Children's Home run by Platinum Services for Children (Residential Care) Ltd in Staffordshire

Inspection report children’s home: 2503915 1 Registered provider: Platinum Services for Children (Residential Care) Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is one of four homes owned by an independent provider. The home, which Ofsted registered in June 2019, cares for up to three children with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home has a registered manager, who holds a level 5 diploma in leadership, health and social care.

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Information about this children’s home

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

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Information about this children’s home

We last visited this setting on 9 February 2021 to carry out a monitoring visit. The report is published on our website.

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Inspection dates: 11 to 12 May 2021

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people , taking into account good

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Inspection dates: 11 to 12 May 2021

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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Inspection dates: 11 to 12 May 2021

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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Inspection dates: 11 to 12 May 2021

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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Inspection dates: 11 to 12 May 2021

Date of last inspection: 5 February 2020

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Inspection dates: 11 to 12 May 2021

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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Inspection dates: 11 to 12 May 2021

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 2503915 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

05/02/2020 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 2503915 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children say that they are happy living in this home. There have been no further incidents of children showing aggressive or bullying behaviour towards each other within the house. They recently visited a local theme park together. Parents and teachers report that the children talk about the fun they had together on the rides.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children develop good relationships with staff, and enjoy activities such as playing golf and baking with them. This helps children to develop trust with staff who understand their needs. Staff use the good relationships that they have with children to discuss important matters such as choosing friends and apprenticeships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the monitoring visit in February 2021, one child has moved into semi- independent accommodation and a new child has moved into the home. This child has brought his hamster and some furniture from home. This helps to reassure him that staff listen to children’s wishes. As a result, he has settled in quickly.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children are making progress from their starting points. One child has achieved 100% school attendance. Staff reward children for good schoolwork, which motivates children to engage. Another child has recently started to return home earlier from his free time. This reduces his level of risk and the frequency that staff report him as missing to the police.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager does not ensure that the maintenance team repairs damage in a timely way. A window restrictor needs replacing and damage to door frames and a windowsill require repair. This does not create the homely environment that the registered manager and staff promote for children.

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

Staff assess children’s risks and know how to help children to stay safe. Staff work closely with parents and agencies working with the children who live in this home. When children are in the community, staff are proactive in maintaining regular contact with them or their friends. Staff provide a consistent message to encourage children to share information and return home safely.

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

Staff manage children’s behaviour without using physical interventions. Staff use praise to promote positive behaviour. This encourages children to develop confidence through their personal achievements. One child is now exploring his ambition to transition from a specialist provision to a mainstream school.

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

The registered manager notifies Ofsted of serious or significant patterns of events. However, on one occasion, the registered manager did not inform Ofsted of a serious event. The inspector was therefore unable to monitor additional circumstances around risk to a child. Inspection report children’s home: 2503915 4 Staff respond appropriately after an incident to prevent a reoccurrence of risk to children. However, on one occasion, staff did not show professional curiosity when alerted by a change in the child’s behaviour. They did not complete an additional bedroom check, which may have reduced the risk associated with the serious incident.

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

The registered manager has installed additional monitoring devices to safeguard children. Social workers consent to this additional oversight by staff. However, the registered manager has not updated the statement of purpose to reflect this agreement with placing authorities.

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

Staff identified a fault in the activating of the landing sensors during the inspection. The registered manager instructed staff to activate the house alarm until an engineer can fix the sensor fault. This ensures that children are still safe living in the home.

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

The registered manager oversees safe recruitment of staff to care for the children. However, he has not updated the statement of purpose to reflect that one staff member has left. This does not provide an accurate record of staff numbers and skills within this children’s home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager understands the home’s strengths and weaknesses. He responds promptly to address shortfalls. He acts to develop staff’s skills and improve the care they give to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager oversees children’s plans and their progress. When there are concerns, he communicates with professionals and implements new systems, such as a tracker sheet. The tracker sheet monitors patterns of behaviour and alerts the registered manager to new risks, which he proactively responds to.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff describe feeling valued in their roles and they create a friendly and lively atmosphere within the home. One staff member writes, ‘The staff and management are very supportive, and everyone works well as a team to provide the best possible care for our children.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager shares information about children promptly with staff. However, leaders do not share guidance for staff about the setting and auditing of the new landing sensors as effectively as they should. As a result, staff do not always record when they activate both the house alarm and the sensors. The registered manager does not review the logbook and instruct staff to evidence the oversight they provide as they are monitoring children at night.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

All staff receive training around first aid and safeguarding. However, not all staff receive training around child criminal exploitation. Therefore, some staff do not have the knowledge and skills to understand and intervene as well as they could. Inspection report children’s home: 2503915 5 Inspection report children’s home: 2503915 6

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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 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 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)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This relates specifically to staff showing professional curiosity and completing additional checks when children display a change in behaviour, and ensuring that landing sensors are functioning when activated. 25 June 2021

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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 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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(d))

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Requirement Due date

This relates specifically to ensuring regular maintenance of the premises and prompt repair to damage, and ensuring that faults in the functioning of landing sensors are fixed. 25 June 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

promotes their welfare. 25 June 2021 Inspection report children’s home: 2503915 7 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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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)(b) (2)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This relates specifically to the registered manager cascading guidance to staff about how they record the setting of landing sensors and the recording of night-time routines for children. In addition, this relates to the registered manager improving the weekly audits to include review of the house alarm and landing sensors.

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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

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

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Requirement Due date

This relates specifically to ensuring that all staff receive training around child criminal exploitation. 25 June 2021

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that they review the statement of purpose to include the introduction of monitoring and surveillance to safeguard children and also to update the placing authority with the current staffing structure. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 14, paragraph 3.5)  The registered person should ensure that they notify Ofsted of all matters relating to the safeguarding of children which they consider to be serious. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.10) Inspection report children’s home: 2503915 8

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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: 2503915 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Platinum Services for Children (Residential Care) Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: The Apex, 2 Sheriffs Orchard, Coventry, Warwickshire CV1 3PP

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Leonard Pattinson

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Inspector

Joanna Warburton, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2503915 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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