Children's Home run by Nurture Childcare Services Ltd in Lancashire

Inspection report for children's home: 2591479 1 Registered provider: Nurture Childcare Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned and is registered to provide care for up to three children. The home provides care for children who have experienced social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

There is a manager in post. They are yet to register with Ofsted.

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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: declined in effectiveness

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 2591479 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/03/2022 Interim Declined in effectiveness 17/11/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children's home: 2591479 3

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improvement to be good

There is one child living in the home. The child has settled in the home and is making progress in some areas of his life.

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improvement to be good

The staff team has made the appropriate referrals to specialist services to support the child with his emotional and psychological needs. He is also registered with all the primary healthcare services.

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improvement to be good

Education progress is limited. However, the staff team has worked with external agencies to try to progress formal education. Staff attempt to provide some education at the home and have been creative in doing this, drawing on the child’s interest in fishing and outdoor activities.

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improvement to be good

The home is spacious. There are some issues with maintenance and repairs inside the home, such as repainting the landing and the child’s bedroom. There are also hazards outside the home which need to be addressed.

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improvement to be good

The child’s plan is individualised, although some plans are not up to date. Therefore, staff do not have the most up-to-date information in relation to the child. Additionally, some recommendations from specialist professionals have not been implemented, such as visual boards to help the child with his routine. Therefore, it is not always clear that staff are meeting all the child’s needs.

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improvement to be good

Regular direct work is carried out with the child and various issues are discussed. However, there is no clear plan of the work and therefore not all relevant issues are being addressed.

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improvement to be good

Staff understand the importance of relationships and support the child to see his family. The child benefits from this as it helps him to maintain positive relationships even though he is living away from home.

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improvement to be good

Detailed risk assessments and management plans are in place. These are monitored and updated so they remain relevant and effective. Staff supervise the child in line with their risk management plan to ensure their safety in the home and the community.

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improvement to be good

Staff manage challenging behaviour effectively . The use of physical interventions has decreased. Intervention is only used when necessary to keep the child or others safe. However, the recording system in place for these interventions does not include all the information required and records are not completed in line with regulation. Staff do not always receive a debrief and a lack of management oversight means that the use of Inspection report for children's home: 2591479 4 physical interventions is not evaluated. This is a missed opportunity to learn from incidents and see how to further help and protect children.

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improvement to be good

Sanctions are used appropriately but there is no management oversight. Rewards are used but are not recorded. Without oversight of these, it is unclear if such measures are effective or not.

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improvement to be good

When new staff are recruited, the systems in place do not evidence that references have been verified. . Poor recruitment practices have the potential to negatively affect the safety and well-being of children living at the home.

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good

The home has been without a registered manager since August 2021. A manager was appointed but left the home in December 2021. A deputy was in place, however, she left the organisation in May 2022. As a result, day-to-day oversight of the home is significantly weakened. There is a new responsible individual who provides support to the staff. A manager has been recruited and is now in post. They are yet to submit their application to register with Ofsted.

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good

Staff do not receive regular supervision. This means potential learning cannot be identified as staff are not debriefed after serious incidents.

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good

Staff turnover is high and the use of agency staff is high. This means the child does not receive care from consistent people. This high turnover means the child is not able to build positive relationships with staff.

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good

There are shortfalls in staff training, particularly in relation to specific issues for the child such as sexually harmful behaviour. This means not all staff have the relevant skills and knowledge to provide safe care to the child.

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good

Monitoring is a weakness, and the absence of a manager has meant that not all shortfalls and required improvements have been identified. More effective use of internal monitoring will help to support the home’s continuous development.

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good

The quality of care report has not been completed. This does not support leaders and managers to drive forward improvements in the quality of care provided to children.

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good

The home’s statement of purpose has not been updated and sent to Ofsted to reflect the changes in the management and staff team.

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good

Children’s case records do not include all the information staff should have about the child. This is particularly in relation to health and education documents. The absence of information hinders leaders’ ability to demonstrate how the home’s care planning supports children to make progress against the placing authority’s expectations. Inspection report for children's home: 2591479 5

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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

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

meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 6 (1)(a) (2)(c)(i))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring the landing and child’s bedroom are repainted and that the outdoor area is tidied and maintained.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 22 July 2022

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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

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child; 22 July 2022 Inspection report for children's home: 2591479 6 ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

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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)(d)(e)(f))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to ensuring that staff receive training that is specific to the child’s needs, in particular, training in sexualised behaviour.

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Requirement Due date

Also, to ensuring there are sufficient staff on duty to enable tasks other than direct care offered to children to be carried out.

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Requirement Due date

Also, to ensuring the provider monitors and minimises the turnover of staff at the home to provide continuity of care.

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Requirement Due date

Also, to ensure effective monitoring is consistent.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated.

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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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

that each child’s relevant plans are followed. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to ensuring children’s plans are up to date and staff follow them. 22 July 2022

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Requirement Due date

keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and

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Requirement Due date

notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. 22 July 2022 Inspection report for children's home: 2591479 7 (Regulation 16 (3)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This is specifically in relation to ensuring the statement of purpose is sent to Ofsted when updated.

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

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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)(d))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to ensuring references are verbally verified and this verification is clearly recorded. 22 July 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development;

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; and

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Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring staff receive supervision. 22 July 2022

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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 name of the child; 22 July 2022 Inspection report for children's home: 2591479 8 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

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

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Requirement Due date

This is in relation to ensuring the records of physical intervention are made within timescales and that staff and the child are debriefed.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are kept up to date; and 22 July 2022 Inspection report for children's home: 2591479 9 are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to securing updated education, health and care plans.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated.

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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;

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Requirement Due date

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

After completing a quality-of-care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review (“the quality of care review report”).

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Requirement Due date

supply to HMCI a copy of the quality-of-care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed; and

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Requirement Due date

make a copy of the quality of care review report available on request to a placing authority, if the placing authority is not the parent of a child accommodated in the home.

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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. 22 July 2022 Inspection report for children's home: 2591479 10 (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c) (3) (4)(a)(b) (5))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring a quality of care review is completed every six months.

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure no more than half the staff on duty are from an external agency. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.17)

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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: 2591479 11

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Nurture Childcare Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Seighford Hall, Clanford Road, Seighford, Stafford ST18 9NL

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Inspector

Rachael Crook, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2591479 12 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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