Children's Home run by Resilience North East Limited in Durham

Inspection report children’s home: 1248773 1 Registered provider: Resilience North East Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned and managed by a private provider. It is registered to provide care for up to five children who may have emotional and/or social difficulties and/or learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The home was registered with Ofsted in February 2017. The manager was registered in September 2021. There is only one child currently living in the home.

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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 17 May 2021 to carry out a monitoring visit. The report is published on our website.

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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 inadequate

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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: 17 September 2019

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good Inspection report children’s home: 1248773 2

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

A monitoring visit was carried out on 24 February 2021 in response to information received by Ofsted which suggested potential breaches in regulations. Following the visit, Ofsted issued a restriction of accommodation notice to prevent any other children being admitted to the home. Three compliance notices were also issued under regulations 6, 12 and 13 to address the serious concerns relating to children being provided with poor and unsafe living conditions, poor risk management and widespread failings in the leadership and management of the home.

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

A monitoring visit was carried out on 6 April 2021 to review the action taken by the provider. There were no children living in the home. The inspector found that the provider had failed to meet all the steps in the compliance notices issued under regulations 12 and 13 and these were reissued. The restriction of accommodation notice remained in place.

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

A further monitoring visit was conducted on 17 May 2021 to review the action taken by the provider. There were no children living in the home. The inspector found that the provider had met all of the steps in the compliance notices issued under regulations 12 and 13. Ofsted lifted the restriction of accommodation notice. Inspection report children’s home: 1248773 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

17/09/2019 Full Good 19/06/2018 Full Good 24/01/2018 Interim Improved effectiveness 15/08/2017 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 1248773 4

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improvement to be good

There is one child currently living in the home. This child moved in after the last inspection. No other children have lived in the home since the last inspection.

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improvement to be good

There is a significant shortage of staff at the home. This has resulted in the manager serving notice on the child’s placement soon after the child moved in. This additional move is an unsettling, poor experience for this child.

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improvement to be good

The home has been completely refurbished and is very well presented. There are a range of books and toys, including items for sensory play that are appealing to the child’s specific interests.

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improvement to be good

Staff have registered the child with the necessary health professionals and take the child to routine medical appointments. The child is supported by the staff to see medical specialists for the child’s more complex needs. The manager shares information gained from health professionals with her team to help them to understand how to support the child’s health.

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improvement to be good

The manager has taken steps to help to find the child an education provision and secured educational taster days. However, there is insufficient information available to fully assess the requirement previously issued under regulation 8, the education standard. For this reason, this requirement has been reissued.

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improvement to be good

The manager had arranged for the staff to attend specialist training prior to the child’s admission to help the staff to understand the child’s needs. However, this training has not been effective in ensuring that all the staff are sufficiently skilled, knowledgeable or experienced to meet the child’s assessed needs.

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improvement to be good

There have been no serious incidents or restraints during the child’s placement. The manager ensures that there are always staff on shift who are appropriately trained in restraint should the need arise to help ensure the child’s safety.

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improvement to be good

The manager scrutinises the administration of medication and addresses potential issues to improve the practice of her team. This helps to ensure that the child is safe.

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improvement to be good

Staff complete all the required health and safety checks and report maintenance issues, which are promptly addressed. Inspection report children’s home: 1248773 5 The child has been supported by the staff to complete a fire drill so that they know what to expect if a fire breaks out in the home. There is a personal emergency evacuation plan in place for the staff to follow to help them to understand how to support the child in an emergency.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The significant turnover of staff has resulted in the remaining staff, including the manager, being required to work additional shifts. The use of agency staff has increased so that there are enough staff to care for the child. These measures are not sustainable and there is no suitable action plan to address the staffing issue. Consequently, the child must move out of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager has failed to identify when further information is required from the child’s placing local authority regarding the child’s needs. The lack of information has not been challenged or escalated, limiting the information available to help the staff to understand the child’s current needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff fail to use the systems in place to record daily observations of the child, limiting the information available to understand the child’s current or emerging needs. The manager’s attempts to address this issue with her team have been unsuccessful as failures to use these systems effectively continue.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager being required to provide a caring role in addition to her managerial tasks has had a negative impact on her ability to maintain effective monitoring systems. A suitable action plan is not in place to address this serious shortfall. Inspection report children’s home: 1248773 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

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs;

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person 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 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

that staff— 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

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

maintain regular contact with each child’s education and training provider, including engaging with the provider and the placing authority to support the child’s education and training and to maximise the child’s achievement; 22 November Inspection report children’s home: 1248773 7 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;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the child’s relevant plans.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(x))

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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

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

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

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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)(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(h)) 22 November

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Recommendation

Inspection report children’s home: 1248773 8  The registered manager should ensure that all the children’s case records are kept up to date and signed and dated by the author of each entry. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3)

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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: 1248773 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Resilience North East Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Fox Street, Felling, Gateshead NE10 0BD

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Inspector

Paula Kelly, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1248773 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. The Office for S to achieve exce learners of all a Children and Fa training, furthe prisons and oth services for chi

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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