Children's Home run by Esland North Limited in Leicestershire

Inspection report for children’s home: 1245565 1 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

The home provides care for up to three children with emotional and behavioural difficulties, including, but not exclusively, mild to moderate learning disabilities.

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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 7 September 2020 to carry out an assurance 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

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 1245565 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/06/2018 Full Good 13/03/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness 25/07/2017 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: 1245565 3

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improvement to be good

Managers and staff have not maintained the home to a consistently good standard of cleanliness. Some maintenance tasks remain outstanding. For example, the conservatory has recently had a new roof, although ceiling lights have not been installed. This means the conservatory is redundant because of a lack of natural light. This prevents children from fully enjoying their home.

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improvement to be good

Children do not consistently enjoy healthy and well-balanced meals. Although children create a menu each week, this is not consistently followed. Instead, processed, take-away fast food has frequently been provided. This does not support children to have a healthy lifestyle. It also does not help children to understand the impact that an unhealthy diet has on their health and well-being.

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improvement to be good

The language used in the children’s written daily records is not child centred. It lacks emotional warmth and fails to fully capture the child’s journey. Records are not written in a manner that will provide children with all the required information that reflects their progress while living in the home.

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improvement to be good

Children develop good relationships with staff in the short time they are living at the home. They describe staff as being there for them, spending time with them and having fun. As a result of these positive trusting relationships, children can confide in staff and they are confident that they will be listened to.

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improvement to be good

When children come to leave the home, very good support is provided by staff. Children take their next step, whether this is another residential home, foster placement, or a return home supported by caring and thoughtful staff. Should children move to another home within the organisation, staff work closely with the identified home to ensure continuity of care during the transition. The staff work with involved professionals and agencies to support any move. This means the child receives the services and help they need to settle into a new home and begin to make progress.

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improvement to be good

Children receive care from staff who provide consistent behavioural boundaries and have clear expectations of children’s behaviour. Children benefit from daily routines, which are helped by individual daily planners. Additionally, staff encourage children to participate in a wide variety of activities, including new activities that they may not have had the opportunity to try before. Children’s confidence and self-esteem improve as a result. Inspection report for children’s home: 1245565 4

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improvement to be good

There are times when physical intervention is needed to keep children and others safe. However, physical intervention records do not include all required information. There was a significant delay in two records of physical intervention being reviewed by managers. This places children at increased risk. A lack of oversight following incidents prevents managers from assuring themselves that procedures were followed correctly.

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improvement to be good

Following the use of physical intervention by staff, children are not consistently given the opportunity to talk about the restraint through a debriefing process. This is a missed opportunity for children’s wishes and feelings to be heard and to learn valuable lessons to prevent reoccurrence.

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improvement to be good

The quality of recording following incidents is not sufficiently detailed. Recording fails to provide a clear and accurate record of events. This prevents robust management oversight of incidents, which means managers cannot assure themselves that incidents have been managed in accordance with organisational policy and procedure.

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improvement to be good

Staff understand children’s risks. They provide skilled care and support to ensure the safety of the child. Children’s risk assessments are thorough and comprehensive. The format of these assessments means that information is clear, detailed and provides staff with the guidance they need to provide safe care.

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improvement to be good

Behaviours are generally well managed. There is an emphasis placed on positive relationships, rather than the use of punitive sanctions. The guidance provided by staff helps children to start to understand the impact that their behaviour has on others. This has resulted in a significant reduction of incidents of aggression towards staff and poor behaviour in the home. One child said, ‘I understand my own risks now and how to keep myself safe. Staff have helped me lots with this.’

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good

The home has not had a manager, registered with Ofsted, in post since September 2020. A manager was appointed, but has been away from work for a prolonged period. During this time, the home was supported by a manager from another home within the organisation. He has been in post since November 2021. Despite the home not having a registered manager, the team worked together to ensure that the day-to-day needs of the children were met. However, the instability in management arrangements has resulted in some shortfalls in care practice and management oversight.

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good

The newly appointed manager has begun to implement new monitoring systems. However, these are not yet fully embedded. Despite the shortfalls identified at this Inspection report for children’s home: 1245565 5 inspection, the manager demonstrates an in-depth knowledge, experience and motivation to develop the service moving forwards.

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good

The manager, in conjunction with the team, is reviewing and identifying areas of improvement required, ensuring that the staff fully understand what is required to get this home on an improvement trajectory. This is a positive sign for the future.

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good

The availability of training for the staff has been negatively affected by the COVID- 19 pandemic. Some staff have outstanding mandatory training to complete. A plan is in place to rectify this, including both internal and external courses now scheduled for completion.

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good

Staff have not had access to the required qualification for residential childcare staff. For example, one member of staff, having worked at the home for 18 months, has only just been seen by the assessor. This does not equip staff with the skills and knowledge they need to carry out their role effectively.

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good

Managers have not provided staff with regular supervision. Several staff have not received formal supervision for several months. Consequently, staff have not received the support, guidance and direction they need. This is because of a lack of suitable management oversight. Following the appointment of the new manager, staff have now started to receive individual supervision in accordance with the home’s policies and procedures. Inspection report for children’s home: 1245565 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 health and well-being standard is that—

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Requirement Due date

the health and well-being needs of children are met;

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Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being; and

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Requirement Due date

children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles.

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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

achieve the health and well-being outcomes that are recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

understand the child’s health and well-being needs and the options that are available in relation to the child’s health and well-being, in a way that is appropriate to the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

take part in activities, and attend any appointments, for the purpose of meeting the child’s health and well-being needs; and

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Requirement Due date

understand and develop skills to promote the child’s well- being. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(b)(c)(2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring children are provided with healthy and nutritious meals. 27 December

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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 27 December Inspection report for children’s home: 1245565 7 promotes their welfare.

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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

This relates to the oversight of staff practice. Additionally, this relates to the manager’s oversight and evaluation of the use of physical intervention to manage children’s behaviour, and the supervision and development of staff.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or

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Requirement Due date

if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home,

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Requirement Due date

if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for 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. (Regulation 32 (1)(2)(a)(b)(3)(b)(d))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to staff working at the home and staff caring for children ‘off site’. Additionally, the manager must take necessary action to ensure that staff who are out 1 January 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 1245565 8 of timescales with the level 3 qualification are supported to complete this.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy ("the behaviour management policy") which sets out—

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Requirement Due date

how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home.

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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

details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person who used the measure ("the user"), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

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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

a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure;

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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 27 December Inspection report for children’s home: 1245565 9 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 (1)(a)(b)(3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii) (c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that records of restraint include all required information, and ensuring that children are spoken to following an incident to seek their views, wishes and feelings.

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Recommendations

 The registered person must ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non- stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person must ensure that the children’s homes is a nurturing and supportive environment that meet the needs of their children. They will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. Children’s homes must comply with relevant health and safety legislation (alarms, food hygiene etc.); however, in doing so, homes should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than

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Recommendations

‘institutional’ impression. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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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: 1245565 10

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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

Zoey Lee, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1245565 11 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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