Children's home run by Esland North Limited

Inspection report children’s home: 2648208 1 Registered provider: Esland North Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately run and is registered to provide care for one child. The provider states in its statement of purpose that care is provided for children who may experience social and/or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since August 2022.

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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: not applicable

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 2648208 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

Not previously inspected Inspection report children’s home: 2648208 3

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improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, one child has moved out of this home. The child currently living in the home has been there a short length of time. Staff are gradually getting to know her and building relationships with her.

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improvement to be good

The home is warm and welcoming. The child showed the inspector her bedroom and has made plans with staff to decorate this to her individual taste.

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improvement to be good

The child has been out of formal education since moving to this home. The registered manager is working with the placing authority and the virtual school to progress arrangements for the child’s education. However, there are no plans in place for staff to follow to support the child’s learning currently. This does not ensure that the child’s interest in learning is promoted and sustained.

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improvement to be good

There are good arrangements in place to support the child to keep in touch with the people who are important to her. The registered manager and staff communicate effectively with the child’s parent to ensure that these arrangements are in the child’s best interests.

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improvement to be good

The child told the inspector that she can take part in activities that she enjoys, including ice skating, football and accessing local gym facilities.

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improvement to be good

Plans are in place to support children with their individual health needs. Input from the organisation’s in-house psychologist is also available to support children’s emotional needs and provide guidance for the staff team. However, for one child, it is not clear how this support has helped either the child or the staff caring for her, as is set out in the home’s statement of purpose.

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improvement to be good

Children moving into and out of this home do so in a planned way where possible. However, admission processes have not always been effective. The assessments do not clearly demonstrate how the manager has accurately assessed the skills of the staff team to meet the individual needs of the child. For one child, this meant that they moved on from the home after only a short length of time as the home was unable to meet their needs.

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improvement to be good

Children have regular opportunities to share their views about the home and the care they receive. The child currently living in the home told the inspector that she is aware of how to make a complaint, although no complaints have been made since the home registered. Inspection report children’s home: 2648208 4

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improvement to be good

Individual risk management plans are in place which contain the strategies staff are to follow to reduce risks to the child. The plans are updated with the most current information. However, during the inspection, not all staff working in the home were familiar with all risks associated with the child. This practice does not ensure children’s safety.

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improvement to be good

On occasions, staff have appropriately requested assistance from the police when a child’s behaviour has become increasingly unsafe. When risks to children have increased, staff have worked with all relevant professionals to ensure that children are kept safe.

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improvement to be good

Individual key-work sessions focus on the child’s needs and vulnerabilities. Staff are getting to know the child and helping her to find alternative ways of coping with her feelings. The child told the inspector that staff talk to her and try to help her when she is angry or upset.

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improvement to be good

Staff have held children when it has been necessary to keep everybody safe. However, the recording of these incidents is not consistent. Records do not always contain the full names of staff involved. It is not clear that staff have always had a debrief. As a result, staff do not get the support that they need to carry out their roles effectively.

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improvement to be good

Staff try to de-escalate behaviour and promote positive behaviour through rewards and incentives. This means that consequences are used sparingly in this home. However, there are shortfalls in the manager’s oversight of these records, and they have not always been reviewed promptly.

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improvement to be good

Safe recruitment procedures are in place for new staff, including agency staff. This means that children are protected from unsuitable adults being employed to work in the home.

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improvement to be good

Feedback from the child’s social worker is positive. They are complimentary about the care the child receives and the communication from the home’s registered manager. They are aware of the changes to the staff team and the plans in place to address these.

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good

There has been some instability in leadership and management over the last year. The registered manager moved to another role within the organisation. The lack of a consistent manager in this home has led to shortfalls in the oversight of the day-to- day running of the home. The provider made the decision to close for a period following a child living at the home whose needs they were unable to meet. Inspection report children’s home: 2648208 5 There is now an experienced and qualified manager in post, who registered with Ofsted in August 2022.

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good

There has been a high turnover of staff since the home registered. Two members of staff have recently moved to another home within the organisation. Changes to the staff team have meant that children living in this home have not experienced continuity of care. New and experienced staff have been recruited to work in this home and are due to join the organisation imminently.

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good

Team meetings are used to reflect on the care and support given to children. Staff receive regular supervision. However, the registered manager has not always ensured that practice-related issues have been followed up in these sessions.

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good

The registered manager has not always recorded the actual hours worked by staff on the duty roster. This means that records kept cannot be relied on if there are any safeguarding concerns.

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good

The registered manager has not secured the placing authority’s consent to use door sensors as a means of surveillance, as stated in the home’s statement of purpose.

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good

Staff have received training to ensure that they have the skills required to meet the needs of the child living in this home. The registered manager arranged for additional training, specific to the individual needs of the child, to take place prior to them moving in.

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good

Monthly visits from an independent person support the registered manager to tackle shortfalls in the home. The registered manager has submitted a review of the quality of care which identifies actions for improvement in the coming months. Inspection report children’s home: 2648208 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 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

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally;

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Requirement Due date

help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(v)(viii))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the arrangements in place to support children’s education and learning in the home. 22 December

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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

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(v)) 22 December Inspection report children’s home: 2648208 7 This specifically relates to ensuring that staff read and understand children’s plans and are familiar with the strategies they must use to manage and reduce risk.

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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

The registered person must ensure that: the home has sufficient experienced and qualified staff to care for children; there are effective monitoring systems in place to have oversight of all aspects of the day-to-day running of the home; and therapeutic input is clearly recorded in the child’s plans, as per the home’s statement of purpose. 22 December

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home. 22 December Inspection report children’s home: 2648208 8 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that children’s needs are clearly identified and assessed prior to admission and that the staff have the skills to meet the needs of children admitted to the home.

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person who used the measure (“the user”), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”)—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and 22 December Inspection report children’s home: 2648208 9 has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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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 (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This refers to the registered person’s monitoring and evaluation of each measure and ensuring that debriefs are carried out with staff.

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Requirement Due date

Schedule 4 sets out the other information that the registered person must keep in relation to a children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4. (Regulation 37 (1) (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that the staff duty roster includes all persons working at the home at any time and the actual hours worked. 22 December

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that they obtain written consent for any monitoring or surveillance by the placing authority at the time of placement. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.16)

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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: 2648208 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Esland North Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Suites 1 and 5, Riverside Business Centre, Foundry Lane, Milford, Belper, Derbyshire DE56 0RN

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Inspector

Genevieve O’Reilly, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2648208 11 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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