Children's home run by Esland North Limited

Inspection report children's home: 2634624 1 Registered provider: Esland North 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 owned. It provides care for one child with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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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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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

Date of last inspection: The home has not previously been inspected

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Not applicable

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: Not applicable Inspection report children's home: 2634624 2

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Recent inspection history

Not previously inspected. Inspection report children's home: 2634624 3

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improvement to be good

There are shortfalls in safeguarding practice. Staff have not followed the child’s risk assessments or consulted with managers. This has placed the child at increased risk of harm. Additionally, managers have not always responded to identified shortfalls in a timely manner. As a result, this home is not yet providing good care in all areas of the child’s life.

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improvement to be good

Despite the shortfalls, the child is making progress. Staff ensure that the child attends school daily. This is a positive achievement, because he had missed a considerable amount of education before moving to the home. The child has opportunity to pursue his interests. Staff support him to play football, and he attends a music studio which he enjoys. As a result, the child has made friends and increased his confidence.

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improvement to be good

The child is developing relationships with staff. He has started to talk to them about his experiences and knows he will be listened to. The child attends meetings regarding his care, and he is supported to express his views. This helps the child to feel included in planning for his future.

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improvement to be good

The manager and staff have worked hard to provide a comfortable and homely environment. The child spends time with his family and friends at the home. The arrangements are regularly reviewed, allowing flexibility in keeping with the child’s wishes and feelings. This helps to make the child feel valued.

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improvement to be good

Staff encourage the child to attend health appointments. There are some appointments that are outstanding. The manager and staff recognise that the child needs more support to take part in routine medical procedures. They are working with the child and his professional network to achieve this.

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improvement to be good

The staff do not fully understand the risks for the child. The staff team have not had sufficient specialist training, which compromises their ability to fully understand and manage the risks for the child. This is significant because some staff are new to caring for children.

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improvement to be good

Staff’s care practice regarding risk assessments is poor. Risk assessments have been completed; however, staff have not consistently followed them. As a result, there have been instances where the child has been at increased risk of harm. Some of the child’s risk assessments are based on information that is confusing. For example, the required staffing ratio is being applied inconsistently in different contexts. This is unhelpful for staff and creates uncertainty. Inspection report children's home: 2634624 4 The child’s behaviour is managed well. There have been no incidents of physical intervention. Staff use achievements and incentives to promote positive behaviour. This maintains a sense of safety for the child and helps build trusting relationships.

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improvement to be good

The child is not going missing from the home. This demonstrates progress because the child was frequently reported as missing before moving to the home. As such, safety has increased for the child in this area of his life.

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improvement to be good

Staff have strategies in place to maintain internet safety. The child is supervised when online, and there is an agreement in place for mobile phone use. This helps the child to understand the potential risks as he becomes more independent.

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good

There have been shortfalls in the care and protection of children. The manager and leaders have attempted to address poor practice; however, this has not been effective. For example, on one occasion, managers missed an opportunity to address a significant incident. This led to a delay in the incident being dealt with formally. The manager and leaders realise mistakes were made. The manager and leaders understand that valuable lessons can be learned from these oversights.

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good

Staff receive monthly supervision and say that this is helpful. The training provided is not yet sufficient to fully meet the care needs of the child. The manager has now secured essential training for the staff to enable them to care for the child safely.

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good

The staff team has recently changed. This means the child is being cared for by staff from another home. The manager and leaders understand the importance of ensuring that the child receives consistent care from staff he knows. This helps to prevent disruption to him developing important bonds with carers. There is a plan in place to help strengthen the team to achieve this.

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good

There are positive relationships with key safeguarding agencies. The manager regularly attends relevant meetings about the child. Professionals report that communication is good and any incidents within the home are shared openly. Following the inspection, the manager and leaders recognise the importance of pursuing key information from professionals. This is to ensure that risk assessments contain the most up-to-date information for every context. Inspection report children's home: 2634624 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, 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

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking 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

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

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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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(v))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to managers and leaders ensuring that risk assessments are fully up to date and that staff have knowledge of them, understand them and are supported to follow them correctly. 27 September

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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— 27 September Inspection report children's home: 2634624 6 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

ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate;

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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 specifically relates to ensuring that the staff are working together following recent changes and that they all have the training required to care for the child safely.

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Recommendations

 The registered person must ensure the home has enough suitably trained staff on duty to meet assessed needs of all children in the home and that those staff are able to respond to emergency placements, where accepted. The registered person must demonstrate every effort to achieve continuity of staffing so that children’s attachments are not overly disrupted, including ensuring that the employment of any temporary staff will not prevent children from receiving the continuity of care that they need. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 51, paragraph 10.1)

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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: 2634624 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Esland North Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Esland Ltd, Suite 1, Riverside Business Centre, Foundry Lane, Milford, Belper DE56 0RN

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Inspector

Laura Walker, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: 2634624 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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