Children's Home run by Sandcastle Care Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report for children's home: 1265128 1 Registered provider: Sandcastle Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A private company owns this home. The home’s statement of purpose states that it provides care for up to two children.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in January 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 inspection 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

Date of last inspection: 3 September 2019

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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: 1265128 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/09/2019 Full Good 15/03/2019 Interim Improved effectiveness 14/11/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children's home: 1265128 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The quality of care provided to children is nurturing and staff support children to make good progress in their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have developed good relationships with staff, which helps them to feel secure and settled. The children like the staff and find them supportive. Children are relaxed in the company of staff and live in a welcoming, family-oriented environment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children have up-to-date health assessments and access to universal healthcare services. However, records do not consistently demonstrate that staff are giving the medication to all children in line with their prescription. Furthermore, there is no clear plan in place to show what the current arrangements are for an agreed treatment medication break for one child. The manager accepted this is an area that requires improvement, and a requirement is made to address this shortfall.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff understand the importance of education for all children. They are proactive in securing educational placements for children. As a result, children are making progress with their education. When children struggle in school, staff spend time with them helping them to understand the importance of education. As a result, children attend school on a full-time basis.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Direct work is individualised to the needs of each child. This includes work about keeping safe and risks that children may face online and in society. This supports children to learn about keeping themselves safe and promotes healthy friendships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy a range of activities that support a healthy lifestyle, as well as providing opportunities to enjoy themselves and gain a sense of achievement. Children have been on holidays with the staff and enjoy activities such as going to local football matches and going to the swimming baths. Staff also spend time with children working with arts and crafts materials and playing board games.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide support to children so that they can spend time with their friends and family. This helps children to feel valued and retain a sense of belonging to people who are important to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There have recently been two incidents of fire-setting in the home. These were managed well. However, the decision was made that the children involved left the home immediately, following police intervention. Despite children moving on after incidents, the staff took all necessary steps to ensure that the welfare of the children was prioritised. Inspection report for children's home: 1265128 4

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

Children are safe and protected from harm. Staff demonstrate good insight into the risks and the strategies in place to keep children safe. Risk assessments are regularly reviewed. However, when there are concerns about substance misuse or incidents of self-harm, the actions that staff take are not consistently recorded in assessments. This means that relief staff may not have access to the correct information to minimise risks.

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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. Staff understand what they should do when a child goes missing and who they need to contact. In addition, the staff are clear about the actions they need to take when encountering a child protection concern. This helps to protect children.

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

Children can talk to trusted adults about their concerns. Children say they feel safe and listened to. Achievements are celebrated through rewards, and incentives are helping children reach specific goals.

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

Recruitment procedures and practices are safe and effective. The registered manager has completed safer recruitment training. All staff are checked and vetted before starting work. These checks ensure that only suitable adults are employed to work with children in the home.

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

Positive behaviour in the home is promoted. However, sanctions are not always proportionate and, in most cases, relate to the same restriction. This does not support the children to learn and make improvements in relation to appropriate behaviour. Additionally, the registered manager’s evaluation of the measures used is not clear. This lack of clarity hinders the monitoring of the effectiveness of the sanction.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is suitably qualified and experienced. He has been registered at this home since January 2021. He demonstrates a child-centred approach and is very committed to his role. Staff feel valued and say the manager is supportive and approachable.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There have been changes in the staff team since the last inspection. However, the staff team is now stable and consistent. Staff report that they enjoy their roles. They are passionate and want children to achieve positive outcomes and have aspirations for their futures.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The provider has not ensured that all staff have the training required to meet the needs of all children. For example, not all staff have received training in relation to substance misuse, despite this being a known risk. Additionally, staff have not completed training in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This does not demonstrate that all staff have the skills and knowledge to consistently support children’s needs. Inspection report for children's home: 1265128 5 The manager and staff work collaboratively with other professionals to make sure that children receive the most appropriate care to meet their needs. Feedback from external professionals on the leadership and care is positive. One professional said, ‘The team keeps me well informed and there are excellent communication systems in place.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff benefit from regular supervision and all staff have recently received their annual appraisal. This means staff have opportunities to discuss and reflect on their performance and set objectives to improve their development. Staff receive additional support from team meetings and a clinical psychologist.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The quality of incident recording is variable. Records of some incidents do not contain sufficient information to show all actions taken by staff when a child returned home under the influence of unknown substances. Furthermore, the registered manager does not consistently demonstrate his oversight of some incidents to ensure that all necessary action is recorded clearly following incidents of self-harm or substance misuse.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The quality of care review has been submitted by the manager. However, the review does not clearly identify the strengths or areas for development for the team, or include feedback from children, parents, staff and stakeholders. Inspection report for children's home: 1265128 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 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

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered manager must ensure that all staff have training in substance misuse and ADHD and that all incidents have management oversight to ensure all necessary action has been taken after incidents. 31 December

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular the registered person must ensure that—

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Requirement Due date

medicines kept in the home are stored in a secure place so as to prevent any child from having unsupervised access to them; 31 December Inspection report for children's home: 1265128 7 medicine which is prescribed for a child is administered as prescribed to the child for whom it is prescribed and to no other child; and

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Requirement Due date

a record is kept of the administration of medicine to each child. (Regulation 23 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered manager must ensure that there is a clear plan in place when a child is having a break in treatment and that this is accurately recorded in the child’s medication records.

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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

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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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; and

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Requirement Due date

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 (3)(a)(vii)(b)(i)(ii)(c)) 31 December

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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.

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Requirement Due date

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; 31 December Inspection report for children's home: 1265128 8 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

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) (5))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that he provides feedback from children, parents, staff and stakeholders in the quality of care review and that he is clear about his strengths and areas for development of the home.

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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: 1265128 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Sandcastle Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Sandcastle Care Ltd, 49 Whitegate Drive, Blackpool FY3 9DG

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Kristopher Creighton

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Inspectors

Judith Birchall, Social Care Inspector Rachael Crooks, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 1265128 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.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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