Children's Home run by Nestlings Care BC Limited in Leeds

Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2594061 1 Registered provider: Nestlings Care Ltd

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is run by a private provider. It provides care for up to three children who may have learning disabilities and/or mental health disorders.

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Information about this children’s home

There are currently three children living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered since July 2020.

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Information about this children’s home

Judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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Information about this children’s home

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Information about this inspection

At this inspection, the inspector evaluated:

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Information about this inspection

 the care of children  the safety of children  the effectiveness of leaders and managers. Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children, using the social care common inspection framework. This assurance 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’. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2594061 2

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Findings from the inspection

We identified the following serious concerns in relation to the care and protection of children at this assurance inspection:

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Findings from the inspection

 Children’s risk review assessments are not updated after incidents to alert staff to all known risks.  Children are not always supervised effectively in the community.  Information is missing from children’s case file records and daily observation records.  Manager’s monitoring systems are ineffective.  Safer recruitment is not practised.

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The care of children

Children enjoy nurturing care experiences. They have a homely and clean place to live. Children develop trusting relationships with staff, who they talk to when they are concerned. This helps staff to support children.

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The care of children

Children have well-planned moves to and from the home, including visiting the home and having an introduction to new staff. Staff and children talk about children’s next steps. Those moving on have successful transitions in line with their wishes and plans.

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The care of children

Children become increasingly independent while living at this home. Staff teach children household skills. Children engage in education and learning and enjoy new activities.

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The care of children

Staff support children to start spending time in their community. Children need supervision in the community due to their complex needs. This supervision is not always effective, which places children at risk.

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The care of children

Staff and children talk about their plans. Staff listen to what children have to say. Children choose how they would like to spend their time and they have no complaints about their care and support.

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The care of children

Staff encourage children to set themselves targets and choose their rewards. Children are having success with their most recently agreed incentives because they are now having less incidents.

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The safety of children

Staff do not always keep children safe. On one occasion, staff’s supervision of a child was poor when out in the community. The child was able to procure an item known to present them with an increased risk of harm. The child injured Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2594061 3 themselves as a result. The actions taken to prevent this from happening again were not effective, and discussions with the staff involved were not recorded in a timely way. This does not help to keep children safe.

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The safety of children

Children’s risk assessments are not always updated sufficiently in line with the known risks. New strategies and guidance are not always shared following incidents of concern. The lack of detail in one child’s risk assessment could lead to a repeat of the same concerns and further harm to children.

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The safety of children

Children require high levels of staff supervision due to their complex needs. Staff fail to record children’s daily observation checks consistently. The lack of information in children’s records does not provide assurances that checks are conducted in line with children’s plans. This exposes children to harm.

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The safety of children

Staff are responsive to children who may use ligatures. Staff work alongside the multi-disciplinary team that oversees children’s care. Confident and trained staff align their support strategies in these circumstances to children’s plans.

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The safety of children

The home is well maintained and safe from any hazards. Staff regularly check the premises to identify potential risks. Good security within the home helps to keep children safe. Children do not go missing from care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Ineffective monitoring and a lack of professional challenge mean that there are gaps in children’s records. Incident reports are incomplete and information from some children’s placing authorities is not available on children’s files.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The manager’s monitoring and scrutiny of incidents are poor. The manager does not consistently record a full evaluation or identify what action they take. At times, the manager’s views on the use of physical intervention are unclear. The response to poor practice issues is not thorough. Furthermore, the manager is unaware of staff’s failure to record children’s daily observations, because they do not check these records.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Staff benefit from bespoke training led by the on-site registered nurse. They have supervision sessions which help them reflect on their work. The manager cannot demonstrate the support that staff receive when serious incidents occur, because they do not always record the debrief.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The provider’s recruitment procedures remain ineffective. Agency workers regularly support children. There is a continued failure to assess agency staff’s skills and suitability to work with children. This places children at risk of significant harm.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

These shortfalls show an inadequate response to the findings of the full inspection. Requirements relating to the quality of care review and the statement of purpose are carried forward and were not reviewed during this inspection. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2594061 4

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/06/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 27/10/2021 Full Good Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2594061 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 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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all children’s risk review assessments identify known risks and that they have a system to demonstrate the effective update of risk review assessments when incidents occur. 6 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

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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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) (2)(h))

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Requirement Due date

notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement of purpose within 28 days of the revision. 6 November 2022 Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2594061 6 (Regulation 16 (3)(b))

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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,

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

the individual is of integrity and good character;

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Requirement Due date

the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform;

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Requirement Due date

the individual is mentally and physically fit for the purposes of the work that the individual is to perform; and

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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)(a)(b)(c)(d))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must implement a system to ensure that recruitment checks for agency workers confirm that the workers have the skills and experience and are suitable to work with children.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that those responsible for safer recruitment processes are trained to do so. 6 November 2022

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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 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 6 November 2022 Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2594061 7 children.

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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. (Regulation 45 (2)(b)(c) (5))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that they use the views of children, staff, families and placing authorities in the quality of care review and include a plan of action for service development in the report.

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Requirement Due date

*These requirements are subject to a compliance notice. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2594061 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Nestlings Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Suite 4, 1 Derby Street, Leigh, Lancashire WN7 4PF

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Anthony Thompson

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Inspector

Alexandra Howitt, Social Care Inspector Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2594061 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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