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

Inspection report children’s home: SC479647 1 SC479647 Registered provider: Hexagon Care Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A private company owns the home, which provides care for up to six children. The provider states in their statement of purpose that they provide care for children with EBD (social and emotional difficulties).

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Information about this children’s home

The manager is suitably experienced and qualified. He registered with Ofsted in February 2022

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Information about this children’s home

There were four children living in the home at the time of this inspection.

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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 good

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good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC479647 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

29/06/2021 Full Good 14/05/2019 Full Good 25/07/2018 Full Good 09/04/2018 Full Inadequate Inspection report children’s home: SC479647 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of the inspection, three children were living at the home. The inspector spoke to all the children. Children speak highly about their home and the staff who care for them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

This home is decorated to a high standard, and children have personalised their bedrooms and the communal areas. The home provides a calm and welcoming environment. This helps children to feel safe and secure.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make progress from their starting points. Managers have worked hard to ensure that staff understand the importance of providing a nurturing, stable environment for the children to thrive in. The changes made have improved the relationships between children and staff. Observations gave a clear indication that there are warm and caring relationships between the staff and children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are considerate and sensitive to each child’s wishes and feelings, and ensure that each of the children receive individualised care. Children are encouraged to try new activities, go on holidays abroad, and grow their own fruit and vegetables. Staff manage this well and carefully consider the views of all children in the home as part of the planning process.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Education is promoted in the home. The manager and staff support children to be in education. This is enhancing children’s educational opportunities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are well understood and promoted. All children have up-to- date health assessments in place, and referrals are made to relevant agencies to provide additional support. As a result, there are robust plans in place and staff understand how to best support children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is very spacious and is suitably decorated with modern decor. Any maintenance jobs are actioned without delay. This imbeds the nurturing environment that the manager works hard to achieve.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff always ensure that the welfare and well-being of children are at the forefront of their practice. Consequently, they place emphasis on the positive management of children’s behaviour by giving constant reassurance and consistent praise. This develops children’s self-esteem and confidence.

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

Children told the inspector that they feel safe and are well cared for. Children could name staff that they trust, and said that they would talk to staff if they were worried about anything or needed support to manage any worries they may have. Inspection report children’s home: SC479647 4 Staff use a therapeutic approach to support children. This helps children to manage their behaviour and helps them to make progress with their emotional health and well-being. This reduces the number of incidents that children are involved in.

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

All staff consistently use de-escalation techniques to help children to manage their behaviour. This reduces the need for physical intervention. This means that staff maintain positive and healthy relationships with children.

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

Physical intervention is rare and only used as a last resort to keep children safe. However, one restraint record did not include a conversation with the child about the hold used. This means that children’s experiences of restraints are not being considered or acted on.

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

Leaders review children’s risk-management plans after every incident and at least monthly. This helps staff to identify and manage any increase in risk. Staff also receive an in-depth handover each day to discuss any concerns. This promotes good communication across the team and provides consistent care for children.

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

Staff understand children’s risks and behaviours well, which helps to safeguard children. Risk-management plans are clear and easy to read, providing clear guidance and actions for staff to follow in the event of a concern about a child’s welfare.

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

The registered manager follows safer recruitment procedures so that staff are suitably vetted to ensure children’s safety. The stable staff team enables consistent care to help children feel safe and protected.

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

Children have clear missing-from-home risk-management strategies. This helps to reduce the likelihood of children going missing and the length of time of each missing-from-home episode. As a result, missing-from-home episodes have reduced.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Since the last inspection, a new manager has been appointed. The manager is suitably experienced and qualified. He registered with Ofsted in February 2022. He is a motivated, child-centred and committed manager who has high aspirations for the children. The manager is supported by a strong deputy. They have a shared vison and child-centred ethos. Staff and children spoke highly of the manager and deputy, and said that they find them both easy to talk to.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager and staff team understand the plans for children and actively drive the achievement of important milestones, goals and permanence for their futures. Managers monitor the progress of children and can demonstrate the positive impact that living at the home has had.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children actively contribute to the operation of the home and plans for their future by their day-to-day interactions and the choices they make. Each of the children Inspection report children’s home: SC479647 5 enjoyed a holiday of their choice over the summer. The manager ensured that the holidays were well planned and risk assessed so that the children were safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff benefit from a comprehensive induction programme and regular developmental supervision. They say that this helps them to reflect on their performance and ensures that they continually improve the quality of care that they provide. Not all supervision records include a review of the previous actions. This is a missed opportunity to ensure that all tasks have been completed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager and deputy manager are passionate and aspirational for the staff and children’s development. Staff approach their work with children with increased knowledge and understanding about the background to their work. This helps them to be confident in the way that they support children and work with other professionals to achieve progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is registered to care for up to six children. However, there are only four suitable children’s bedrooms. The top floor of the house is not in use; therefore, the home is not able to care for six children. Ofsted have not received a request to vary the conditions. Inspection report children’s home: SC479647 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 registered person must prepare and implement a policy ("the behaviour management policy") which sets out how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home.

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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 (1) (3)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that children are spoken to after a measure of control is used, and that the registered person fully evaluates any incident of restraint. 12 October 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c)) 12 October 2022

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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: SC479647 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Hexagon Care Services Limited

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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

Jessica Higginson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC479647 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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