Children's Home run by Hexagon Care Services Limited in Blackpool

Inspection report children's home: SC480704 1 SC480704 Registered provider: Hexagon Care Services Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children's home

The home is owned by a private provider. It provides care for up to five children who are unable to live at home due to emotional and/or behavioural needs.

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Information about this children's home

The registered manager has been in post since June 2019.

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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: 13 November 2019

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: None Inspection report children's home: SC480704 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/11/2019 Full Good 22/01/2019 Full Good 20/12/2017 Full Outstanding 08/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children's home: SC480704 3

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improvement to be good

Progress for children is mixed, with some children doing well in all areas and some children not progressing so well. Equally, children’s experiences of living at the home varies. Some children have lived through poor events but have also enjoyed some positive experiences and forged positive relationships with staff.

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improvement to be good

The registered manager and staff have helped children to overcome barriers to education. As a result, all children living in the home are engaged in full time education or attending college. One child has recently obtained several GCSE’s.

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improvement to be good

Staff have supported one child to gain part time employment. This has increased the child’s confidence and independence. Staff help children to develop independence skills such as shopping, budgeting, cooking, and cleaning. Progress is monitored, and this identifies where further work is required.

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improvement to be good

Staff and the manager do not always challenge the placing authority when they have concerns about children’s care plans. As a result, this has led to one child being away from the home for a significant length of time.

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improvement to be good

Children are encouraged to engage in a range of activities, including outdoor events and local football teams to broaden their experiences and feel like part of the community.

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improvement to be good

Staff arrange appropriate contact with family and friends. Contact for some has increased, enabling them to spend more time with extended family.

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improvement to be good

Children are given opportunities to share their views on their care and the daily routines of the home. Positive relationships with staff enable children to raise any concerns at any time. They know how to make a complaint and whom to talk to if they have a concern.

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improvement to be good

Risk management is not consistent in the home. This means that children are not al- ways effectively safeguarded.

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improvement to be good

The staff demonstrate good knowledge and understanding of risks to children and the protective strategies in place. However, the quality of written risk assessments is variable and at times information is inconsistent or missing. This means that staff are not able to effectively safeguard children. This also reflects weaknesses in the manager’s monitoring of the paperwork. Inspection report children's home: SC480704 4 A child has spent several weeks away from the home which has resulted in the child being at risk of significant harm.

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improvement to be good

The use of physical intervention is minimal which evidence’s staff’s skills and ability to form positive relationships with children. Furthermore, rewards and consequences are used effectively to help children learn about how their behaviour can affect themselves and others.

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improvement to be good

There is evidence of some meaningful discussions with children when there are con- cerns about bullying and staff are alert to covert bullying and the impact this has for children.

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improvement to be good

Staff and the manager have undertaken a range of training in safeguarding matters. This ensures that they have some basic knowledge of safeguarding practice

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improvement to be good

Shortfalls in recruitment practice were identified. For example, a full employment history and verification of a staff members application were not followed by the pro- vider. Subsequently, the member of staff was subject to an allegation from a child living in the home. Poor recruitment checks mean that children’s safety and wellbe- ing is compromised. As a result, children have not been fully protected from unsuita- ble adults.

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good

The registered manager is experienced in his role and evidences a good understand- ing of children’s needs. He has a good relationship with all the children in the home.

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good

There have been several staffing changes which has impacted on the ratio of the team. The team are predominantly male which was highlighted to the manager dur- ing the inspection. The manager states he has taken steps to address this.

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good

Staff say that they feel supported in their roles, team meetings have taken place, which allows the team being able to share ideas and come together.

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good

Monitoring requires improvement. Shortfalls were identified in several children’s rec- ords. The manager said that he has been caring directly for children at times, which has impacted on his ability to regularly monitor.

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good

Staff are either qualified to the appropriate level or are currently undertaking the rel- evant course. This means that the child receives support from suitably qualified staff.

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good

The manager failed to ensure that staff received relevant training specific to a child’s needs. For example, no training has been undertaken in relation to attention deficit Inspection report children's home: SC480704 5 hyperactivity disorder. This is despite a recommendation being made at the homes last inspection regarding this training.

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good

Staff do not always work effectively with external agencies. Failure to collaborate on a multi-agency basis means that children’s outcomes may be negatively impacted.

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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 involve each child’s placing authority effectively in the child’s care, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans; 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; and

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Requirement Due date

seek to develop and maintain effective professional relationships with such persons, bodies or organisations as the registered person considers appropriate having regard to the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the children’s home is to provide care and accommodation.

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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— that staff—

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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; 10 November Inspection report children's home: SC480704 6 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

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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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

that the effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(i)(iii)(iv)(vi)(b)(e)) 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 promotes their welfare. 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

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.

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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)(h)) 10 November

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Requirement Due date

Fitness of workers The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children's safety.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may only— 10 November Inspection report children's home: SC480704 7 employ an individual to work at the children's home if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3). The requirements are that—

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Requirement Due date

the individual is of integrity and good character; the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform; the individual is mentally and physically fit for the purposes of 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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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs. Specifically, source and provide staff with training that will help them to better understand how to support young people with ADHD and Foetal Alcohol Syndrome. ('Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards', page 53, paragraph 10.11).

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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: SC480704 8

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Hexagon Care Services Ltd

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: Unit 1 Tustin Court, Riversway, Preston, Lancashire, PR2 2YQ

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Inspector

Rachel Springford, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: SC480704 9 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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