Children's home run by Physis Quantum Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2585407 1 Registered provider: Physis Quantum Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A privately owned limited company runs the home. It offers care for up to four children. The home specialises in caring for children who have been or are at high risk of child sexual exploitation.

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Information about this children’s home

The previous manager, who was registered with Ofsted in July 2020, resigned, and left the company on 18 May 2022. The new manager commenced their role in May 2022 and is in the progress of applying 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 inadequate

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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

Date of last inspection: 27 October 2021

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2585407 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

27/10/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2585407 3

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improvement to be good

At the time of this inspection, two children live at the home. Children’s progress and experience vary. One child has made good progress over time. However, this has not been maintained for another child, who is moving out of the home shortly. There are limitations on what further progress the child can make without specialist help and support. This has impacted on the pace of the child’s progress and experiences so far.

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improvement to be good

Two children have moved out of the home since the last inspection. One child moved sooner than anticipated, but this was in a planned way. The other child has moved into supported accommodation. This was planned and managed well.

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improvement to be good

The home is very spacious, welcoming, and clean and tidy in most areas. However, other aspects in the home do not help create a nurturing environment. For example, there are some exposed electrical wires in the home, some fire doors do not fully close and the therapy suite remains inoperative due to a smoke detector not working.

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improvement to be good

Staff support for children with their education varies significantly. One child receives good support and is making good progress with her learning, and has excellent school attendance. However, not enough has been done to support another child, who has poor school attendance. Staff do not always support the child to engage in constructive activities during the days they are not in school, and there is no coordinated plan in the home to review the child’s educational and learning needs.

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improvement to be good

Staff ensure that the children attend routine medical appointments and seek timely medical treatment in emergencies. However, staff have not been effective in supporting one child when they had concerns about vaping and smoking cannabis. This means that children do not always receive advice and guidance regarding their healthcare.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not regularly review and update children’s records to capture their history well. For example, documents detailing children’s progress and daily records do not contain relevant information. This means that staff are not able to consistently measure the child’s achievements or what further support they may need. However, the new manager has recognised this and taken action to address this shortfall.

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improvement to be good

Most of the staff working in the home are new, and they are in the process of building positive relationships with children. However, the more established staff know the children well. The children feel listened to, and feel that staff invest time in them. This means that children feel respected and valued. Inspection report for children’s home: 2585407 4 Children know how to complain. The manager treats their complaints seriously and responds to them clearly. As a result, children are confident that complaints will be investigated quickly, and that they will be given feedback of the outcome.

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improvement to be good

The manager challenges the responsible placing authority when staff have concerns about the future plans for the children. In one example, the manager quickly escalated her concerns, and, as a result, the child’s care plan was amended, and additional support was provided for the child.

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improvement to be good

Managers do not always ensure that risk assessments reflect children’s known and emerging risks. Therefore, they fail to provide staff with guidance, advice or strategies to follow in order to keep children safe. For example, one child’s risk assessment did not include all relevant important information. This has the potential to put vulnerable children at risk of harm.

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improvement to be good

During the inspection, staff were not fully adhering to one child’s deprivation of liberty order. Managers did not consult with the child’s social worker or children’s guardian before staff reduced a restriction for the child. This means staff do not always fully understand their role and responsibility in keeping the child safe.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not always make good use of key-work sessions in order to help children keep safe. For example, staff do not always support children by talking about their difficulties and risk. As a result, children do not receive good enough care to help them stay safe and progress.

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improvement to be good

While some staff carry out some good work with children to help them understand when behaviour is unacceptable, this is inconsistent. For example, staff don’t always have discussions with children about important things such as poor peer relationships, alcohol and underage smoking. This inconsistency impedes children’s ability to develop a good understanding and skills to recognise or withdraw from damaging or harmful behaviours.

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improvement to be good

Managers do not complete necessary recruitment checks in order to ensure that all staff, including staff employed through an agency, are safe and suitable. For example, managers did not obtain all the relevant information about staff employed through an agency, or find out whether they had the skills to meet the children’s needs.

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improvement to be good

Incidents of physical restraint are rare and are proportionate to the potential risk or serious concern to children or staff. However, not all staff are confident in knowing how to support children in times of distress. On one occasion, this lack of knowledge and support led to the situation escalating and was poorly managed by staff. In addition, records of restraint do not always contain the relevant information as required. Inspection report for children’s home: 2585407 5 Staff are quick and responsive when children go missing from care. They follow plans to reduce the risk to children by liaising with the social worker and police to coordinate a response to find the child and return them home safely. This shows that children’s vulnerabilities are the focus of the staff when children are in the community.

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improvement to be good

Staff have a good understanding and knowledge of children’s associated risks, such as self-harm and child sexual exploitation. They use this information to support children effectively. For example, the manager has a monitoring system to ensure that children’s electrical devices are checked regularly in order to keep them safe. Consequently, this has reduced children being exploited and being exposed to inappropriate material.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leadership and management of the home has not been stable since the last inspection. The registered manager and responsible individual resigned from their posts. Since then, an interim manager was appointed and has been in post for two months. The manager is now in day-to-day charge of the home. A new responsible individual is also in post. This instability has impacted negatively on some of the children’s experiences, especially when these changes occurred.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Overall, managers have failed to develop a good understanding about the strengths and weaknesses of the home. Inconsistent leadership and ineffective monitoring and oversight mean that managers do not identify or act quickly to address shortfalls in order to improve children’s safety, progress and experience. However, the current manager has been in post since May 2022. Since being appointed, they have quickly identified weaknesses in the home and are starting to bring about positive changes. An effective action plan is ongoing to address the shortfalls.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Insufficient staff means, there are not always enough suitably trained staff to meet the assessed needs of all children in the home. This prevents children from receiving the continuity of care they need.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Managers have not ensured that some of core staff have the skills and training to meet the needs of the children. For example, some core staff have not received training in self-harm, equality and diversity, child sexual exploitation, medication and ligature risk. This has the potential to compromise children’s progress and development. The new manager is starting to address this shortfall.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Internal monitoring systems are not effective. For example, the managers do not always ensure that they consistently review and update children’s risk assessments. Furthermore, managers have not acted on recommendations from the home’s fire risk assessment. As a result, staff lacked knowledge and understanding about how to manage and reduce all known risks to promote the children’s health and safety. Inspection report for children’s home: 2585407 6 Most staff hold appropriate qualifications for their roles. However, managers have not ensured that all staff complete the residential childcare qualification. One staff member is outside the required timescale for qualifying.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff confirmed to the inspector that they feel very supported by the new manager and deputy manager and have a positive relationship with them. However, during the inspection period the inspector found the quality of supervision that staff receive is variable. Although, some staff receive regular and practice-related supervision and appraisals, others do not. This does not promote staff development or improve practices within the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The previous manager did not always notify Ofsted of all serious incidents that occur in the home. This means that the regulator cannot review whether the appropriate action is taken, or if risks to children have been managed well or whether lessons are learned to reduce the risk of the same thing happening again.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Effective oversight of the independent person’s reports by managers is inconsistent, as these reports do not always contain feedback from children or professionals. This leaves the regulator without the full information and opportunity to review the manager’s own assessment of the quality of care. Senior management have identified this shortfall and have taken action to resolve this. Inspection report for children’s home: 2585407 7

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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

understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

protect and promote each child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

provide to children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to staff ensuring they adhere to children’s plans.

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Requirement Due date

It also relates to ensuring that all aspects of the home are welcoming and free from hazards. 16 September

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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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 staff— 16 September Inspection report for children’s home: 2585407 8 understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment; and

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Requirement Due date

help each child to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(iii)(iv)(x))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the manager and staff understanding barriers to children’s learning and to ensuring that they support children who are not in attendance at school to return as soon as possible.

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Requirement Due date

The health and well-being standard is that—

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Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being; and

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Requirement Due date

children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles.

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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

achieve the health and well-being outcomes that are recorded in the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 10 (1)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

This relates the manager and staff ensuring that children’s health needs, regarding all aspects of their development, are promoted. 16 September

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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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 staff— 16 September Inspection report for children’s home: 2585407 9 help each child to develop socially aware behaviour;

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Requirement Due date

encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop and practise skills to resolve conflicts positively and without harm to anyone;

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Requirement Due date

communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand, in a way that is appropriate according to the child’s age and understanding, personal, sexual and social relationships, and how those relationships can be supportive or harmful; and

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop the understanding and skills to recognise or withdraw from a damaging, exploitative or harmful relationship. (Regulation 11 (1)(b)(c) (2)(a)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to staff supporting children to explore their emotions and build positive relationships.

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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

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

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other; 16 September Inspection report for children’s home: 2585407 10 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

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to staff ensuring they follow advice in children’s risk assessments and that these are regularly reviewed and kept up to date.

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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

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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Requirement Due date

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)(a)(c)(d)(e)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to the manager ensuring that all staff receive refresher mandatory training.

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Requirement Due date

This also refers to the manager ensuring that they have sufficient staff to provide consistent care for the children. 16 September Inspection report for children’s home: 2585407 11 Finally, this refers to ensuring they use internal monitoring systems more effectively.

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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.

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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained—

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Requirement Due date

the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) ("the Level 3 Diploma"); or

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Requirement Due date

a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma.

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls 2 years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home; or

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who was working in a care role in a home on 1st April 2014, 1st April 2016. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a)(b) (3)(d) (4)(a)(b) (5)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the manager ensuring that relevant safer recruitment checks on core and agency staff are fully completed. 16 September Inspection report for children’s home: 2585407 12 Also, this relates to the manager ensuring that all staff have completed the relevant qualification in residential childcare.

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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)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the manager ensuring that all staff receive reflective practice-related supervision and annual appraisals. 16 September

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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

are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to managers and staff ensuring that all children’s records are regularly updated. 16 September

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the manager ensuring all safeguarding concerns are reported to Ofsted in a timely manner. 16 September

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the independent person makes a rigorous and impartial assessment of the home’s arrangements for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraphs 15.5) Inspection report for children’s home: 2585407 13  The registered person should ensure that behaviour management strategies are understood by staff and must be kept under review and revised where appropriate. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.34)

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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: 2585407 14

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Physis Quantum Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: DPC, 55 Stone House Road Business Park, Stone Road, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire ST4 6SR

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Inspector

Patrick McIntosh, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2585407 15 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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