Children's home run by Hexagon Care Services Limited in Preston

Inspection report for children’s home: SC480847 1 SC480847 Registered provider: Hexagon Care Services Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a privately owned and managed children’s home. The home is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to four children who have learning disabilities. The manager has been registered since December 2021. He is experienced and is suitably qualified for the role.

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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

This home had a monitoring visit on 17 February 2021, and the report is available on the Ofsted website.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: 24 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: SC480847 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/09/2019 Full Good 19/02/2019 Full Good 04/05/2017 Full Outstanding 22/12/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: SC480847 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive care which is individualised to take account of their specific learning disabilities. The care is informed by close and regular liaison with education providers and psychologists. This collaborative approach means that staff in the home and school use consistent strategies with the children. This is vital in enabling the children to manage their fluctuating emotions. It also promotes a sense of continuity and stability.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress, relative to their starting points, in education, and in social and life skills, including better sleep patterns. Staff use social stories and visual timetables effectively in order to help the children understand the world around them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff take children’s wishes and feelings are taken into account, and they involve the children in decisions about their day-to-day life. Staff also attempt to support children to be involved in bigger decisions around their care, and this is promoted by access to advocacy services. Because of the additional needs of the children, they rely on familiar adults to interpret some of their wishes and feelings. The staff know the children well and are attuned to them, which helps staff to respond appropriately.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy their time in the home and are supported to pursue their interests. However, they do not spend much of their time accessing services on offer or places of interest in the local community. This is sometimes their preference, but at other times is a result of insufficient staffing. The low levels of staffing on a weekend are particularly problematic, as this can impact on children’s ability to spend time with family or pursue certain activities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The physical appearance of the home is not consistently good. Some areas are institutional in their feel, and there is a lack of personalisation in one child’s bedroom. Other areas require refurbishment and repair, with some parts of the building being part decorated and showing unacceptable levels of wear and tear. This is incongruous with the nurturing care that staff provide.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When children move in or out of the home, this is generally managed well, done at the child’s pace and in recognition of the child’s wishes. Staff say they feel consulted and well prepared when a new child moves in. Any additional training relating to new children is prioritised to enable staff to support the children effectively. One child, whose needs can no longer be met within this home, is leaving. This has created some difficulties for a smooth, planned move, but this is outside the control of the home. Inspection report for children’s home: SC480847 4

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improvement to be good

Risks to children are generally understood and managed. Children become increasingly safe as they learn to regulate their emotions and have more positive interactions with others. For some children, there are risks of them failing to progress, and the staff work closely with teachers and social workers to prevent stagnation in children’s development.

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improvement to be good

There are several minor shortfalls around safeguarding practice which have not had a direct impact on the children but do need to be improved. Staff do not consistently understand the process to follow should there be a safeguarding concern. There is also a lack of robust scrutiny of the children’s use of telephones, social media and online subscription viewing channels. During the inspection, a medication error was identified, and the system to identify this and prevent repetition was not effective.

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improvement to be good

Additionally, the administration of recruitment is done by a central support team. Not all documents needed by the manager to reassure him that staff are safe to work with children are kept within the home. This does not allow the manager immediate access to, and oversight of, these important records.

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improvement to be good

Children in the home rarely go missing. However, processes and systems are in place should this occur. Staff are trained to recognise and deal with various forms of child exploitation, despite this not being identified as a risk to the children currently in the home. This results in staff being vigilant to signs should any risk arise and promotes the children’s safety.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is relatively new to the organisation but has already identified a clear strategy for the development and improvement of the service. He has already introduced bespoke training to give staff better skills in supporting the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers understand where children are making progress and take action to ensure plans are implemented. During the inspection, it transpired that a court order was not reflective of current practice within the home, so the manager took swift action to remedy this. This evidenced a proactive and decisive approach.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular training and supervision as well as annual appraisals. This means they are knowledgeable in relevant areas, and they demonstrate this through reflective discussions with their manager. The quality of written records is good and shows a high level of attention to detail.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has already established a wide professional network. He actively promotes multi-agency working to achieve consistency for the children. Where he has identified gaps in services, he has advocated for these to be filled. This has resulted in the children now having access to speech and language therapy and Inspection report for children’s home: SC480847 5 occupational therapy (including sensory specialisms) when this is relevant to their needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Incidents of challenging behaviour are reviewed closely and there is effective liaison with the psychologist to ascertain if plans or strategies need to be amended. This results in staff being responsive to the changing needs of children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

One of the requirements and both recommendations made at the last visit have been met. However, staffing is still insufficient to meet all the children’s needs, and the requirement about this will be raised again.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is aware of the home’s strengths and weaknesses, and he addresses these with his staff team to drive up quality. The combination of committed staff and a newly registered motivated manager augurs well for the coming period. Inspection report for children’s home: SC480847 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 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

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

This refers to improving the condition and appearance of the premises. 31 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—

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies; and 31 March 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: SC480847 7 that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(v)(vii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This refers to establishing a system for monitoring online/phone/viewing history and a system for identifying, reporting and investigating medication errors. This also refers to ensuring that staff have a robust understanding of safeguarding processes.

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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 the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(d))

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Requirement Due date

This refers to staffing levels being sufficient to support children to see family and undertake activities in the community. 31 March 2022

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Recommendations

 The registered person is responsible for maintaining good employment practice. They must ensure that recruitment, supervision and performance management of staff safeguards children and minimises potential risks to them. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1). This refers to keeping a local copy of all documentation as detailed in schedule 2.

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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: SC480847 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Hexagon Care Services Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 1 Tustin Court, Riversway, Preston, Lancashire PR2 2YQ

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Inspector

Rachel Ruth, Social Care Regulatory Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC480847 9 regulates and inspects 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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