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

Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC378181 1 SC378181

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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 8 and 9 December 2021. As a result of the inspection, three compliance notices were raised under regulation 6, regulation 12, and regulation 13.

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This monitoring visit

This monitoring visit took place on 18 January 2022 to review the compliance notices issued.

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This monitoring visit

Managers continue to fail to meet children’s basic care needs. One child is still not receiving sufficient support to help them progress. For example, managers fail to recognise and take action when one child’s independence plan is not effective. Staff do not step in to support this child with mealtimes, food shopping and budgeting. As a result, this child has no routine or structure around mealtimes and lacks a healthy, balanced diet. Staff maintain that they will only provide this child with one cooked meal per week.

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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 supported to offer care that is attuned to children’s specific needs and reduces the likelihood of distress.

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This monitoring visit

Staff are not skilled to support children to help them use social media and the internet safely. Children spend unlimited time online, gaming and on internet devices Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC378181 2 daily. Staff do not fully understand the potential risk that the internet may pose and why children are vulnerable. They are not clear about how or when to check children’s devices. Staff have still failed to explore concerns about one child who is planning to meet with someone they met online. 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 those concerning mental health. The registered manager has made some effort 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 and, therefore, children do not receive care from individuals who are equipped to care for them.

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This monitoring visit

Ofsted has issued further compliance notices under regulation 6, 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: SC378181 3

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 08/12/2021 Full Inadequate 12/11/2019 Full Good 13/11/2018 Full Good 13/09/2017 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC378181 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 secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs;

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Requirement Due date

seek to develop and maintain effective professional relationships with such persons, bodies or organisations as the registered person considers appropriate having regard to the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the children’s home is to provide care and accommodation. (Regulation 5 (b)(d))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered manager ensuring that staff seek out specialist mental health support for children and educational support where children have specific needs to enable them to make progress.

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Requirement Due date

This is restated from the previous inspection. 4 April 2022

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Requirement Due date

* The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who:

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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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

understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose; 4 April 2022 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC378181 5 ensure that staff;

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Requirement Due date

provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand and manage the impact of any experience of abuse or neglect;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop resilience and skills that prepare the child to return home, to live in a new placement or to live independently as an adult. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(iv)(v)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered manager ensuring that staff understand the specific needs of the children in the home and offer care that seeks to meet these needs, especially around their emotional well-being, health and educational needs, and by supporting children to develop independence skills.

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Requirement Due date

This is restated from the previous inspection.

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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;

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Requirement Due date

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

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies;

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Requirement Due date

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(vi)(vii)(d)) 4 April 2022 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC378181 6 This specifically relates to the registered manager ensuring that staff support children to keep themselves safe online, and that staff demonstrate a good understanding of children’s online worlds and how to keep them safe in that way.

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Requirement Due date

Staff should also have a good understanding of safeguarding procedures and follow these at all times.

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Requirement Due date

The registered manager must also ensure that the home environment is safe, homely and welcoming for children to reside in and takes into account children’s wishes so their home is personalised to them.

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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 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

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 work as a team where appropriate;

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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 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. 4 April 2022 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC378181 7 It also relates to the registered manager ensuring 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 they have a good understanding of the care children are receiving in the home and this should inform the 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

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 4 April 2022 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC378181 8 person to do so ("the authorised person") has spoken to the user about the measure;

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate;

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Requirement Due date

and 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)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered manager having a system in place whereby if a restraint of any kind takes place, this is recorded accurately and in the correct format, and includes details of the measure used, recorded in sufficient detail to meet the regulation as outlined above.

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Requirement Due date

This is restated from the previous inspection.

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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))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered manager ensuring that the home’s location risk assessment includes information specific to this home, has information regarding research and criminal activities in the local area, which is up to date, and that any safeguarding risks potentially posed by the home adjacent to this home are considered and form part of the assessment of risk for this home.

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Requirement Due date

This is restated from the previous inspection. 4 April 2022

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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 staff receive up-to-date first-aid training so that at least one person on every shift is suitably trained in first aid. 15 February 2022 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC378181 9 *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.

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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: SC378181 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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