Children's Home run by Pathway Care Solutions Ltd in Nottinghamshire

Inspection report children’s home: SC390190 1 SC390190 Registered provider: Pathway Care Solutions Ltd Full 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 private provider and is registered to provide care for up to three children and young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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good

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

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good

Date of last inspection: 19 November 2019

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC390190 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/11/2019 Full Outstanding 10/10/2018 Full Outstanding 02/01/2018 Full Outstanding 07/02/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC390190 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have good relationships with one another, and they have lived at the home for a long time. They experience placement stability, which supports them to make progress. Children spend time doing activities with the staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children attend education every day, and teachers described ongoing communication with staff as ‘excellent’. Some children are making good progress academically and are managing to cope within a school environment. When safeguarding situations happen at school, managers are responsive to ensure that children are safe. Professionals and family described care provided to children as ‘brilliant’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s plans are reviewed often, and there are regular discussions with children about what is important to them. Children’s paperwork is clear because risks and behaviour action plans are well understood and communicated. There have been delays regarding one child’s health assessments; however, the acting manager has been proactive in trying to achieve outcomes for the child so that a full assessment of their needs can be made. These delays have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s medical appointments are maintained, and the acting manager has been proactive in advocating for one child’s health needs to be further assessed. All children access therapy.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is well decorated. However, when children deface their bedroom walls, effective immediate action is not taken to remove inappropriate images.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Unfortunately, there is a high staff turnover, and some staff have left without sufficient notice. This has resulted in children being unable to say goodbye properly. The staff team is predominantly female, and although the manager has made efforts to address this there are not enough male role models for children.

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

Risks are increased for one child in the community because the child uses discriminatory language towards staff and members of the public. In response to this, managers have increased staff supervision of the child in the community.

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

Where children have shown a pattern of discriminatory language, this has been challenged, and there are regular focused work sessions with children about discriminatory language and attitudes. This work has included use of resources from ‘Show Racism the Red Card’, and visits to the National Holocaust Museum. Staff have been professionally curious about why certain children may exhibit Inspection report children’s home: SC390190 4 discriminatory behaviours and have adapted their approaches to try to meet any additional learning needs that a child may have.

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

When children are involved in incidents, these are clearly recorded, and triggers for behaviours are identified. The acting manager regularly consults with children’s therapists and is proactive in implementing therapeutic plans for children. Incidents and physical interventions are clearly recorded, and de-briefs happen with children and staff.

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

Although, there are some committed longstanding staff who the children trust, children struggle being cared for by new staff because this makes them feel anxious. For example, the children will not eat food that new staff make and are less confident to confide in them about their emotional health. Newer staff have struggled to cope with some of the children’s behaviours, and some staff have been injured by children.

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

Overall, managers work hard to ensure that they protect children and keep them safe. This can be challenging due to the complex patterns of behaviour that some children display.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Currently, there is no registered manager in post. However, the home’s deputy manager has now applied to register. In the interim, she is the home’s acting manager. Due to her previous role as deputy manager, she has an established relationship with the children and staff. Staff described her as ‘dedicated, hardworking and supportive’.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The management arrangements provide the staff team with stability. Managers and staff are fully committed to providing a high standard of care to the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers understand children’s backgrounds and their starting points. They recognise when children are making progress or when they might be regressing. There have been challenging times for staff and managers, but staff described themselves as a team that ‘pulls together’. This has included staff and managers working more hours to provide children with improved consistency of care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Due to the team being short-staffed and the children’s needs being complex, not all new staff have had the relevant training needed to equip them to meet the needs of the children in their care. Furthermore, established staff have fewer opportunities to complete training courses during the daytime while children are at school. There is an identified gap in training, as the team does not have enough training in disability. However, the manager is working hard to address this and has outsourced further training.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team has not always been harmonious in terms of communication and teamwork, which is an area that the new manager is trying to strengthen. The Inspection report children’s home: SC390190 5 manager has a full workload, but a new deputy manager has been appointed to assist her. Inspection report children’s home: SC390190 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should plan staffing levels to ensure that they meet the needs of children and can respond flexibly to unexpected events or opportunities. Staffing structures should promote continuity of care from the child’s perspective. If children complain, or give a view on how the staffing structure could be improved to promote the best care for them, appropriate action should be taken. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraph 10.15) This relates to managers employing enough staff who have the expertise and necessary skills and training to meet the needs of children who have complex needs.  The registered person should monitor and review the patterns and trends of turnover of staff, whether agency or directly employed, and be able to understand, and where possible address, any negative trends. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page

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Recommendations

54, paragraph 10.19) This relates to managers formally documenting what actions they will take to address any staffing concerns raised in supervisions. Furthermore, managers should continually review and evaluate staff retention, communication and organisation. Where possible, children would benefit from being cared for by a more diverse staff team in terms of gender.

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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: SC390190 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Pathway Care Solutions Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Atria, Spa Road, Bolton BL1 4AG

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Inspector

Andi Lilley-Tams, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC390190 8 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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