Children's home run by Nestlings Care Limited

Inspection report children’s home: 2510604 1 Registered provider: Nestlings Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is privately operated and provides care for up to four children who may have mental disorders and/or learning disabilities. The manager has been registered with Ofsted since August 2020.

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Information about this children’s home

Due to COVID-19 (coronavirus), at the request of the Secretary of State, Ofsted suspended all routine inspections of social care providers on 17 March 2020.

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Information about this children’s home

Ofsted last visited this setting on 12 January 2021 to carry out a monitoring visit. The report is published on the Ofsted website.

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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: outstanding

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 2510604 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/03/2020 Full Outstanding Inspection report children’s home: 2510604 3

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improvement to be good

Clear transition planning and matching of children mean that children experience a positive move into the home. Children spoken to are happy in the home and have made progress. However, this is not easy to track, as goals set have not been reviewed.

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improvement to be good

Two of the children are not currently in the home as they currently require additional medical support. Arrangements have been made for staff to visit and support children regularly. Consideration of short visits at the home is positive; however, maintenance is required to ensure that this is safe.

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improvement to be good

Children’s bedrooms are personalised. Staff encourage children to clean and tidy their bedrooms to build their independence skills. More support is required to ensure that bedrooms are regularly cleaned and free from any potential hazards.

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improvement to be good

Children are making progress with their education. However, children do not have a current education assessment or plan to support their current and future needs. Without an assessment or a plan, staff cannot make sure that children are achieving their full potential.

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improvement to be good

Children have been able to go out for walks and shopping. Their need for support when in the community has reduced. As a result, children are able to exercise more and be part of the community.

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improvement to be good

Staff are conducting some life skills work with children; however, children do not have assessments and plans to support their future. Consequently, staff are not clear on the specific support they should be offering. This means that children are not prepared for adulthood.

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improvement to be good

Clear risk management plans are in place that are reviewed regularly by the multidisciplinary team. However, there have been occasions when staff have not followed the strategies in the plans and serious incidents have taken place. Senior managers have assessed records and made recommendations, but some of the more practical changes to prevent reoccurrence have not been considered.

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improvement to be good

Restraint is often required to keep children safe; for some, frequency has reduced. This is due to the progress made with emotional health. Children have not been offered advocacy routinely after restraint. This reduces their opportunity to express their feelings to an independent person. Inspection report children’s home: 2510604 4 Records of restraint do not clearly describe the incident including the holds used and when, and are not reviewed and signed by all involved. Improvements required in language used and detail required have not been addressed by the manager. This reduces the opportunity for developing staff skills in de-escalating and recording.

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improvement to be good

Staff and managers have not been proactive in assessing risk around the home. Damage has not always been repaired with urgency. Children who self-harm regularly require staff to be more vigilant.

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good

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since 2020 and is qualified. Some improvements have been made in the manager’s oversight and evaluation of records. However, staff have not received regular supervision and do not feel that there is enough time for reflection. Staff feel that they lack clear direction.

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good

There continues be a high turnover of staff. Although efforts have been made to address this by using consistent agency staff, several staff do not have the skills and experience to work with complex mental health needs. Managers’ monitoring of training completed continues to be poor.

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good

Staff are recruited using the principles of safer recruitment. However, further improvements are needed to ensure that all gaps in employment and relevant historical information are explored. This curiosity is required to ensure that all who work in the home are safe to work with the children.

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good

Independent visits take place and reports are produced; however, this is not always monthly. Reports do not always include the visitor’s opinion of whether children are safeguarded effectively and if their well-being is promoted. Although relevant actions are identified, several areas are left unexplored. This means that oversight and potential improvements are limited.

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good

Complaints are not always logged appropriately. When complaints have been investigated, responses have not always been open to reflection and learning. This has impacted on the relationships between children, parents and professionals. Inspection report children’s home: 2510604 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, the 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—

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Requirement Due date

that staff 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

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

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;

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Requirement Due date

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished, and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health.

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Requirement Due date

This relates to staff understanding and implementation of each individual child’s risk assessment, and their role in keeping children safe, particularly with regards to risks of self-harm.

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Requirement Due date

This relates to ensuring that the environment is regularly cleaned, and potential hazards are repaired or removed.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last monitoring visit and is restated. 31 July 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 31 July 2021 Inspection report children’s home: 2510604 6 relation to the children’s home that helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare.

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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

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

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Requirement Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received;

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Requirement Due date

and use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(d)(g)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to the registered person implementing steps to improve practice and ensuring that the team is consistent.

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Requirement Due date

This also relates to accurate records being kept monitoring training.

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Requirement Due date

This also refers to ensuring that agreed staffing levels with placing authorities are accurately reflected within plans and adhered to.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last monitoring visit and is restated. The care planning standard is that children 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 that arrangements are in place to—

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Requirement Due date

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. (Regulation 14 (1)(a) (2)(b)(ii)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

This refers to managers following escalation processes when needed to ensure that children have pathway plans and personal education plans. These plans then need to be used to inform the day-to-day care. 31 July 2021 Inspection report children’s home: 2510604 7 The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may only employ an individual to work at the children’s home if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

the individual is of integrity and good character; and

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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. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a) (3)(a)(d))

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Requirement Due date

This refers to the registered person exploring gaps in employment and any relevant historical information in order to ensure that all staff are safe to work with children. 31 July 2021

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; and have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This refers to all staff receiving regular supervision, with increased support for staff during their probationary period. 31 July 2021

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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 a description of the measure and its duration. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

This refers specifically to staff describing the holds clearly within the context of the intervention. All involved must review and sign the record to check and confirm accuracy. Children must be offered advocacy after being restrained.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last monitoring visit and is restated. 31 July 2021

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children’s home at least once each month.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must produce a report about a visit (“the independent person’s report”) which sets out, in particular, the independent person’s opinion as to whether 31 July 2021 Inspection report children’s home: 2510604 8 children are effectively safeguarded; and the conduct of the home promotes children’s well-being. (Regulation 44 (1) (4)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to the independent visitor reviewing all relevant areas, to then make a conclusion of the visitor’s opinion about whether children have been effectively safeguarded and their well-being promoted.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that a record is made of any complaint, the action taken in response, and the outcome of any investigation. (Regulation 39 (3))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to the registered person ensuring that all complaints are logged for transparency. Investigations into complaints also need to be impartial and open to learning to ensure that relationships are maintained. 31 July 2021

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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: 2510604 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Nestlings Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Suite 4, 1 Derby Street, Leigh, Lancashire WN7 4PF

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Anthony Thompson

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Inspectors

Sylvia Eboigbe, Social Care Inspector Carly Quinn, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2510604 10 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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