Children's Home, Residential special school run by The Hesley Group Limited in Doncaster

Inspection report children’s home: 2564769 1 Registered provider: The Hesley Group 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 four children and young people with learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The home registered in March 2020. There is no registered manager. Currently, there are no children living at this home. There is one young person, who has reached the age of 18 years, living here.

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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.

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Information about this children’s home

We last visited this setting on 23 August 2021 to carry out a monitoring visit. The report is published on the Ofsted 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 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good Inspection report children’s home: 2564769 2 Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 2564769 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/06/2021 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 2564769 4

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improvement to be good

Care planning documents do not contain sufficient information to help the staff to understand how they should respond to some of the young person’s needs. Records contain references to guidance for the staff that does not exist. This limits the staff’s ability to provide the young person with consistent care.

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improvement to be good

When the young person faces issues with taking medication, staff seek medical advice. However, they do not always record the advice that they have been given. This shortfall exposes the young person to a potential risk of harm.

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improvement to be good

Staff respond promptly when the young person faces mental health issues. The staff share significant information with the relevant health professionals so that a recovery plan is promptly initiated. One parent commented, ‘The staff have been amazing in supporting [name of young person] with their mental health. I couldn’t have asked for more.’

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improvement to be good

Staff consult with education professionals each day so that any potential issues or barriers to learning are known. This supports the young person’s continued educational progression.

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improvement to be good

The home is clean, tidy and well maintained. The staff consult the young person when any changes to the home are made and, where possible, the young person’s requests are met. This inclusion helps the young person to understand that their opinions and wishes are listed to and valued.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not always raise safeguarding concerns promptly, and leaders do not always act quickly in response to the concerns raised. Leaders inform all the relevant agencies of safeguarding concerns. However, the lack of initial action results in a delay to measures being put in place to help to keep the young person safe.

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improvement to be good

Leaders do not consistently ensure that the staff are supported to understand the safeguarding processes that they should follow. This is particularly relevant to night staff, who often miss out on information being shared. Leaders identify actions that are required to improve the staff’s knowledge of safeguarding processes. However, these actions are not always completed. Therefore, staff are not sufficiently supported to develop their understanding of how to keep the young person safe.

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improvement to be good

Staff support the young person to understand how to complain and to feel confident to share any concerns. Leaders keep the young person informed of the progress of Inspection report children’s home: 2564769 5 the investigations. This helps the young person to see that their complaints are taken seriously and that their views are important.

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improvement to be good

Physical intervention is rarely used. When this is required, the young person is held by staff who are suitably trained to do so. However, the physical restraint records do not include a detailed description of the measure used or whether medical treatment has been offered. These shortfalls limit the opportunity for leaders to monitor this practice and assure themselves that this practice is safe, effective and that the young person’s needs are met.

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improvement to be good

Staff carry out regular health and safety checks, which helps to ensure that the home is safe and free from hazards.

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good

There are insufficient processes in place to monitor and review staff’s performance and development. Not all of the staff have been appraised annually and one senior member of staff has never been appraised.

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good

An interim manager was appointed in October 2021. Safer recruitment processes have been followed. No other staff have been appointed since the last inspection. The interim manager is in the process of applying to be registered with Ofsted.

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good

Staff complete a corporate induction. However, staff who were employed to work in another home operated by the same provider have not always completed the induction for this home. This means that there is not a consistent approach to help staff to learn about their roles and responsibilities.

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good

Staff are not always provided with regular supervision. This is a missed opportunity for leaders to support staff to raise the standard of care that the young person receives.

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good

Leaders have not completed a quality of care review within the required time frame. The responsible individual supplied the inspector with this report during the inspection. The review includes actions that leaders have identified to improve the service.

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good

The requirements issued at the last inspection are judged to have been met. Inspection report children’s home: 2564769 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

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;

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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—

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Requirement Due date

provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(iv)) 11 December

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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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

are provided with supervision and support to enable them to understand and manage their own feelings and responses to the behaviour and emotions of children, and to help children to do the same. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(x)) 11 December Inspection report children’s home: 2564769 7 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

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;

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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

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies;

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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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii)(b)(e)) 21 November

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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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(h)) 11 December Inspection report children’s home: 2564769 8 The registered person must—

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Requirement Due date

ensure that each employee completes an appropriate induction.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (1)(a) (4)(c)) 11 December

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(iv)(viii)) 11 December

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Recommendation

 The registered person should have processes in place to enable a review of the quality of care which allows a report to be generated at least once every six months. The generated report should be sent to Ofsted and the placing local authority of all children looked after in the home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.3)

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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: 2564769 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: The Hesley Group Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Central Services Hesley Hall, Tickhill, Doncaster, South Yorkshire DN11 9HH

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Inspector

Paula Kelly, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2564769 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. 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

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Inspector

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 .

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Inspector

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Inspector

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

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