Children's home run by Octagon Care Ltd

Inspection report children’s home: 2548528 1 Registered provider: Octagon Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately run children’s home offers care and accommodation for up to four young people, including sibling groups, who may experience emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The home can offer art therapy as part of the placement. The home is managed by a registered manager who is qualified and has a number of years’ experience.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 2548528 2

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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

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

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Requirement Due date

achieve the health and well-being outcomes that are recorded in the child’s relevant plans; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child has access to such dental, medical, nursing, psychiatric and psychological advice, treatment and other services as the child may require.

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, that referrals are made to therapeutic services for young people where identified in care plans by young people’s placing authorities. 19/03/2020

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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.

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the staff team to work proactively with young people, their social workers and relevant professionals to reduce the level of missing from care episodes. To identify risk 19/03/2020 Inspection report children’s home: 2548528 3 reduction strategies in care planning and to implement preventative measures in relation to any potential risks associated with episodes of going missing.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2.

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, if a person has previously worked in a position involving work with children or vulnerable adults, references must be verified with the employer to clarify the reason why the employment or position ended. 19/03/2020

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Requirement Due date

Behaviour management policies and records.

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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

a description of the measure and its duration.

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, young people’s physical intervention records to include timescales or duration of physical intervention used by staff. 19/03/2020

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Recommendations

 9.40 The registered person should agree with their local police force, procedures and guidance on police involvement with the home to reduce unnecessary police involvement in managing behaviour and criminalisation of behaviours.  14.10 Regulation 40(4) requires the registered person to notify Ofsted and other relevant persons if one of the situations specified in Regulation 40(4)(a)–(d) occurs, or if there is an incident relating to the protection, safeguarding or welfare of a child living in the home which the registered person considers to be serious (40(4)(e)). Inspection report children’s home: 2548528 4

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improvement to be good

This is the home’s first inspection since it was registered in August 2019. The young people are cared for by an experienced registered manager and a stable staff team, whose members have a wealth of experience in residential childcare. The staff team aims to promote routines to ensure that the young people have structure to their daily lives. Young people are building positive relationships with staff and one young person said, ‘All the staff team are lovely.’

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improvement to be good

Since the home opened, four children have been admitted to the home and two children have been discharged. Young people’s placements came to an end due to the complexity of one young person’s needs and for another young person information had not been shared by a local authority with regards to extreme risk-taking behaviour. The registered manager has reviewed the home’s admissions and matching process and there is evidence of lessons learned with regards to two further young people being supported to move and settle into the home.

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improvement to be good

Staff work with the young people and their local authorities to ensure that routine health appointments are up to date and young people are in good health. Staff work with family members where one young person has refused to attend routine health appointments, such as the dentist and optician. This is to try and help to reduce the young person’s anxieties in relation to health appointments. One young person has not been supported to access therapeutic work through child and adolescent mental health services despite having lived at the home for nearly four months. This is key to the young person’s emotional development and so a requirement has been made to address this.

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improvement to be good

The staff team encourages young people to engage in education. One young person has obtained a full-time placement at an alternative education provision and they are currently transitioning from part-time to full-time education. Another young person has a structured plan in place to complete learning in the home until a full-time education placement is in place. This helps the young person to stay in a routine and to understand the value of education.

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improvement to be good

The team has positive working relationships with social workers and other professionals. Communication is regular and consistent. One social worker said that the home gave ‘the best communication I’ve ever had from a placement’. Feedback about the level of care provided was positive from all professionals spoken to during the inspection.

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improvement to be good

Family visits are valued and supported by the staff team. Staff work consistently to develop and sustain relationships with families. The home has organised and facilitated regular visits with one young person’s family despite the distance between the home and the young person’s family home. The staff team has developed a positive working relationship with another young person’s family, which has been beneficial in information sharing during the young person’s missing from home incidents. Inspection report children’s home: 2548528 5 Consultation is undertaken with young people to ensure that they can voice their opinions, make requests about their care and talk about issues that may be causing them anxiety. Young people know how to make a complaint but have not needed to use the process. This demonstrates that young people feel safe talking to staff and have been able to resolve any difficulties without the need to complain.

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improvement to be good

The decor throughout the home is modern and overall the home is very welcoming. There is sufficient space for young people to relax or enjoy time privately. Young people have also personalised their bedrooms to their own preferences.

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improvement to be good

Since the home opened, there has been minimal use of physical intervention. This is because staff understand de-escalation techniques in relation to behaviour management and recognise key factors that could potentially trigger unsafe behaviour for young people. This has helped young people to manage their behaviour positively. Records for physical intervention do not include the duration of the restraint measure used to keep young people safe and therefore they do not meet regulatory standards. A requirement has been made in relation to this.

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improvement to be good

During staff recruitment, the registered manager has employed a good balance of gender mix, age range and level of experience to be able to meet the needs of the young people. That said, a requirement has been raised in relation to safer recruitment. This is because all references received for staff have not been verified with previous employers. This is particularly significant where a staff member has previously worked in a position involving work with children and their reference was not verified with the employer to clarify the reason why their employment ended.

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improvement to be good

Going missing from home and the risks associated with being away from the home for long periods of time is a significant concern for one young person. The staff team understands missing from home protocols and has made efforts to reduce the level of missing from home incidents for one young person. However, there is still safeguarding work within the home and with other key professionals to be implemented by the registered manager, for example to support the young person to talk to adults about where they are spending their time, to make better choices about who they spend their time with and the team to implement risk-reducing strategies to manage potential incidents of going missing. A requirement has been raised to address this.

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improvement to be good

All staff have been provided with safeguarding training and were knowledgeable in their management of safeguarding concerns and how to respond to allegations. Staff also demonstrated an understanding of the signs of child sexual exploitation and child criminal exploitation should this become a concern for a young person living at the home. Inspection report children’s home: 2548528 6 Risk assessments are in place to help staff manage risks for young people. Staff supervise and support young people out in the community where this is risk assessed as necessary and requested by social workers. The staff team aims to educate young people in their knowledge of e-safety, and internet use is restricted where there are safeguarding concerns. Young people told the inspector that they felt safe and that they know staff care about them.

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improvement to be good

Young people live in a safe environment where they are protected by well-managed health and safety procedures. All the required health and safety certificates are in place to ensure a well-maintained environment.

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

The registered manager has failed to notify Ofsted of an incident under Regulation 40 in relation to the police being called regarding an assault on a staff member. The manager gave an update of this incident in another notification a few days later. However, this information should be shared with the regulatory agency so that the inspector can assess the actions and outcomes via an individual notification. A good practice recommendation has been raised.

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

Police involvement in the home has been minimal. However, the manager should agree with their local police force procedures and guidance on police involvement with the home to reduce unnecessary police involvement in managing behaviour through emergency call outs, for example using local police officer contacts to record incidents on police intelligence where the home do not want to have young people charged. A recommendation has been raised.

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

Staff feel supported by the registered manager and their colleagues. Staff received an induction and support from within the team when the home opened. Staff receive regular supervision. The registered manager ensures that staff receive up-to-date training and training specific to the young people’s needs. Most of the staff team are qualified to diploma level 3. Two staff are undertaking the qualification and are within regulatory timescales.

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

The registered manager is a good advocate for the children and will challenge decisions that are not in the best interest of the young people, for example in relation to suitable education provisions for young people and challenging local authorities about lack of information provided in referrals for young people to be admitted to the home. The manager has good relationships with professionals and takes a pride in ensuring that he is transparent in his working relationship with them.

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

The manager is nurturing in his approach to childcare and this is reflected in the team’s practice. During the first few months of the home opening, the manager has been included in the shift patterns to ensure a smooth transition for the team and valuable staff inductions to the home. The manager is also keen to develop staff’s awareness of key issues that impact on young people’s welfare and so he has been delivering presentations in team meetings that focus on these issues. Inspection report children’s home: 2548528 7 Monthly independent visitor visits always take place. The report provides an overview of the home. The home has only been open a few months and so the manager is due to complete his first monitoring of the quality of care report to provide to Ofsted in the next month.

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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: 2548528 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Octagon Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 4 Briony Close, Royton, Oldham, Lancashire OL2 5AL

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Inspector

Cheryl Field: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2548528 9 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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