Children's Home run by Platinum Services for Children (Residential Care) Ltd in Staffordshire

Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC378187 1 SC378187

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Information about this children’s home

The home is run by a small independent organisation, Platinum Services, and has been registered since 2008. The home provides care for up to two children who need emotional support as a result of trauma they may have experienced.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been registered with Ofsted since February 2019 and manages both this home and a sister home within the organisation.

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This monitoring visit

This children’s home was judged inadequate at the full inspection on 30 November and 1 December 2021. As a result of the inspection, two compliance notices were raised under regulation 12 and regulation 13.

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This monitoring visit

This monitoring visit took place on 17 January 2022 to review the compliance notices.

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This monitoring visit

Children are still not kept safe from harm when they are missing from home. For example, despite increasing worries about one child’s emotional well-being, staff failed to take urgent action when they could not locate them. Staff did not consult the local authority and get help from the emergency services. This shortfall was also identified at the previous inspection and no progress has been made to improve.

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This monitoring visit

Managers have made improvements to risk management systems. However, these still miss some important information about children’s needs. This means that staff are still not prepared to offer care that is attuned to the children’s specific needs. This impedes staff’s ability to reduce the risk of harm to children as far as possible.

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This monitoring visit

Staff are not skilled to support children to help them use social media and the internet safely. In particular, staff are unaware of how to protect children from known risks posed to them online. Staff have no clear plan in place and important Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC378187 2 information is not known throughout the staff team about specific individual risks. This leaves children at risk of exploitation and exposure to other harmful content online that could cause significant risk of harm to them.

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This monitoring visit

Inspectors found that limited action had been taken to address regulatory shortfalls with regard to monitoring and reviewing systems in the home. Independent visits and reports are becoming a more supportive tool to help the home improve care for children. However, the registered manager does not have any other systems to review and monitor the quality of care. This has meant that shortfalls in staff practice and risk management systems for children are still being missed by managers in the home due to a lack of oversight.

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This monitoring visit

Staff are not skilled to meet the needs of the children in the home. For example, staff do not have training in first aid, as required. In addition, staff have not had training to understand children’s individual complex needs, such as mental health needs and the impact of previous trauma and abuse. The registered manager has made some efforts to start providing staff with training about therapeutic care and life-story work. However, this is not yet embedded.

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This monitoring visit

The registered manager has worked hard to start offering staff practice-related supervision. The quality of team meetings and staff supervisions is now more child focused. However, supervisions completed after the previous inspection visit have still not been completed in line with the home’s statement of purpose. This means that staff are not supported to review their practice regularly.

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This monitoring visit

Ofsted has issued further compliance notices under regulation 12 and regulation 13. A further inspection will take place to review the action taken to meet the compliance notices and regulatory requirements that have been raised. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC378187 3

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 30/11/2021 Full Inadequate 26/11/2019 Full Good 02/10/2018 Full Good 07/12/2017 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC378187 4

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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

Engaging with the wider system to ensure children’s needs are met.

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Requirement Due date

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff:

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Requirement Due date

seek to involve each child’s placing authority effectively in the child’s care, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs;

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 5 (a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered manager ensuring that any safeguarding incidents are referred on to other professionals if there are concerns for the safety of children.

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Requirement Due date

It also relates to ensuring that the registered manager challenges the local authority, when necessary, if return- home interviews are not completed for children and promptly share information with wider agencies.

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Requirement Due date

This is restated from the previous inspection. 20 March 2022

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Requirement Due date

*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 that staff: 20 March 2022 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC378187 5 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; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered manager ensuring that staff understand safeguarding procedures and take effective action to protect children when children make disclosures and allegations, or where the staff may have concerns about a child’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

It also relates to the registered manager ensuring that risk assessments give staff clear guidance to help them understand risks for individual children and what to do when a risk arises to keep a child safe.

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Requirement Due date

This is restated from the previous inspection.

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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

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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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; 20 March 2022 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC378187 6 use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(c)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered manager ensuring that staff receive regular practice-related supervisions and appraisals of their skills in line with the home’s own policies.

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Requirement Due date

It also relates to the registered manager ensuring that they have a system in place to be able to monitor the quality of care and have a clear understanding of how to improve the care offered to the children in the home.

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Requirement Due date

It also relates to the registered manager ensuring that they have a good understanding of the care that children are receiving in the home and this should feed in to their quality of care review.

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Requirement Due date

The registered manager should also ensure that staff have had the training they need to adequately meet the needs of the children in the home.

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Requirement Due date

This is restated from the previous inspection.

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Requirement Due date

at all times, at least one person on duty at the home has a suitable first-aid qualification. (Regulation 31 (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered manager ensuring that at least one staff member on every shift has a current first-aid qualification. 15 February 2022

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Requirement Due date

*These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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Information about this inspection

The purpose of this visit was to monitor the action taken and the progress made by the children’s home since its last Ofsted inspection.

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Information about this inspection

This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC378187 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Platinum Services For Children (residential Care) Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: The Apex, 2 Sheriffs Orchard, Coventry, Warwickshire CV1 3PP

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Leonard Pattinson

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Inspector

Fiona Roche, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC378187 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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