Children's Home run by Nugent Care 2019 in St Helens

Inspection report for children’s home: SC022447 1 SC022447 Registered provider: Nugent Care 2019 Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home owned and run by a charitable organisation. The home’s statement of purpose states that it provides care for up to three children who experience emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in April 2021.

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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 inspections framework (SCCIF) on 17 March 2020. We returned to routine SCCIF inspections on 12 April 2021.

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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 good

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good

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

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC022447 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/08/2019 Full Good 21/05/2019 Full Inadequate 12/02/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness 10/04/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC022447 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

This is the home’s first full inspection since it opened in February 2021. There is one child currently living at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Recently, another child experienced some struggles with her emotional well-being and left the home in an unplanned way. However, the child was supported by staff in helping her to understand this. This meant that the child was helped to move forward in a positive way.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child currently living at the home has lived there since it was registered in February. He has made significant progress in education. The child is accessing education daily after spending several years not attending any form of educational provision. The registered manager and staff are working proactively to secure suitable provision for the child that will see him progress to full-time attendance. This will help to improve his life chances.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is well supported by staff in pursuing a range of hobbies and interests. Activities such as bike riding, cooking and attending the local gym have meant the child has opportunities to take part in things he enjoys but that also keep him healthy and active. Additionally, these experiences are captured in memory books to help him understand his life story.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child has built secure and trusted relationships with staff. He says that he feels safe, and that ‘Staff show they care, and they listen to me.’ There is a wide range of consultation through regular children’s meetings and reviews. This enables the child to share his wishes and feelings.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is maintained to a good standard, which creates a warm and welcoming environment. The child is encouraged to personalise his bedroom and keeps his room clean and tidy.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the child to maintain a strong sense of belonging. Time spent with family is promoted and managed in the child’s best interests. Consequently, the child is spending good-quality time with family members to maintain relationships with people who are important to him. Additionally, the child benefits from support with understanding his identity. Staff support him to access a specialist hairdresser, they have sourced particular skin care products and make a variety of foods from his culture.

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

Risk assessments identify all known risks and there are clear behaviour strategies in place that are written in a child-friendly way. Inspection report for children’s home: SC022447 4 Staff promote positive behaviour and good daily routines using rewards and incentives.

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

Staff support the child with good-quality direct work. These individual work sessions focus on important topics such as e-safety, substance misuse and road safety. As a result, this is helping him to understand the risks he faces in the community and the dangers that the internet can pose.

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

Incidents in the home are well managed and staff put additional safeguards in place, for example using room searches to ensure that the child’s safety is prioritised. The use of restraint in the home is minimal and where interventions have been necessary, these are appropriately recorded and reflected upon.

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

There are clear procedures in place for when children go missing from the home, but incidents are currently infrequent. Staff understand what they should do when a child goes missing and what action they should take when encountering a child protection concern.

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

Recruitment procedures and checks are robust, safe and effective. All staff are checked and vetted prior to starting work. These checks ensure that only suitable adults are employed to work with children in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has been registered with Ofsted since April 2021. She is suitably experienced and qualified.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff benefit from strong leadership and say that the manager is approachable and very supportive. There is a stable staff team in place whose members know and understand the child well.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The child’s plans and record-keeping in the home are of good quality. However, the location risk assessment does not contain consultation from professionals to help staff identify the risks in the community. Furthermore, the assessment was not reviewed following a recent incident with a child in the community. This means that staff do not have up-to-date information in relation to risk in the local area.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has effective auditing systems in place. These systems give the management team robust oversight. Areas of improvement are identified through the manager’s internal monitoring and research-informed practice is delivered to drive these improvements and support staff to develop.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

External monitoring by an independent visitor takes place regularly. This helps to support the manager to identify shortfalls and to make continual improvements. However, the independent visitor is not consistently consulting children, parents and stakeholders to assess the overall quality of care provided. As a result, this does not support the manager to monitor the effectiveness of the quality of care provided in the home. Inspection report for children’s home: SC022447 5 The registered manager has effective working relationships with a range of professionals. A great emphasis is placed on multi-agency working and partnership links. These links help support staff to take part in clinical supervision and bespoke training. Furthermore, there is positive feedback from professionals. One professional said: ‘Staff are good advocates; they promote and encourage [name of child] to speak out and address things.’ Another professional said: ‘Communication

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

in the home is excellent; this is a strength of the home.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Supervision is regular and staff benefit from the use of reflective practice and clinical supervision to help them improve and reflect on their practice. Team meetings are well attended and cover a wide range of topics relevant to child’s needs. Good communication systems are in place through the daily briefing to ensure that staff are kept updated about the child’s plan and routines in the home. Inspection report for children’s home: SC022447 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 person must review the appropriateness and suitability of the location of the premises used for the purposes of the children’s home at least once in each calendar year taking into account the requirement in regulation 12(2)(c) (the protection of children standard).

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Requirement Due date

When conducting the review, the registered person must consult, and take into account the views of, each relevant person. (Regulation 46 (1) (2)) 31 December

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that any individual appointed to carry out visits to the home as an independent person makes a rigorous assessment of the home’s arrangements for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the children in the home’s care. This includes the independent person consistently speaking to children, parents and stakeholders to gain their views about the quality of care provided in the home as part of their visit. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.5)  For some children who have experienced severe trauma or have been excluded or out of education for significant periods, staff in children’s homes will play a key role in supporting these children in line with their education, health and care plan. This includes children having access and attending full-time provision that meets the child’s needs. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality

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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: SC022447 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 99 Edge Lane, Edge Hill, Liverpool L7 2PE

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Inspector

Judith Birchall, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC022447 8 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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