Children's home run by Esland North Limited

Inspection report children's home: 1274670 1 Registered provider: Esland North Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This privately owned children’s home provides care for up to two children who experience emotional and behavioural difficulties or learning disabilities.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

Due to COVID-19, at the request of the Secretary of State, we suspended all routine inspections of social care providers carried out under the social care common inspection framework (SCCIF) on 17 March 2020. We returned to routine SCCIF inspections on 12 April 2021.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home’s manager registered in October 2020 and holds a level 5 diploma in leadership and management for residential childcare.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

p.1

requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

p.1

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.

p.1

requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 2 December 2019

p.1

requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

p.1

requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: 1274670 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

02/12/2019 Full Outstanding 06/02/2019 Interim Improved effectiveness 28/11/2018 Full Good Inspection report children's home: 1274670 3

p.2

improvement to be good

Since the beginning of the year, three children have lived at the home, two of whom have now moved.

p.3

improvement to be good

Children have varied experiences of living at this home. For one child, staff supported her to attend school and become more independent, including spending time with friends. However, limited curiosity by managers about the needs and circumstances of another child meant that, when she moved into the home, staff could not meet her needs. While plans were made for her to move on, the other child living at the home at the time was exposed to a range of challenging behaviours, including her peer being physically aggressive towards staff and causing damage to the home.

p.3

improvement to be good

When children are having difficulties at school, the registered manager works in partnership with the other professionals to explore potential solutions. However, for one child who has struggled to attend school, staff have not had capacity to understand her barriers to learning and ensure that daily routines consistently support her readiness for school. This is because of the staff needing to meet the needs of another child at the home.

p.3

improvement to be good

Despite the challenges, staff continue to support children to engage in hobbies and activities. Staff encouragement helped one child to continue to draw, to explore her interest in dance and to develop skills in food preparation. Children have also enjoyed outings to attractions including the cinema, a cat café and Blackpool.

p.3

improvement to be good

When children move from the home, staff provide support tailored to meet the child’s individual needs. This helps reduce children’s anxieties about moving into their new home.

p.3

improvement to be good

In recent months, the home has suffered significant physical damage, including windows being broken. However, repairs have been completed and the home is now a comfortable and welcoming environment for children to live.

p.3

improvement to be good

Risk assessments are regularly reviewed and help staff to understand how to respond to and reduce children’s individual risks. However, arrangements for lone working do not consider what action the child should take if an emergency arises relating to the member of staff looking after them. This is a missed opportunity for ensuring that direct work with the child is undertaken to raise her understanding of how to raise the alarm and increase her safety should an unexpected event arise. Inspection report children's home: 1274670 4 Staff are trained to understand the organisation’s approach to behaviour management, including physical intervention. However, the behaviour management policy does not set out who the registered person has authorised to speak to the child after they have been restrained by staff. This means that, on one occasion, a child was spoken to by the staff member that restrained them. This potential conflict

p.3

improvement to be good

of interest reduces the opportunity for children to openly report concerns about staff practice should they have any. In addition, on one occasion, there was no evidence that either the staff member or the child had been spoken to after a physical intervention. This reduces the registered manager’s ability to evaluate whether behaviour management practice is safe and proportionate.

p.4

improvement to be good

Staff benefit from training that enhances their knowledge of safeguarding children, including the signs and symptoms of exploitation. On the rare occasion that a child has been missing from the home, staff have responded quickly and supported the child’s safe and timely return home.

p.4

improvement to be good

The registered manager ensures that organisational policies regarding the recruitment of staff are followed. This means that children are cared for by staff who have been appropriately vetted.

p.4

good

The complex needs of one child placed significant pressure on the staff team and resulted in managers having to prioritise their time, working alongside staff to ensure the safety and welfare of the children. During this time, managers were unable to maintain organisational expectations in respect of management oversight, including the supervision of staff. Consequently, during a very demanding time, staff did not have access to the individual support necessary to reflect on and develop their knowledge and practice.

p.4

good

Staff have access to a range of training to develop their understanding and skills. However, two members of staff have not completed a relevant level 3 award within the timescale required by regulation. This means it is not clear that they have all of the knowledge necessary for their role.

p.4

good

Since one child moved from the home, the registered manager has taken action to start reviewing key information and documents, including information for children. However, the children’s guide is not suitable for primary-aged children, it contains out-of-date information and it does not explain what advocacy is. This leaves children without key information and information that is easily accessible for them.

p.4

good

The perseverance and dedication of staff in supporting children through a recent time of challenge are admirable. However, only three full-time staff now remain working at this home. Managers have given the regulator assurance that only one child will remain living at the home while staff recruitment is undertaken. Inspection report children's home: 1274670 5

p.4

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.

p.5

Requirement Due date

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

p.5

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

p.5

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;

p.5

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. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(iii)(viii)) 17 December 2021

p.5

Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

p.5

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

p.5

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;

p.5

Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

p.5

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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(b)) 17 December 2021 Inspection report children's home: 1274670 6 This is in relation to ensuring that a clear lone working risk assessment is in place and that direct work is undertaken with the child about what to do in the event of an emergency.

p.5

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—

p.6

Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

p.6

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;

p.6

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. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(f))

p.6

Requirement Due date

This is in relation to ensuring that the registered manager has the capacity to undertake timely routine monitoring of the operation of the home. 19 November 2021

p.6

Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

p.6

Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a))

p.6

Requirement Due date

This is in relation to ensuring that the assessment of the service’s ability to meet a child’s needs prior to them living at the home is thorough and adequately considers the impact for them and any other child living at the home. 17 December 2021

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

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, 17 December Inspection report children's home: 1274670 7 if the individual satisfies requirements in paragraph (3).

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.7

Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b) and induvial who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained—

p.7

Requirement Due date

the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) (“the Level 3 Diploma”); or

p.7

Requirement Due date

a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma.

p.7

Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls 2 years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home; or

p.7

Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who was working in a care role in a home on 1st April 2014, 1st April 2016. (Regulation 32 (4)(a)(b)(5)(a)(b))

p.7

Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

p.7

Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33(4)(b)) 17 December 2021

p.7

Requirement Due date

The registered person must keep the behaviour management policy under review and, where appropriate, revise it.

p.7

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")—

p.7

Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

p.7

Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and 17 December 2021 Inspection report children's home: 1274670 8 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. (Regulation 35 (2) (3)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

p.7

Recommendation

 The children’s guide should help children to understand: - what the day-to-day routines of the home are (‘what happens in the home’); - the Statement of Purpose of the home (the care they can expect to receive while living there); - how to make a complaint in line with the home’s complaints procedure; - how they can access advocacy support or independent advocacy if eligible; and - how to contact the Office of the Children’s Commissioner. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 24, paragraph 4.22)

p.8

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: 1274670 9

p.8

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Esland North Limited

p.9

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Suite 1 & 5 , Riverside Business Centre, Foundry Lane, Milford, Belper, Derbyshire DE56 0RN

p.9

Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Jodie Whitehouse

p.9

Inspector

Alison Cooper, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: 1274670 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.

p.9

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.10

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.10

Inspector

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

p.10