Children's home run by Phoenix Children’s Homes Limited in North Devon

Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: SC368137 1 SC368137

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Phoenix Childcare Ltd

Monitoring visit Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home provides care and accommodation for up to two children who may have emotional and behavioural difficulties. The home is operated by a private provider of education and care.

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Information about this children’s home

The previous registered manager resigned from the post on 9 July 2021. There is currently an acting manager in post.

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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

During the full inspection that took place on 21 and 22 June 2021 inspectors found that leaders and managers failed to demonstrate effective monitoring and oversight of practice. Leaders and managers had failed to escalate the seriousness of the concerns effectively regarding a child’s eating patterns. This is in relation to the child restricting her diet over a period, the subsequent significant weight loss and the potential risk this places on her immediate health and emotional well-being.

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Information about this children’s home

A compliance notice in relation to the leadership and management of the home was issued.

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Information about this children’s home

This monitoring visit was to review the progress made and to monitor the compliance notice.

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Information about this children’s home

Following the inspection senior leaders took immediate action to respond to the concerns. Management of the home was reviewed and an acting manager was appointed. Senior leaders along with the acting manager implemented an action plan to safeguard the child.

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Information about this children’s home

Senior leaders and the acting manager are appropriately supporting and directing the staff team. Additional staff have been brought in, enabling staff members to have respite from the continuing challenges they experience. In addition, a therapist Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: SC368137 2 employed by the company has provided opportunities for staff to reflect and seek advice.

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Information about this children’s home

Team meetings and supervision sessions have provided the staff with opportunities to reflect on how they support the child during an extremely emotionally challenging period for the staff.

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Information about this children’s home

Staff have made strenuous attempts to support the child during this period. Risk assessments are detailed and are approved by the local authority.

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Information about this children’s home

Senior leaders have continued to advocate for the child’s best interests and there is extensive evidence of challenge by all. Staff have captured the granular detail of the child’s eating patterns, and this has enabled the senior leaders to confidently challenge medical professionals. Among professionals, a high level of concern remains for the welfare of this child’s health.

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Information about this children’s home

The action plan has been submitted to Ofsted, and action to meet this plan has commenced. Leaders and managers have taken sufficient action to address the points on the compliance notice. Ofsted will continue to monitor the progress towards the remaining requirements and a second full inspection will take place.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 22/06/2021 Full Inadequate 25/07/2019 Full Good 13/05/2019 Full Inadequate 06/03/2019 Interim Declined in effectiveness Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: SC368137 3

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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 education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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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

help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

support each child’s learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study;

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Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment;

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally;

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Requirement Due date

raise any need for further assessment or specialist provision in relation to a child with the child’s education or training provider and the child’s placing authority;

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Requirement Due date

help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible; 27 August 2021 Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: SC368137 4 help each child to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vii)(viii)(x))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the child has access to meaningful learning opportunities that are in line with her learning needs.

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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.

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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

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; and

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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)(a) (2)(a)(g)(i)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to the manager ensuring that minutes of supervision sessions and post-incident debriefs record how staff are provided with time to reflect and learn from serious incidents, and that the home operates in line with its statement of purpose. 27 August 2021

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential. 27 August 2021 Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: SC368137 5 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

protect and promote each child’s welfare;

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Requirement Due date

provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand and manage the impact of any experience of abuse or neglect;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop resilience and skills that prepare the child to return home, to live in a new placement or to live independently as an adult;

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Requirement Due date

provide to children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(c)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to ensuring that the home is managed effectively, and that staff are provided with clear support and direction from leaders.

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Requirement Due date

Ensure that all documents that need to be, are ratified by the local authority social worker and include management oversight.

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Requirement Due date

Ensure that all support plans include informed strategies that help the staff protect the child from risk-taking behaviours. Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: SC368137 6 The health and well-being standard is that—

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Requirement Due date

the health and well-being needs of children are met;

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Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being; and

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Requirement Due date

children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles.

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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;

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Requirement Due date

understand the child’s health and well-being needs and the options that are available in relation to the child’s health and well-being, in a way that is appropriate to the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

take part in activities, and attend any appointments, for the purpose of meeting the child’s health and well-being needs; and

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Requirement Due date

understand and develop skills to promote the child’s well- being;

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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. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to the need for immediate action to safeguard the child from the serious impact of a restrictive diet on their health and emotional well-being. 27 August 2021

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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. 27 August 2021 Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: SC368137 7 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

meet each child’s behavioural and emotional needs, as set out in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop socially aware behaviour;

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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

understand how children’s previous experiences and present emotions can be communicated through behaviour and have the competence and skills to interpret these and develop positive relationships with children;

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Requirement Due date

are provided with supervision and support to enable them to understand and manage their own feelings and responses to the behaviour and emotions of children, and to help children to do the same;

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Requirement Due date

de-escalate confrontations with or between children, or potentially violent behaviour by children;

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Requirement Due date

understand and communicate to children that bullying is unacceptable; and Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: SC368137 8 have the skills to recognise incidents or indications of bullying and how to deal with them. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(ix)(x)(xi)(xii)(xiii))

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Requirement Due date

This is in relation to the need for urgent action to review all records to ensure that they are sufficiently detailed and reflect any actions taken, the decision-making processes and identified risks.

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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

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

Ensure that action is taken to protect the child from the risk of harm because of their self-injurious behaviours. 27 August 2021

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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. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b)) 27 August 2021

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

are kept up to date. (Regulation 36 (1)(b)) 27 August 2021 Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: SC368137 9 This relates to ensuring that all records are completed in full and are dated and signed by the author.

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Requirement Due date

supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed. (Regulation 45 (4)(a)) 27 August 2021

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Recommendations

 The importance of understanding who we are and where we come from is recognised in good social work practice, for example through undertaking life story work or other direct work. Staff in children’s homes should play a full role in work of this kind. In particular, the registered person should ensure that photos and memorabilia for each child are captured and stored in a way that will help them remember their experience of living in the home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.14)

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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: Phoenix Childcare Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Support Hub, Unit 5, Chinon Court, Lower Moor Way, Tiverton, Devon, EX16 6SS

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Stephen Nicholson

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Post vacant Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: SC368137 10

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Inspectors

Linda Bond, Social Care Inspector Ms Penelope Kutz, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home - monitoring visit: SC368137 11 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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