Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Ann-Cheri Callow

p.10

Inspector

Elaine Allison: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2511611 11 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.

p.10

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.11

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.11

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: http://www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.11