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

Inspection report children’s home: SC480854 1 SC480854 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 provider owns and runs the home. Ofsted have registered the home to provide care for up to six children. Children may require support due to having learning, social and/or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home has a suitably qualified manager, who Ofsted have registered. At the time of the inspection, four children were living at the home.

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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: SC480854 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/05/2021 Full Good 10/12/2019 Full Good 04/09/2018 Full Outstanding 30/08/2017 Full Outstanding Inspection report children’s home: SC480854 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who live at the home are making progress in key areas of their lives. This is testament to the drive and commitment of the home’s registered manager and her deputy manager. The management team are fierce advocates for the children. This has provided children with a sense of feeling loved and valued.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There have been several planned changes to the staff team of carers, mainly associated with career progression. This has understandably affected the children’s continuity of care. However, the stability from the management team in the home has maintained some key relationships and consistency for the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager is effective with championing children’s access to education. When the manager encounters unprecedented barriers around children’s access to school, there is respectful and effective challenge to the children’s respective virtual schools. In doing so, children sense the significance and value of education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Some children have experienced premature moves from the home. However, the registered manager works alongside the child’s local authority to prevent children moving in crisis. This has minimised children’s anxieties around the unintended disruption to their care arrangements. It has also enabled the child’s social worker to acquire the appropriate care setting for these children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The management team see the value in maintaining links with all children who have previously lived at the home. This has provided valuable ongoing informal support for children. It has also provided children who currently live at the home with reassurance that relationships can continue beyond their care at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy a variety of activities. Carers provide children with a photobook containing a variety of memorable moments. The children’s photobooks are of high quality and enable children to reflect on various treasured memories from their care at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The management team mentors carers to devise children’s placement plans that are informative and thorough. Placement plans contain rich information relating to the children’s needs. It was evident to the inspector that, from reading the child-friendly version of the placement plan and from speaking with children, children are actively involved in their care planning. This ensures that children are clear about their care plan and the direction it is taking.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Professionals who work alongside the home are positive about the care of the children. Various professionals, such as social workers and sexual health workers, value the dogged determination from the management team in supporting the children. Inspection report children’s home: SC480854 4

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

Carers are not thorough when maintaining a clean and homely environment. The inspector located a box of paracetamol in a storage stacker box situated in the lounge. Additionally, there were empty crisp packets within the storage boxes and bottles strewn around the grounds of the home. This lack of care and diligence increases the risk of harm to children and shows a lack of care for the home environment.

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

Children’s bedrooms are spacious and personalised. However, children’s bedroom doors have industrial fire closure systems fitted. These increase the risk of harm to children and create an unnecessary institutional element in the home. The registered manager is aware that there are alternative doors available that comply with fire regulations.

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

Children’s risk assessments are clear, succinct and easy for carers to follow. However, in one instance, the registered manager had overlooked a significant change to the local authority’s care plan for a child. This increases the risk of carers inadvertently minimising or overlooking vulnerable areas of children’s care planning.

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

Carers do not have to frequently report children as missing persons to the police. However, every child has a clear and current missing-from-home risk assessment that carers are confident to implement when required. The knowledge that carers have acquired on children’s networks has enabled clear risk management from children’s respective local authorities. This has enabled areas of significant concern, such as child sexual exploitation, to be effectively managed.

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

Carers clearly record incidents involving children and there is good management oversight. Carers undertake direct work with children following significant incidents. This reduces the likelihood of incidents recurring as carers teach children to reflect and learn. However, the registered manager has not yet consistently embedded this skill across the team.

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

The registered manager has established broad networks with other safeguarding agencies. These include sexual health workers and substance misuse workers who frequently visit the home with the objective of raising the children’s awareness on several topical issues. In doing so, this broadens children’s support networks and empowers children to learn how to better protect themselves.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

An experienced, committed and passionate registered manager leads a staff team of carers. The inspection evidenced that the registered manager expects the best standards of care for the children. However, there have been infrequent incidents where carers have fallen short of these expectations. This has resulted in disruption and inconsistencies to the children’s experience of care in the home. Inspection report children’s home: SC480854 5 Supervisions are thorough, reflective and frequent. Carers’ state that they value the supervision process as the registered manager ensures that there is a strong emphasis on learning and accountability. This means that carers have protected time to learn and develop.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has effective methods to appraise the functioning of the home. However, in respect of the care and review report, the inspector found this to be lacking in analysis of a significant incident. Additionally, key consultations that the children were involved in during the review period were absent from the report. This dilutes the transparency of the home and curtails the manager’s ability to critically evaluate areas of learning and development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The deputy manager has undertaken some good work with children and carers around avoiding language that risks marginalising children. However, these exercises are yet to become embedded in the team’s practice as carers frequently use terms such as ‘shift’, ‘contact’ and ‘staff’ with children. It is positive that the management team has an ongoing plan to address this.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager understands the value in needing statutory documents. When the registered manager has not received statutory documents within the necessary timescales, she provides respectful challenge to the local authority. This ensures that children’s care planning in the home reflects the local authority’s plan. Therefore, children receive a consistent message from all partners involved in their care planning.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has outlined a clear vision for the home in her development plan. There is a strong emphasis on staff development due to the number of new carers in the team. The registered manager also has a plan for children to make better use of the grounds that surround their home. Progress in these areas will strengthen the care that the children already receive at the home. Inspection report children’s home: SC480854 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

protect and promote each child’s welfare;

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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)(b)(ii)(c)(ii)) 1 November 2022

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Recommendations

 The registered person needs to be responsible for deciding what each review should focus on, based on the specific circumstances of the home at that particular time. The whole review process and the resulting report should be used as a tool for continuous improvement in the home. In particular, the manager’s report should accurately reflect recorded information from the home’s recording systems. Key consultations with children should be incorporated within the report (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.4)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff actively assess the risks to each child and that suitable arrangements are in place to protect them. In particular, Inspection report children’s home: SC480854 7 the manager needs to note when there have been key changes to the child’s care plan and identify new risks that this is likely to create. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home is a nurturing and supportive environment that meets the needs of the children. They will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. Children’s homes must comply with relevant health and safety legislations (alarms, food hygiene etc.); however, in doing so, homes should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than ‘institutional’ impression. In particular, the children’s bedroom door closure systems need reviewing where there are alternative options that will better fulfil the concept of a homely environment while meeting the home’s fire regulations. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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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: SC480854 8

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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

Steve Guirey, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC480854 9 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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