Children's home run by Oracle Care Limited in Central Bedfordshire

Inspection report for children’s home: SC378464 1 SC378464 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

This privately owned home provides care for up to three children who require education and clinical support.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager left in February 2021. There is no manager in post. The organisation’s regional manager is providing interim cover.

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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 in March 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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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Date of last inspection: 21 November 2019

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC378464 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/11/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness 25/04/2019 Full Good 21/11/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good 12/12/2017 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC378464 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There were two children living at the home at the time of the inspection. Since the monitoring visit, two children have moved on. One child, who had very recently moved in, was due to leave shortly after the inspection. The managers and staff know both children well and have positive relationships with them, treating them with kindness.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child who recently arrived has not settled well. The manager and staff are working hard to make the placement successful. Despite these efforts, alternate provision is required but staff continue to give safe, kind and thoughtful care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children well with their learning. Most children attend and engage well in education. Staff work closely with teachers in planning goals and setting markers for progress, providing encouragement to achieve these. Teaching and clinical staff praised the staff’s commitment to providing consistent support.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff follow plans for children to gain independence skills. Staff encourage children to take responsibility for household tasks to help them prepare for living independently. Children enjoy developing these skills and earn rewards for their achievements. Staff encourage children to think about and plan for their futures.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide high levels of support to children to help them maintain good relationships with their family. This includes supporting children to spend time with their family members at the home or out on an activity. Family members feel that staff keep them involved in the care of their child. One family member was especially grateful for the support given to them from staff during a period of ill health. This gave the family reassurance that their child is well looked after.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children lead healthy lifestyles that include regular exercise and outdoor activities. Staff encourage children and give direction to eat a balanced diet.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff actively seek the views and feedback of children, listening to them and striving to include their views in the children’s daily experiences. Staff help children to explore their cultural identities, which are celebrated through food, music and personal appearance.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that children have access to the health services that they need. Staff advocate tenaciously to ensure that children access the health services that they need.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The house is detached, spacious and set in the centre of the local community, which offers opportunities for joining clubs and sports teams. Children choose furnishings and decoration for the home’s communal areas and make their own Inspection report for children’s home: SC378464 4 spaces personal to them. Staff are respectful of children’s privacy and promote dignity when providing care.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Children said that they feel safe. All staff undertake safeguarding training and know the provider’s system of reporting concerns. This helps the staff to identify concerns of exploitation, gang affiliation, radicalisation and online abuse.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff help children to keep safe by encouraging them to improve their own awareness through online safety training. Staff provide high-level supervision when children access the internet to reduce the risk of online abuse.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Risk assessments for children are detailed and contain presenting risks. These assessments are regularly reviewed and updated following any changes. Staff enable children to take age-appropriate risks and gain trust, which promotes independence.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

There have been some incidents of two children going missing from the home. Staff respond in line with the missing-from-care protocols to help find and return the child to the home as soon as possible.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff support children to form positive relationships with each other that promote respect. Expectations of behaviour in the home and towards each other are made clear. Positive behaviour is promoted and rewarded. Staff use key-work sessions to talk about boundaries and expectations and share concerns.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Care plans emphasise the importance of de-escalation techniques to avoid incidents. Historically, the number of restraints has been low, but this recently increased after a child moved into the home. Appropriately trained staff use restraint techniques when necessary and in line with the child’s agreed care plan. Records demonstrate that, after these incidents, extensive review takes place involving all those involved. However, staff debrief meetings are not always held within the required 48-hour time frame.

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be good

There has been no registered manager in post at the home since February 2021. Recruitment campaigns have been unsuccessful. A regional manager who is familiar to the home has been providing management oversight alongside an experienced deputy manager. This has provided consistency and stability at the home when unexpected incidents have occurred that affected children and staff. However, these demands have affected the manager’s ability to complete tasks such as submitting notifications to Ofsted when police attend the home. Inspection report for children’s home: SC378464 5 The provider has failed to monitor the home within the six-monthly time frames. Consequently, opportunities are missed to measure children’s progress and assess the quality of care.

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be good

The provider has not responded quickly enough to recognise or mitigate the additional pressure that the home’s managers have been under when prioritising children in crisis. The provider has not carried out a review to find out why recruitment has been unsuccessful, or changed their approach to ensure recruitment of a suitable manager.

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be good

The pressures faced by the management team have not negatively affected the care provided to children. The regional manager and deputy manager are very child centred and provide strong support to staff, who remain motivated. Staff feel reassured when working in challenging situations by the guidance given and the skills that they learn from managers.

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be good

Staff have the skills and experience needed to support children well. Training takes place regularly, with additional sessions to meet new or emerging needs from the provider’s clinical staff. Inspection report for children’s home: SC378464 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 registered provider must appoint a person to manage the children’s home if—

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Requirement Due date

there is no registered manager in respect of the home; and

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Requirement Due date

is not, or does not intend to be, in day-to-day charge of the home. (Regulation 27 (1)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(iii)) 1 March 2022

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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”)—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate. (Regulation 35 (3)(b)(i)(ii)) 19 November

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(b)) 19 November

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months. 1 December 2021 Inspection report for children’s home: SC378464 7 In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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Requirement Due date

After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review (“the quality of care review report”).

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Requirement Due date

supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed; and

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Requirement Due date

make a copy of the quality of care review report available on request to a placing authority, if the placing authority is not the parent of a child accommodated in the home.

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c) (3) (4)(a)(b) (5))

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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 for children’s home: SC378464 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Esland North Limited

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Children’s home details

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

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Inspector

Jamie Cousins, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC378464 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 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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