Children's Home run by Nugent Care 2019 in Sefton

Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: SC025395 1 SC025395

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Nugent Care 2019

Monitoring visit Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home is operated by a charity over two sites, providing care and accommodation for 19 children in total.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is registered to care for children with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties and learning disabilities. The home also provides provision, according to its statement of purpose, for a mother and baby placement.

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Information about this children’s home

There has been no registered manager since July 2020 following the retirement of the previous registered person.

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This monitoring visit

During this visit, inspectors identified significant shortfalls in safeguarding practice, care planning for children and the leadership and management of the home. As a result, three compliance notices were issued, under regulation 12 the protection of children standard, regulation 13 the leadership and management standard and regulation 14, the care planning standard.

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This monitoring visit

Inspectors found shortfalls in risk management plans, which contained minimal strategies for staff to follow to help them manage and minimise risk factors. Without this clear guidance staff are unsure what action to take, leaving children vulnerable. For example, despite known incidents of a child being bullied, this is not identified on their individual risk assessment. As a result, there are no strategies identified for staff to follow to ensure that they can consistently respond and safeguard the child. Consequently, bullying episodes have continued to take place. In addition, the bullying procedure has not been implemented in line with the organisation’s own policies.

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This monitoring visit

Managers and staff do not take effective action to ensure that children are kept safe from harm. The risk management plans for children who are at risk of criminal Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: SC025395 2 exploitation do not include effective strategies and guidance to ensure that staff know how to manage these risks. Consequently, children remain at risk of criminal exploitation.

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This monitoring visit

Managers and staff are unclear about their responsibilities in keeping children safe and have not taken sufficient action to help each child to understand how to keep safe, in particular, when children display self-injurious behaviour. One child was reported to have attempted to use her bedroom curtain as a ligature. There was no record of this incident, despite the child and staff confirming this event had occurred. In addition, the child’s risk assessment did not identify strategies or modifications to the environment to protect the child from any further incidents.

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This monitoring visit

Risk assessments are of poor quality and have not been updated following serious incidents. For example, one child had gone into other children’s bedrooms when they were asleep to use their mobile phones. This was not detailed in the child’s risk assessment and no strategies have been put in place to protect other children from this risk. One younger child, who has recently left the home, has made a serious safeguarding allegation in relation to this older child. Ofsted has not been notified of this incident to allow them to undertake effective monitoring and risk assessment of the setting.

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This monitoring visit

Inspectors identified that children have not benefited from a comprehensive referral, or a thorough assessment of their needs. Children have moved into the home without a clear an assessment of their compatibility with other children living in the home. This does not ensure that children are appropriately placed and that the staff team is able to meet their needs.

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This monitoring visit

Children’s transitions in and out of the home are not carefully planned. For example, prior to a child coming to the home, managers completed a limited assessment about the suitability of this placement. Specifically, there was no assessment of how well matched the new child was with the existing group of children and known concerns about bullying were not carefully considered. Consequently, bullying incidents have continued to occur and this has affected the child at both home and school. In addition, the assessment to consider whether the staff at the home could meet the needs of the child took place on the day he moved in, when a placement had already been agreed. This poor planning had the potential to impact upon the safety and welfare of all children.

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This monitoring visit

One child had been moved between the home’s two settings without appropriate planning. The impact of this poor planning led to significant incidents involving a child. For example, a child gained access to prescribed medication and ligature- cutting equipment without the knowledge of staff. This placed the child at risk of harm.

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This monitoring visit

The home currently has no registered manager, since the retirement of the previous registered manager in July 2020. An interim manager has been identified to manage the home since October 2020. As yet, this arrangement has not been finalised Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: SC025395 3 through the recruitment process and as a result an application to register has not been received by Ofsted.

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This monitoring visit

Prior to the registered manager taking retirement she had not been in the home since March 2020. This was due to government guidance in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic. Ineffective day-to-day management has impacted on the quality of care provided for children and a number of regulatory shortfalls have been identified as a result. Furthermore, some staff have had no clear direction and leadership, which has impacted on their ability to provide a consistent team approach towards caring for children.

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This monitoring visit

Inspectors found shortfalls in record-keeping in the home. For example, the admission and discharge register is not maintained in line with regulation. The home’s statement of purpose has been sent to Ofsted in draft format and as a result the arrangements for the function of the home are not clear.

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This monitoring visit

The current management team does not have effective oversight of the home. This lack of oversight has resulted in managers being unaware of a number of shortfalls in the home. Furthermore, the system to monitor and have oversight of incidents, to improve services for children, is poor. Inspectors found there was a lack of evaluation and management oversight of restraints and sanctions. For example, following one restraint, a member of staff used internal procedures to notify managers that a child was held unlawfully. Records show that the child had been given a debrief by the person who was subject to the allegation. No management oversight had taken place prior to this allegation being raised by the inspectors on the day of the visit.

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This monitoring visit

A further example was in regard to care planning for a child. The plan is that the child writes on a board each day about her feelings. This should be monitored and shared with her mental health professionals. An inspector saw she had written statements about wanting to end her life. However, there is no record that this information had been logged and shared with professionals involved in her care to ensure that appropriate action and responses could be planned.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 27/11/2019 Full Good 07/08/2018 Full Good 17/10/2017 Full Good 27/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: SC025395 4

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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 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

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

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;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop the understanding and skills to recognise or withdraw from a damaging, exploitative or harmful relationship;

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Requirement Due date

de-escalate confrontations with or between children, or potentially violent behaviour by children; 24 January 2021 Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: SC025395 5 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.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(xi)(xii)(xiii))

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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;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)) 24 January 2021

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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

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

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. 15 January 2021 Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: SC025395 6 (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

*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; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the 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 children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)) 15 January 2021

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular the registered person must ensure that— medicines kept in the home are stored in a secure place so as to prevent any child from having unsupervised access to them.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 23 (1) (2)(a)) 24 January 2021

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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 and location of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration; 24 January 2021 Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: SC025395 7 details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person who used the measure ("the user"), and of 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.

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Requirement Due date

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

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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

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation;

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child — is instigated; or concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or 24/01/2021 Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: SC025395 8 there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e))

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Requirement Due date

*These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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Information about this inspection

The purpose of this visit was to monitor the action taken and the progress made by the children’s home since its last Ofsted inspection.

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Information about this inspection

This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000.

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Children’s home details

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

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Inspectors

Jessica Forshaw, Social Care Inspector Suzanne Birchall, Social Care Inspector Denise Jolly, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: SC025395 9 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

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