Children's home run by Nugent Care 2019 in Liverpool

Inspection report children’s home: SC371267 1 SC371267 Registered provider: Nugent Care Interim inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is operated by a voluntary organisation and is registered for up to 36 children and young people between the ages of seven and 19, who have a range of special educational needs that require either a residential-only provision or residential and specialist-school provision.

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Information about this children’s home

There is currently no registered manager at the home as the registered manager resigned from her post in June 2019.

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Information about this children’s home

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC371267 2

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

This home was judged good at the last full inspection. At the interim inspection, Ofsted judges that it has declined in effectiveness.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The managers and staff demonstrate a lack of understanding in relation to their roles and responsibilities in protecting children and staff and do not always take stringent action when there is a concern about children’s welfare. They have made serious errors in decision-making that have placed children and staff at risk of harm. In one example, the provider failed to consider the impact that the violent behaviour of one child would have on others. As a result, a member of staff suffered a serious assault from the child.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Risk assessments reviewed during the inspection did not contain sufficient information about all known risks to children or strategies to manage identified risk, such as substance misuse, fire-setting and allegations. Furthermore, staff spoken to during the inspection were unclear on the individual risks to children. Consequently, this fails to ensure that risks are managed consistently by staff and that appropriate support is in place to help to keep children safe.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Staff lack an understanding of their roles and responsibilities in caring for children and have failed to follow a local authority care plan and a deprivation of liberty order. For example, the home’s care/support plan for a child who was subject to a deprivation of liberty order states that the child can be supported without the restrictions of a deprivation of liberty order. This demonstrates that the provider did not adhere to the child’s local authority care plan or the deprivation of liberty order, which placed him at risk.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The provider’s oversight of care planning and risk management has declined in effectiveness. Some records relating to the care and safety of children were found to be inaccurate, not up to date or insufficiently detailed. Furthermore, some records could not be found by staff during the inspection and staff found it difficult to find information on the home’s electronic recording system. Consequently, staff do not have sufficient information to meet the needs of children in their care. The monitoring systems in place had not identified these shortfalls.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Staff have failed to follow the home’s anti-bullying policy. When one child was being bullied and intimidated by other children at the home, this was not addressed. Staff did not share significant information with each other and no discussions took place with the victim or perpetrators of the bullying to ensure that the bullying and intimidation ended. This demonstrates that staff did not intervene, protect the child or address bullying behaviours effectively, which places children at risk.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Inspectors identified poor management of allegations. The provider failed to share significant information relating to previous allegations against a member of staff Inspection report children’s home: SC371267 3 with safeguarding professionals, such as the designated officer and the police. Furthermore, the provider did not consider this information as part of its own internal investigations. This demonstrates that the provider has not followed its own and external safeguarding policies and procedures. As a result, the management of allegations is not robust, which places children at risk.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Records of restrictive physical intervention for children are inaccurate, insufficiently detailed and not completed in line with regulatory requirements. For example, some records of restraint do not include details of the antecedents and strategies that staff used to manage the behaviour of the child, to demonstrate that the use of physical intervention was necessary to keep the child safe. Some records do not include details of the intervention used and its duration, whether any injuries were sustained or whether medical treatment was offered. Records lack sufficient information about debriefings with staff and children or management oversight and evaluation. As a result, the provider is unable to identify effective practice or respond promptly where any issues or trends of concern emerge. Furthermore, the provider is unable to amend practice to ensure that it meets the needs of children.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

There are gaps within the home’s monitoring and review systems, which lessen the analysis and evaluation of care and their impact on outcomes for children. The provider has not undertaken a review of quality of care and could not demonstrate that sufficient action has been taken in response to the shortfalls identified through the monthly independent monitoring of the home. This means that leaders and managers are unable to identify and address shortfalls in staff practice to improve the care being provided. This has impacted on outcomes for children and compromised their safety and well-being. Inspection report children’s home: SC371267 4

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/08/2019 Full Good 04/12/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good 15/08/2018 Full Inadequate 05/07/2017 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC371267 5

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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 children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

develop positive relationships with them;

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Requirement Due date

take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

ascertain and consider each child’s views, wishes and feelings, and balance these against what they judge to be in the child’s best interests when making decisions about the child’s care and welfare;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to express views, wishes and feelings;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how the child’s views, wishes and feelings have been taken into account and give the child reasons for decisions in relation to the child; and

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Requirement Due date

regularly consult children, and seek their feedback, about the quality of the home’s care;

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Requirement Due date

is enabled to provide feedback to, and raise issues with, a relevant person about the support and services that the child receives;

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Requirement Due date

has access to the home’s children’s guide, and the home’s complaints procedure, when the child’s placement in the 08/03/2020 Inspection report children’s home: SC371267 6 home is agreed and throughout the child’s stay in the home; and

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Requirement Due date

keep the children’s guide and the home’s complaints procedure under review and seek children’s comments before revising either document;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that an explanation is given to each child as soon as reasonably practicable after the child’s arrival about—

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the views of each relevant person are taken into account, so far as reasonably practicable, before making a decision about the care or welfare of a child. (Regulation 7 (1)(2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(b)(i)(e)) The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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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

meet each child’s behavioural and emotional needs, as set out in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop and practise skills to resolve conflicts positively and without harm to anyone;

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Requirement Due date

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;

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Requirement Due date

strive to gain each child’s respect and trust; 08/03/2020 Inspection report children’s home: SC371267 7 understand and communicate to children that bullying is unacceptable; and

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Requirement Due date

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)) *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;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies;

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Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(b)) 08/03/2020

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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—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

promotes their welfare. 08/03/2020 Inspection report children’s home: SC371267 8 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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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;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

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Requirement Due date

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;

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Requirement Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(2)(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)(ii)(h)) The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home.

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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

that each child’s relevant plans are followed. (Regulation 14 (1)(2)(c)) 08/03/2020

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Requirement Due date

Restraint in relation to a child is only permitted for the purpose of preventing—

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Requirement Due date

injury to any person (including the child); 08/03/2020 Inspection report children’s home: SC371267 9 serious damage to the property of any person (including the child); or

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Requirement Due date

a child who is accommodated in a secure children’s home from absconding from the home.

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Requirement Due date

Restraint in relation to a child must be necessary and proportionate. (Regulation 20 (1)(a)(b)(2)) The registered provider must appoint a person to manage the children’s home if—

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Requirement Due date

there is no registered manager in respect of the home; and

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Requirement Due date

is not, or does not intend to be, in day-to-day charge of the home.

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Requirement Due date

If the registered provider appoints a person to manage the home, the registered provider must, without delay, give HMCI notice of—

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person so appointed; and

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Requirement Due date

the date on which the appointment takes effect. (Regulation 27 (1)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(iii)(2)(a)(b)) 08/03/2020

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Requirement Due date

*The registered person must ensure that—

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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

details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure; 08/03/2020 Inspection report children’s home: SC371267 10 the name of the person who used the measure (‘the user’) and any other person present when the measure was used;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result 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

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Requirement Due date

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 (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c)) The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (‘a quality of care review’) at least every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided to children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided to children.

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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 actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review (‘the quality of care review report’) 08/03/2020 Inspection report children’s home: SC371267 11 The registered person must—

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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 was completed; and

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Requirement Due date

make a copy of the quality of care review report available on request to a placing authority, if the placing authority is not the parent of a child accommodated at the home.

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (1)(2)(a)(b)(c)(3)(4)(a)(b)(5))

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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Information about this inspection

This inspection focused on the effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of children and young people since the most recent full inspection.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people, 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: SC371267 12

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Children’s home details

Provision sub-type: residential special school

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 99 Edge Lane, Edge Hill, Liverpool L7 2PE

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Inspectors

Lisa Mulcahy, Social Care Inspector Jessica Forshaw, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC371267 13 to 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

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

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