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

Inspection report children’s home: SC482517 1 SC482517 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

This home provides care for up to four children aged between 11 and 17 years old with social, emotional and mental health difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager is appropriately qualified and is registered with Ofsted.

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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

Date of last inspection: 15 December 2021

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC482517 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/12/2021 Full Good 11/03/2020 Full Good 27/02/2019 Full Good 09/10/2017 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC482517 3

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improvement to be good

Four children live in this home. Since the last inspection, three children have moved out and three children have moved in. There are shortfalls in safeguarding practice and in the leadership and management of the home, which mean that children’s welfare is not consistently promoted well. For example, lone working arrangements have meant that children have not received support from those who care for them when they have needed it. In addition, oversight from managers has not identified shortfalls in the quality of recordings and risk assessments. Such omissions could compromise the quality of care that children receive.

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improvement to be good

Children say that they feel happy living in the home. They share trusting and meaningful relationships with staff. Consequently, children experience genuine acceptance and care.

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improvement to be good

The registered manager and staff are good advocates for children. They challenge other agencies appropriately to ensure that the correct support is in place to meet children’s complex needs and help them to progress. For example, one child now has an education, health and care plan and also receives support from mental health services. This support informed the child’s pathway plan. As a result, this child now lives independently with support from adult services. This child told the inspector, ‘I felt safe living at the home. I felt well supported moving from the home. The best thing was more independence, now I have my flat, [the manager and staff] showed me lots of patience. They were really encouraging of me.’

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improvement to be good

The manager has clear expectations for children to attend education. Children commented that staff make sure they are ‘up to get to school’. Staff work enthusiastically with providers of children’s education to support children’s attendance at school. Children who previously had poor attendance at school are now engaged in some form of education. Children are proud of their achievements and look forward to their future.

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improvement to be good

Staff enhance children’s day-to-day care by listening and responding to their requests. This makes children feel valued. During the matching process, the manager considers local activities and clubs for children. This helps children to settle in and encourages them to invest in the home.

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improvement to be good

Overall, the home is well maintained and has a homely feel. However, there are areas that need attention. Some children’s bedrooms need personalising. This detracts from the otherwise homely feel to the home. Inspection report for children’s home: SC482517 4

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improvement to be good

There is not always enough staff working in the home to respond to concerns about children promptly. On one occasion, a child alleged to a third party, who they knew, that they had been the victim of sexual assault. The assault occurred while they were spending time in the community. When staff became aware, they were unable to immediately go to the child. This was because they were lone working in the home. This resulted in a delay in this child receiving emotional support from staff. The staff member had informed the registered manager who was on call. However, this discussion was not recorded in any detail. The decision-making around this incident was not recorded either.

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improvement to be good

Managers and staff do not always follow the home’s lone working policy. This states that a risk assessment should be undertaken when staff lone work in the home. However, this does not always happen. As a result, there are no arrangements in place for staff to respond if a child were to go missing or if there was serious concern about a child’s welfare. This places children at risk of not receiving support.

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improvement to be good

The manager does not always share important information with other professionals. For example, the manager did not share information relating to the links between children with a child’s social worker. The manager shared this information with the social worker during the inspection. However, the delay in sharing information hindered other professionals using this information to inform the children’s care planning.

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improvement to be good

Risk assessments contain inaccurate information and do not reflect the actions that staff take to protect children. Managers do not update them regularly enough. Several incidents that had occurred were not recorded in children’s risk assessments. As a result, staff do not have the most up-to-date information about children’s risks and how to respond to them. These gaps in recording create the opportunity for error, which has the potential to compromise children’s safety.

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improvement to be good

Children have safety plans for when they spend time outside of the home. They include the action that staff should take when children go missing. On one occasion, when a child was missing overnight, staff responded appropriately in line with the child’s missing-from-home protocol. However, records were unclear about whether staff had informed the registered manager.

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improvement to be good

Staff are proactive in helping children to understand how to keep safe. Key-work sessions between staff and children provide a safe space to talk about and explore risk. Staff are curious about what children are doing when they are not at home. They identify signs in children’s behaviours that may be a worry. This helps to identify risks such as child criminal exploitation. Staff use key-work sessions effectively to encourage children to think about risk and to make safe choices. Inspection report for children’s home: SC482517 5

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good

The home has recently experienced a period of instability within the staff team due to some staff leaving. Managers and staff have remained committed to ensuring that children receive consistent care. As a result, children have only been cared for by staff who they know, which helps them to feel safe and secure. However, this has led to the registered manager and deputy manager covering shifts and working long hours, which has hindered their oversight of the home.

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good

The registered manager’s monitoring systems are not always effective. They have not identified and addressed shortfalls in practice, including the impact of the lone working arrangements on the ability of staff to meet children’s needs in an emergency, and gaps in children’s risk assessments or poor recording by managers and staff. In addition, the quality of recording of staff supervisions sessions is variable. Some supervision notes are difficult to read and it is not always clear what is discussed. These shortfalls hinder the manager’s oversight of the quality of care that children receive.

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good

Staff do not always work effectively as a team. There have been occasions when staff have not shared relevant information with each other effectively. For example, during a handover, concerns about children’s behaviour that morning were not shared between staff. This could result in children receiving inconsistent care.

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good

Staff receive training that is reflective of children’s needs, and discussions during team meetings reinforce their learning. This provides staff with the skills and knowledge they need to care for children.

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good

Staff encourage consultation with the children. Children help staff to design their own incentive plans. This helps to promote positive behaviour. Staff always consult children about their experience of living at the home. Children complete evaluations during their transition to and from the home. This information improves and informs the care of children who move in. However, not all children have the opportunity to contribute to their own care plans. This means that children’s plans do not always detail how children would like staff to care for them.

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good

The home has an experienced registered manager who is a good advocate. They are tenacious and demonstrate confidence in their communication with professionals. In addition, they challenge issues appropriately to seek better outcomes for children. Managers and staff are passionate and committed to children. They have high aspirations and help children to progress.

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good

Overall, feedback from professionals is very positive. They spoke of good working relationships with the registered manager and staff. Inspection report for children’s home: SC482517 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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. 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

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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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

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare;

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies;

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Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm;

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Requirement Due date

that the effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii)(b)(e))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person should ensure that their decision- making is clearly recorded when incidents occur, particularly in relation to staff lone working in the home. Any lone 13 December Inspection report for children’s home: SC482517 7 working should be thoroughly risk assessed to ensure that all children are supported, including in the event of an incident occurring outside of the home.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person should ensure that they share promptly any pertinent information with the relevant professionals.

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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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(h))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person should ensure that they use monitoring systems effectively to identify and address shortfalls in staff’s practice and the quality of care delivered to children. 13 December

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are kept up to date. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person should ensure that children’s risk assessments are up to date and contain information about all known risks to children living in the home. 13 December

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that improvements are made to provide children with a more homely environment. In particular, ensure that children’s bedrooms are personalised, and that consultation takes place with them about Inspection report for children’s home: SC482517 8 this. Additionally, ensure that the general redecoration of the home takes place promptly, including in the annex. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.7)  The registered person should ensure that important information about children’s day-to-day experience is shared effectively within the staff team. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 56, paragraph 11.2)  The registered person should ensure that supervision records are legible and recorded in detail. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.3).

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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 for children’s home: SC482517 9

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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

Sarah Berry, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC482517 10 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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