Children's Home run by Pasture View Nurturing Homes Ltd in Lincolnshire

Inspection report children’s home: 2570253 1 Registered provider: Pasture View Nurturing Homes Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home is privately run. It provides care for up to four children with learning disabilities, specialising in autism spectrum disorder. Additionally, the children may have challenging behaviour and other conditions, such as attachment disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), epilepsy and dyspraxia.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been registered since 2020.

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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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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

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inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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inadequate

There are serious and/or widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded and/or the care and experiences of children and young people are poor and they are not making progress.

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inadequate

Date of last inspection: this is the first inspection since registration in March 2020.

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

Inspection report children’s home: 2570253 2 An assurance visit was carried out on 13 and 14 October 2020. At this visit, serious and widespread concerns were identified in relation to the care and protection of children and the leadership and management. Two compliance notices were issued in relation to the concerns identified, along with a notice to restrict the home’s accommodation.

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

A monitoring visit was carried out on 25 November 2020 to consider the progress made against the two compliance notices and the restriction notice set at the assurance visit in October 2020.

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

Ofsted was satisfied that the compliance notices had been met at the time of the visit in November 2020. The restriction notice (which prevented the provider from admitting any more children) expired on 8 December 2020.

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Recent inspection history

Not previously inspected Inspection report children’s home: 2570253 3

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inadequate

Children do not receive consistent care. The home is using agency staff due to staff vacancies and absences. Consequently, children do not always feel that they know or can trust all of the staff. Children do not have access to independent advocates or visitors. Some children need support to be able to express their views, wishes and feelings but this is not in place for them. One child raised several concerns about their placement and did not feel they had anyone independent they could turn to for support. Managers have attempted to source independent advocacy, but no progress has been made.

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inadequate

A recent placement of a child was not considered fully by managers. The registered manager states he did not feel they could meet the child’s complex needs but accepted the child into the home. He felt more training was needed for staff to be able to meet her needs, but this has not been put in place. The child is subject to deprivation of liberty safeguards. However, not all staff have received training regarding deprivation of liberty and several staff lacked awareness of the order and what it requires them to do. This has the potential for children to be placed at risk of harm.

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inadequate

One child is not in education. There are no immediate plans in place to address this. There is a risk that boredom could lead to frustration and an increase in self- harming behaviours.

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inadequate

Two children are approaching adulthood, but they do not have formal plans in place to support them in their transition from children’s services to independence or semi- independence. While formal planning, such as devising pathway plans, is the responsibility of the child’s local authority, the managers have not escalated their concerns to the relevant placing authorities. No clear work is being done to assess or support the children to prepare for their move to adulthood. Due to the complex needs of these children, it is imperative that they are well prepared for their move.

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inadequate

Records about children’s health needs, and how these needs should be met, are extremely poor. They lack detail of the outcomes of health appointments or plans for each child’s health needs. One child needs urgent support in relation to a particular health issue. Managers have failed to pursue the concerns with the community paediatrician or the looked-after children’s nurse. Managers have further failed to consider the potential triggers for the health-related issue or put in place supportive strategies.

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inadequate

Arrangements for children to see or keep in touch with family and significant others are inadequate. One child expressed their distress at not being able to see family members regularly. Another child, who had been having daily contact in school with a sibling, no longer sees them in the school setting. The child does not know the Inspection report children’s home: 2570253 4 reason for this or where their sibling is now, and no arrangements have been made by managers to address this. This lack of consideration regarding family contact risks causing emotional harm to children.

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inadequate

Children do not have access to the kitchen in the home. A keypad system means that only staff can access the kitchen. Given the high-staffing ratios in place for each child, this unnecessarily restricts their freedom of movement around the home. One child voiced their frustration at not being able to make their own drink, snacks or meals without having to ask permission. There has been no review of this practice. The responsible individual and the manager could not provide an explanation for this restriction being in place.

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inadequate

Records for children do not contain clear or up-to-date information. One child’s file had activity planners from August 2020, but none more recent. The manager states they no longer use the planners. This is one example of the extremely poor quality of recording. If children were to request access to their records, it would provide them with very little sense of their progress or experiences in this home.

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

Risks posed to and/or from children are not well recorded or acted upon by staff. The quality of children’s risk assessments was identified as a concern at the assurance visit in October 2020. Improvements were noted at the following visit in November 2020, but those improvements have not been sustained. One child’s risk assessment does not reflect all recent self-harm incidents. It states that all staff have received specific training to manage high-risk self-injurious behaviour, but there is no evidence that agency staff have received training.

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

Managers have failed to ensure that clear and robust procedures are in place in relation to responding to self-injurious behaviour. One child’s risk assessment requires staff to carry ligature cutters at all times, but this is not happening. Processes to sign ligature cutters in and out at the start and end of staff shifts have not been followed. There has been a lack of management oversight relating to this procedure and practice. The responsible individual was also unable to confirm whether or not the agency staff in the home have received relevant training. Given the high number of agency staff providing care, this is a concern.

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

Room searches are carried out daily for one child due to serious self-harm risks. There is no checklist in place to assist staff in knowing where they should search for items that may be used to self-harm. Children have been able to access harmful items, resulting in a child requiring hospital treatment on one occasion.

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

Recording of restraints is inadequate. Children are not routinely spoken with by a manager following restraints being used. This was identified as a shortfall at the monitoring visit in November 2020. Managers have failed to fully consider the views of children or learn from these incidents. Inspection report children’s home: 2570253 5 Fire evacuation drills have not taken place in a timely manner with children who are new to the home. All fire evacuation drills are carried out in the daytime. This does not ensure that children are familiar with what to do in the event of a fire at night, for example. This has the potential to place staff and children at risk of harm.

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

Allegations made against staff are not responded to effectively. Two members of staff were suspended following allegations from children of them using harmful and inappropriate language. A child alleged physical harm from a third staff member recently. No risk assessment was put in place by leaders and managers, and the staff member remained working in the home without any assessment of risk for a further 17 days. Managers failed to notify Ofsted of this incident. A further allegation about another staff member in April 2021 was not reported to Ofsted. Neither the placing authority nor Ofsted were informed. This is a failure to follow safeguarding processes, which is compounded by poor communication between leaders and managers at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The registered manager has resigned and will be leaving imminently. The deputy manager has resigned and is currently absent from her post. A new manager has been appointed but will not come into post until July 2021. A new deputy manager has been appointed and she came into post very recently. Several staff vacancies are being covered by both bank and agency staff. This does not provide consistency of care for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff have spoken about there being low morale in the team. Communication between the registered manager and the responsible individual is poor. This is affecting decision making, and how issues in the home are responded to. This is having a detrimental impact on the experiences and progress of children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Managers have failed to challenge placing authorities adequately when concerns arise about children’s needs not being met. There is a lack of communication with placing authorities.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Insufficient checks are carried out on agency staff working in the home. Managers have failed to ask the agencies used for details of employment histories, references, qualifications, skills or experience. Some documentation to verify an agency worker’s identity is out of date. Poor recruitment practices place children at risk of harm.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Managers have failed to provide regular practice-based supervision to staff working in the home. Managers do not provide the right supportive environment for staff. This is difficult for all staff, but particularly concerning for staff who are new to the home and do not know the children well. This impacts on the quality of care provided.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Managers have failed to adequately track and monitor staff training needs, including agency staff. The registered manager was not able to confirm if all staff had completed medication or first-aid training. The responsible individual was not aware Inspection report children’s home: 2570253 6 that at least three staff members had not completed deprivation of liberty safeguards training. She was also not able to confirm details of the training or experience regarding the agency staff used.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The home is not run in a manner that is consistent with its statement of purpose in several areas.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

As a result of this inspection, an immediate suspension notice was served on the home on 3 June 2021. This means that the home can no longer provide care or accommodation for children for an initial period of 12 weeks. Ofsted will monitor and review the situation during this period. Inspection report children’s home: 2570253 7

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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

If the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify Ofsted and each other relevant person without delay if—

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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

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)(b)(i)(ii)(c)) 2 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

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child; 2 August 2021 Inspection report children’s home: 2570253 8 are kept up to date; and

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry.

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Requirement Due date

children can access all appropriate areas of the children’s home’s premises; and

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Requirement Due date

any limitation place on a child’s privacy or access to any area of the home’s premises—

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Requirement Due date

is kept under review and, if necessary, revised; and

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Requirement Due date

allows children as much freedom as is possible when balanced against the need to protect them and keep them safe.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 21 (b)(c)(ii)(iii)(iv)) 2 August 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

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; and

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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

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

(Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii) (b)) 2 August 2021 Inspection report children’s home: 2570253 9 The children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

develop positive relationships with them;

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Requirement Due date

take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives.

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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

(Regulation 7 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(b)(iii)) 2 August 2021

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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 who is above compulsory school age to participate in further education, training or employment and to prepare for future care, education or employment.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(ix)) 2 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; and

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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.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— 2 August 2021 Inspection report children’s home: 2570253 10 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

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 each child 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

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; 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.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(f)(h)) 2 August 2021

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development; and

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience.

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Requirement Due date

After consultation with the fire and rescue authority, the registered person must—

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Requirement Due date

ensure, by means of fire drills and practices at suitable intervals, that persons working at the home and, so far as reasonably practicable, children are aware of the procedures to be followed in case of fire. 2 August 2021 Inspection report children’s home: 2570253 11 (Regulation 25 (1)(d))

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Requirement Due date

This refers to the need to carry out fire evacuation drills in a timely way when a new child comes to live at the home, or when there is a new member of staff. Fire evacuation drills should also be carried out at different times of the day.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or

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Requirement Due date

if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home,

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Requirement Due date

if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform; 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.

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Requirement Due date

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

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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; and 2 August 2021 Inspection report children’s home: 2570253 12 that each child’s relevant plans are followed.

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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: 2570253 13

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Pasture View Nurturing Homes Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 92 Linkside, Bretton, Peterborough, Northamptonshire PE3 8PA

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Inspectors

Tracy Murty, Social Care Inspector Laura Walker, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2570253 14 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

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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