Children's Home run by Phoenix Learning & Care Holdings Limited in Somerset

Inspection report children's home: SC478152 1 SC478152 Registered provider: Phoenix Learning & Care Holdings 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 four children. The home specialises in providing time-limited accommodation for children who are at a point in their lives when they have been exposed to high levels of risk and need emergency care.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in March 2022.

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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 good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be 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: 12 January 2022

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: SC478152 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/01/2022 Interim Sustained effectiveness 24/08/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 30/10/2019 Full Good 16/01/2019 Full Good Inspection report children's home: SC478152 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the previous inspection, one child has lived at the home at any one time. This is a child-centred approach taken by leaders and managers to support children’s progress. The responsible individual told the inspector that in consultation with the internal therapies, a system to measure children’s progress is being developed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children often move into the home at short notice. In the main, they are supported to meet with staff or visit the home before they move in. Similarly, staff invest time in supporting children to ensure that they are prepared to move on from the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

While not all information is received before children move into the home, sufficient information is gathered to ensure that key areas of risk and support are identified. Partnership working with relevant agencies is effective, and children have not experienced delay when they are ready to move on.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children speak positively about living at the home. Staff spend time creating opportunities for children to participate in activities, in line with their wishes and interests. Memory books include photographs and positive comments that support children’s life story.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s views about issues that have an impact on their lives are captured across records. While some records do not demonstrate how the manager and staff respond to their views, at other times the manager has advocated on behalf of children effectively. For one child this was significant and resulted in increased time spent with their family, including time on their birthday.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

However, there is no system in place to gather children’s views, wishes and feelings about the quality of care they receive. This means that the opportunity to understand how care can be developed to improve experiences for children is limited.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Children are provided with clear routines and with boundaries about their behaviour. These include agreed restrictions for some children, which are understood and managed appropriately by staff. This approach supports children who have been exposed to high risks and who require structure in their daily lives to help them feel safe.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff are provided with sufficient training to meet children’s needs safely. In addition, the manager incorporates research into team meetings to ensure that staff understand the risks that have an impact on children in the community. This supports safety planning for children. Inspection report children's home: SC478152 4 As a result, risks have reduced. For one child, incidents of going missing from home significantly reduced over the period they lived at the home. For another child, there is a notable improvement in their emotional well-being. In addition, restraint has not been used to manage children’s behaviour over a lengthy period.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

During this inspection, firm boundaries implemented to manage specific areas of risk were reviewed by the manager and changed in line with the child’s needs. This is appropriate to ensure that care provided to children is individualised. However, arrangements to review risk management strategies are not always clearly defined across plans. This is important to ensure that any restrictions that are implemented are necessary and proportionate.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Since the previous inspection, action has been taken to reduce the likelihood of medication errors reoccurring. This includes updated training and competency-based assessments completed by staff. This action has been effective, and no further errors have occurred.

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good

The manager has led the home since April 2021. They told the inspector that there are imminent plans for them, the staff and the child to move to another home within the provider’s network of homes.

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good

The manager recognises the strengths of the staff team. They are proud of how children have been supported in difficult circumstances. Staff’s feedback gathered by the inspector indicates that they feel supported and enjoy working in the home.

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good

In the main, children’s records capture warm relationships that have developed between children and staff. However, children’s records and staff’s feedback gathered during this inspection do not demonstrate the use of a therapeutic approach to complement other care approaches. At times, this limits the support provided to children to ensure that their needs are fully understood and responded to effectively.

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good

Leaders and managers have not addressed the requirement made at the previous inspection to ensure that systems are in place to review the quality of care that children receive. This includes robust management oversight that challenges practice to ensure that children’s care is improved. In addition, professional supervision does not consistently use reflection and learning that are needed to ensure that staff’s skills are continuously improved.

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good

The inspector found that the home’s statement of purpose does not accurately reflect all processes and care approaches used in the home. In response, the manager told the inspector that they intend to revise the statement of purpose and submit this to Ofsted. Inspection report children's home: SC478152 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 children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives.

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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

help each child to understand how the child’s views, wishes and feelings have been taken into account and give the child reasons for decisions in relation to the child;

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Requirement Due date

regularly consult children, and seek their feedback, about the quality of the home’s care. (Regulation 7 (1)(c) (2)(a)(iii)(iv)) 11 November 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

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; 11 November 2022 Inspection report children's home: SC478152 6 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)(a)(c)(f)(h))

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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 children's home: SC478152 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Phoenix Learning & Care Holdings Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Support Hub, Unit 5, Chinon Court, Lower Moor Way, Tiverton, Devon EX16 6SS

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Stephen Nicholson

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Inspector

Louise Bacon, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: SC478152 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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