Children's home run by Esland North Limited

Inspection report children’s home: 2647445 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

A private organisation owns and runs the home. Ofsted has registered the home to provide care for one child who may present with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home does not have a registered manager. An acting manager has been appointed. At the time of the inspection, there was one child 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 requires improvement to be 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: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2647445 2

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Recent inspection history

Not previously inspected. Inspection report for children’s home: 2647445 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff team of carers have established a strong affinity with the child in their care. Over time, this has enabled the child to form trusting bonds with their carers. This has ensured that the child has made progress in most areas of their life.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Carers make every effort to create opportunities for the child to have fun and share memorable experiences with them. However, these memories are not routinely captured in photos or in memory books. Additionally, although the home environment is comfortable and well resourced, it lacks personalised touches, such as framed photos. These are missed opportunities to bolster the child’s sense of belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Carers have supported the child to reach a point where they understand the value of learning. This has enabled the child to experience much needed consistency around accessing home tuition. However, the manager’s lack of awareness around the role of the virtual school has contributed to a delay around the review of the child’s education, health and care plan (EHC plan). Consequently, the child’s need and wish to access a school has also been delayed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child receives regular support from the provider’s therapist. This has been pivotal in supporting the child to understand their experiences and process trauma. Additionally, this support helps carers to carefully plan how to meet the child’s needs going forward, crucially assisting the child’s ability to make progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Carers have played a key role in teaching the child the importance of accessing scheduled health appointments. Therefore, the child has a better understanding around the value of receiving healthcare treatment. As a result of the carers endeavours, the child has much improved dental hygiene.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Carers evidence a multitude of key conversations that they hold with the child. This provides evidence that carers are applying their parental instincts and are acting as good role models. However, the child’s home care plan is written using professional language, therefore making it difficult for the child to understand. This is limiting the child’s ability to reflect on key areas of support and contribute to their care.

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

Although carers are confident and intuitive when responding to the child’s needs, there is a lag in updating risk assessments when significant incidents have occurred. This leaves vulnerabilities around carers having clear direction to manage risky situations with children. The management team are aware of this and there are plans in place to address this. Inspection report for children’s home: 2647445 4 Good links have been established with the local child and adolescent mental health service. This has ensured that the child and their carers have received expert support and guidance, particularly following the child experiencing periods of acute crisis. This has kept the child safer and ensured that the child has access to key services.

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

Carers have rarely been required to report the child as a missing person to the police. When the child has accessed the community in a state of distress, carers have responded robustly, ensuring that the child’s welfare is their paramount concern. This has prevented an unnecessary reliance on emergency services.

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

When carers have deemed it necessary to restrain the child to keep them safer, it has been proportionate and undertaken sensitively. However, there are occasions when the manager’s oversight is lacking around carer and child debriefs. This limits the capacity for learning and creates the prospect of repeated incidents that require this level of intervention.

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

Carers are competent and thorough in managing and administering the child’s medication. This ensures that the child receives their medication as per their prescription. However, the manager has delegated weekly medication audits to be undertaken by the carers, contrary to the provider’s expectation. This reduces the manager’s oversight of key areas concerning the child’s care.

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good

The responsible individual has been pivotal in guiding the care team through a period of instability, following the previous manager leaving their role. The responsible individual has triggered an internal learning review that will promote reflection and learning around the recruitment and induction of new managers. The input from the responsible individual remains a crucial element in the management of the home.

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good

The current manager is seeking registration with the regulator. The manager has galvanised the team, which has injected cohesion and a focus in prioritising the child’s needs. However, the inspection revealed several gaps in the manager’s knowledge that has inadvertently created drift for the child in areas of their care planning. The responsible individual has recognised this and has bolstered the manager’s induction programme. This will help to develop the manager’s knowledge and understanding of the child and his team.

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good

The manager pursues statutory documents from the child’s local authority. However, their use is limited due to the manager’s lack of understanding of how to apply key documents in practice. Examples include implementing the information in the child’s EHC plan and information from the child’s delegated authority document. Inspection report for children’s home: 2647445 5 The home’s statement of purpose refers to the team accessing and implementing knowledge and resources from the contextualised safeguarding network. However, this is not embedded in practice. This is likely to mislead professionals who are considering placing children with specific needs.

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good

The therapist has undertaken some meaningful work alongside the child. This has enabled the child to be supported to better understand their family networks. However, there is a shortfall from the manager around linking this work to the social worker, so that potential positive family relationships for the child can be explored.

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good

There is a thorough and robust referral process that taps into the expertise and resources in the organisation, such as the clinician. The manager ensures that carers are consulted and that known risks are understood and addressed. The referral process provides a strong foundation for the child to succeed in their new home.

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good

Team meetings are frequent. The manager clearly encourages and promotes the carers’ contribution. Team meetings are often bolstered by the clinician’s input. This ensures that there is collective ownership around the care that the child receives.

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good

The provider’s recruitment process is thorough. There is diligence and coordination between the human resource department, responsible individual and manager of the home. This provides a layered level of scrutiny and confidence that new employees have been thoroughly vetted to be appropriate to work with children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2647445 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

maintain regular contact with each child’s education and training provider, including engaging with the provider and the placing authority to support the child’s education and training and to maximise the child’s achievement;

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Requirement Due date

raise any need for further assessment or specialist provision in relation to a child with the child’s education or training provider and the child’s placing authority. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(vi)(vii)) 15 December

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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 promotes their welfare.

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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

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home. 15 December Inspection report for children’s home: 2647445 7 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)(f)(h))

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Recommendations

 The registered person needs to ensure that the home’s statement of purpose is child-focused, indicating how the home provides individualised care to meet the quality standards for the children in their care. In particular, the information contained within the statement of purpose needs to be an accurate reflection of the working practices of the care team. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.6)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should create a nurturing and supportive home environment that meet the needs of the children. They will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. In particular, attention needs to be given to personalising the home to reflect the child and adults who live and work there. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should promote to children the importance of understanding who they are and where they come from, for example, through undertaking life story work or other direct work, as this is recognised in good social work practice. Staff in children’s homes should play a full role in work of this kind. In particular, they should consider taking photos and giving these to children so they have the ability to reflect on their childhood experiences. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.14)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that they work closely with the placing authority to understand the child’s relationship history. In particular, consider the need to assist the social worker and child to identify, develop and strengthen family relationships where possible. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.14)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. Where there are safeguarding concerns for a child, their placement plan, agreed between the home and their placing authority, must include details of the steps the home will take to manage any assessed risks on a day-to-day basis. (‘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 actively encourage children to read their records and add further information to them. They should be regularly reminded of their right to see information kept about them and be given information about how they might be supported to access their records in later life. In particular, the Inspection report for children’s home: 2647445 8 language used in their plans needs to be pitched at the child’s level and understanding. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.6)

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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: 2647445 9

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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 & 5, Riverside Business Centre, Foundry Lane, Milford, Belper, Derbyshire DE56 0RN

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Inspector

Steve Guirey, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2647445 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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