Children's Home run by Halliwell Homes Limited in Stoke-on-Trent

Inspection report children’s home: 2592943 1 Registered provider: Halliwell Homes Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This private home is registered to provide care for up to eight children. The home has an attached registered school.

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Information about this children’s home

There is a new manager in post, who took up position in May 2022. Ofsted is currently processing her application for registration.

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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 requires improvement to be good

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

One compliance notice was issued under regulation 13 (the leadership and management standard). Inspection report children’s home: 2592943 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

26/07/2022 Full Inadequate 13/07/2021 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 2592943 3

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improvement to be good

At the time of this inspection, there were eight children living in the home. Positive interactions were observed between children and staff during this inspection, and it is evident that some children have good relationships with some members of staff.

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improvement to be good

School attendance is consistently high, and most children attend the organisation’s school. Education is highly valued in the home, and care staff ensure that children are fully supported to attend and achieve.

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improvement to be good

Children have clear health plans and are registered with the relevant primary healthcare services. Children attend their routine health appointments and receive good support and encouragement from staff. Children have access to the services they need to promote their physical, emotional and psychological well-being. Trained staff store and safely administer children’s medication.

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improvement to be good

Staff undertake regular key-work sessions with children, and there are further opportunities for children to express their wishes and feelings at children’s meetings. As a result, children contribute to their daily care and the running of the home.

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improvement to be good

Staff support children to maintain and develop suitable and positive relationships with their families. Staff provide children with emotional and practical support to help them to remain in touch with their families and not become isolated from the people who are important to them.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not protect children effectively from harm. On several occasions, children living in the home have deliberately hurt each other during fights and physical assaults.

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improvement to be good

The manager ensures that there are comprehensive risk assessments in place for each child. They safeguard children by identifying their risks and vulnerabilities and setting out strategies to minimise risks. Review and monitoring of the assessments are ongoing in response to changes in risks and to ensure that they remain effective.

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improvement to be good

Staff use physical restraint as a last resort to maintain children’s safety. These restraints are appropriate and undertaken by suitably trained staff. Oversight from the manager is good. In addition, she monitors the action taken with a view to identifying patterns and trends. Staff also share information quickly with children’s social workers and reflect on these incidents during team meetings. Inspection report children’s home: 2592943 4 Children live in a safe environment. There are effective health and safety systems in place. Regular evacuation drills ensure that children know how to exit the building safely and quickly, in case of an emergency.

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good

The manager has been in post since May 2022. She has applied to register with Ofsted.

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good

The home has experienced a difficult period and high staff turnover. The management team has used staff from the organisation’s other homes and agency staff to cover these gaps. Managers have embarked on a recruitment exercise and recruited new staff. However, staff continuity in the home is still not effective with the skills and expertise of staff limited to a small number of individuals. This does not ensure that consistent care is provided by staff who have experience of meeting children’s individual needs. The manager recognises that the lack of experience in the staff team is a shortfall and understands that the development of staff is central to ensuring that children achieve good outcomes.

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good

Staff regularly receive reflective supervision and appraisals. However, the frequency of supervision is not in line with the company’s policy. For example, the manager has not ensured that newly recruited staff receive regular supervision during their probation period. This does not ensure that these members of staff have the support that they should be receiving at a critical time in their development.

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good

Management oversight of records is not effective. Staffing rotas are not clear about which member of staff has been on duty. This means that it would be difficult to identify who has been in contact with children should this information be needed in the future.

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good

Staff undertake mandatory and additional training to equip them with the knowledge they need to meet the individual needs of the children living in the home.

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good

Good working relationships exist with other professionals, such as the police, education staff and social workers. As a result, there is a coordinated approach to meeting children’s needs and communication is shared quickly, which helps to keep children safe. Inspection report children’s home: 2592943 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

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;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(iii)(iv)(v))

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Requirement Due date

This is in relation to children causing harm to each other and ensuring that staff understand their roles in managing this behaviour. 3 December 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; 3 December 2022 Inspection report children’s home: 2592943 6 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’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)(e)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This is in relation to the provider ensuring that staff have the knowledge and skills to meet the needs of children and that staffing arrangements provide continuity of care.

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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: 2592943 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Pearce House, 80 Cawdor Street, Eccles M30 0QF

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Inspectors

Dave Carrigan, Social Care Inspector Sarah Billett, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2592943 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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