Children's Home run by Inspire Care (UK) Limited in Staffordshire

Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 1271234 1 Registered provider: Inspire Care (UK) Limited

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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 one of three within the organisation. The home is registered to provide care for up to three children who have experienced adverse childhood experiences.

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Information about this children’s home

There is currently no registered manager. The previous manager left the organisation in October 2022. A covering manager is in post and in day-to-day charge of the home.

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This monitoring visit

Ofsted last visited the home to complete a full inspection on 4 and 5 October 2022. At the inspection, serious and widespread failures were found that meant children were not protected or their welfare promoted. The home was judged to be inadequate.

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This monitoring visit

Due to the significant concerns found during the inspection, Ofsted issued three compliance notices, under regulation 6 (The quality and purpose of care standard), regulation 13 (The leadership and management standard) and regulation 14 (The care planning standard).

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This monitoring visit

Ofsted also issued a notice to restrict accommodation. This means that no other children can move into the home at this time.

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This monitoring visit

This monitoring visit took place to review the actions managers have taken to meet enforcement actions and requirements. During the visit, the inspector found that some improvements have been made and regulations 20, 23, 25, 32, 34 and 40 have been met. Managers have adhered to the restriction notice in place and no other children have been admitted into the home. At the time of the visit, one child was living at the home. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 1271234 2 Records of physical interventions are now clear and contain information of measures used. There are now better systems in place for staff to record medication administered to children, and actions set out in the fire risk assessment have been addressed.

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This monitoring visit

Complaints and allegations are investigated and children are aware that their concerns are being listened to. Managers let Ofsted know of significant incidents and allegations of harm. This allows the regulator to have an overview of significant events. In addition, new systems are in place to ensure that checks are undertaken on the disclosure and barring update service as necessary.

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This monitoring visit

Despite this progress, managers have failed to make sufficient improvement to the quality of care provided to children.

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This monitoring visit

Existing monitoring systems remain ineffective overall. Managers, including the responsible individual, have not taken action to meet the three compliance notices issued following the last inspection. Shortfalls in leadership have undermined children’s progress, experience and safety.

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This monitoring visit

Although a new kitchen is now being installed, the home environment continues to require improvement and some aspects of it are poor. For example, dirty walls require cleaning and painting, and there is a piece of broken furniture in the lounge. Although the child has a blind in his bedroom, he does not have curtains, despite asking for these on several occasions. Outside, the box containing the gas meter is broken, leaving the gas meter fully accessible. The inspector was informed that the child tried to access the gas meter the previous day, resulting in a physical intervention to prevent this from happening and stop the child from hurting himself and others. Aspects of the home environment do not show children that they are valued.

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This monitoring visit

Staff raised concerns about the quality of care afforded to children. Although staff are positive about the support that they receive from the interim manager, they do not feel that the organisation they work for promotes good care for children. Staff raised concerns about the home environment and the impact this is having on the child’s wellbeing. As a result, all but one member of staff has resigned and are working through their notice periods.

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This monitoring visit

The home does not have enough staff to meet the needs of the child. Staff have needed to work additional shifts to cover gaps within the rota. The use of agency staff has been needed on four separate occasions during the last month, despite risk management plans saying that agency staff are not to be used to support the child, as this is a trigger for his behaviours. Gaps in the rota have resulted in the interim manager working on shift to support staff and the child. Consequently, this has contributed to shortfalls with managerial oversight. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 1271234 3 Staff still do not receive the training that they require to provide safe and effective care to children. The individual needs of the child are not well understood because staff do not receive the relevant training to support them. This includes training to help staff understand their responsibilities relating children who go missing from

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This monitoring visit

care and online safety. Consequently, staff are not equipped with the skills and knowledge they need to respond to the child’s complex needs effectively.

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This monitoring visit

Managers have not obtained statutory plans from the placing authority, despite the child living at this home since August 2022. As a result, it is not clear if staff are providing support and guidance to the child in line with his care plan.

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This monitoring visit

Risk management plans have not been reviewed and updated. They continue to contain information that has been copied from other documents, and so they do not provide individualised guidance to staff to help them to protect the child from harm.

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This monitoring visit

The responsible individual does not oversee the management of the home well. Despite informing Ofsted that he would increase his presence at the home, he has visited once since the last inspection. The interim manager has been involved in incidents requiring physical intervention. No arrangements were made by the responsible individual to ensure that these incidents were reviewed in a timely way.

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This monitoring visit

Following this monitoring visit, the notice to restrict accommodation remains in place. Ten requirements are raised. Of these, five are raised again as they have not been met in full, three new requirements have been raised, and two are restated because the end date had not passed and so they were not reviewed at this visit.

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This monitoring visit

A notice to propose the cancellation of the home’s registration has been issued to the provider. This is because the provider is unable to operate the home in line with regulation and has been unable to make and sustain improvements to the quality of care provided to children. The provider has the opportunity to make representations to Ofsted before a final decision is made. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 1271234 4

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

04/10/2022 Full Inadequate 01/03/2022 Full Good 09/11/2021 Full Inadequate 18/12/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 1271234 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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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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

understand and apply the home homes statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

protect and promote each child’s welfare;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(i)(ii)((c)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that children are provided with a clean environment and repairs and improvements are carried out quickly.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was raised at the last inspection and is repeated. 4 January 2023

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Requirement Due date

The children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who— 22 December 2022 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 1271234 6 develop positive relationships with them;

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Requirement Due date

take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives.

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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

help each child to understand how the child’s views, wishes and feelings have been taken into account and give the child reasons for decisions in relation to the child. (Regulation 7 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that children’s wishes are heard and responded to, particularly referencing a child’s wishes to have curtains in their bedroom.

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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

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(d)

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that individualised risk assessments are completed and reviewed regularly in relation to each child, providing staff with relevant information to keep children safe from harm. In addition, ensure that the environment is safe for children. 4 January 2023 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 1271234 7 This requirement was raised at the last inspection and is repeated.

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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’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

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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; and

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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)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that children are provided with consistent care from a stable staff team, that those staff are provided with the relevant skills and experience to meet the needs of each child, that managers understand how the shortfalls in the care provided impact on children and take steps to review and improve the quality of care for children.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was raised at the last inspection and is repeated. 4 January 2023

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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 4 January 2023 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 1271234 8 have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to children receiving carefully planned care in the home and managers assessing the impact effectively.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was raised at the last inspection and is repeated. An individual may only carry on a children’s home if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (5).

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Requirement Due date

An individual may only carry on a home with another individual or other individuals, otherwise than in a partnership, if that individual and each other individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (5).

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Requirement Due date

the individual is of integrity and good character;

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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;

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Requirement Due date

the individual is mentally and physically fit to carry on the home; and

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Requirement Due date

the individual is financially fit to carry on the home.

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Requirement Due date

satisfy the requirements in paragraph (5)(a) to (c); and

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Requirement Due date

have the capacity, experience and skills to supervise the management of the home, or the homes, in respect of which the responsible individual is nominated. (Regulation 26 (1) (2) (5)(a)(b)(c)(d) (7)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This requirement is restated as the end date had not passed at the time of this inspection. 22 December 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider must appoint a person to manage the children’s home if—

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Requirement Due date

there is no registered manager in respect of the home. (Regulation 27 (1)) 4 January 2023 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 1271234 9 This specifically relates to the registered provider having no manager appointed for the home.

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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

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Requirement Due date

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)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that when the manager is involved in a restraint, the incident is reviewed by someone independent of the incidents and those involved are spoken to in a timely manner in line with regulation.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was raised at the last inspection and is repeated. 22 December 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children ("a quality of care review") at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review ("the quality of care review report").

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Requirement Due date

supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed. (Regulation 45 (1) (3) (4)(a))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that the registered person completes a quality of care review at least every six months and provides a copy to Ofsted within 28 days. 22 December 2022 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 1271234 10 This requirement is restated as the end date had not passed at the time of this inspection.

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Information about this inspection

The purpose of this visit was to monitor the action taken and the progress made by the children’s home since its last Ofsted inspection.

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Information about this inspection

This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 1271234 11

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Inspire Care (UK) Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 263 Nottingham Road, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire NG7 7DA

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Inspector

Kev Brammer, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 1271234 12 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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