Children's Home run by Pasture View Nurturing Homes Ltd in Lincolnshire

Assurance inspection report for children's home: 2570253 1 Registered provider: Pasture View Nurturing Homes Ltd

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home is privately run. It provides care for up to four children with learning disabilities, specialising in autism spectrum disorder. Additionally, the children may have challenging behaviour and other conditions, such as attachment disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, epilepsy or dyspraxia.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is led by a suitably experienced registered manager.

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Inspection date: 6 December 2022

Judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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Inspection date: 6 December 2022

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Information about this inspection

At this inspection, the inspector evaluated:

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Information about this inspection

 the care of children  the safety of children  the effectiveness of leaders and managers. Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children, using the social care common inspection framework. This assurance 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’. Assurance inspection report for children's home: 2570253 2

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Findings from the inspection

We identified the following serious and widespread concerns in relation to the care and protection of children at this assurance inspection:

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Findings from the inspection

 Shortfalls in safeguarding practice.  Shortfalls in how care is organised.  Ineffective leadership and management.

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The care of children

There are serious shortfalls in safeguarding children and in how care is organised and managed at the home. This home has a poor inspection history, having been judged either inadequate or requires improvement for the entire time it has operated.

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The care of children

A full inspection was carried out on 5 and 6 April 2022. That inspection resulted in a judgement of requires improvement across all areas, and a number of requirements were made, including a requirement under regulation 12.

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The care of children

A subsequent unannounced visit took place on 17 May 2022, which was prompted by specific concerns being received by Ofsted with regard to the care and supervision of children at the home. At this inspection, it was identified that staff do not always have the skills and experience to recognise when situations are becoming risky and act in a way that de-escalates the situation and promotes positive behaviour.

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The care of children

This assurance inspection identified further significant shortfalls in the protection of children. There are lapses in care practice that result in children being at risk of harm. Staff are ineffective in pre-empting and responding to situations before they become serious. Children are not always safe.

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The care of children

Requirements set following the home’s most recent full inspection were considered in detail during this visit. While some have been partially met, care is not yet of a good enough standard.

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The care of children

Improvements have been made to how staff consult children to obtain their views and feelings, and children are encouraged to contribute their views through regular meetings. However, children’s views and feedback regarding their care plans and progress are not recorded.

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The care of children

Children have appropriate education provisions in place. School attendance is positive, and this is encouraged by staff. Staff work with education provisions to support children. When a child has no provision in place, staff support them to participate in education-focused activities on a daily basis. This helps children to Assurance inspection report for children's home: 2570253 3 engage with their learning and development and make progress.

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The safety of children

Children’s welfare has not always been fully safeguarded during some incidents. Although staff have responded to incidents, they have not always been able to ensure the safety of children. For example, there was a recent incident when a child was standing on the roof of the home for a prolonged period. Failures in safeguarding practice mean that safeguarding is not yet good.

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The safety of children

Children’s risk assessments and care plans lack clarity in some areas. Additionally, they are not consistently updated when children’s circumstances change. This makes it difficult for staff to know what strategies they should follow to reduce risks to children. On some occasions following incidents, reports are not completed in a timely manner. As a result, appropriate and immediate steps have not been taken to reduce the risk.

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The safety of children

Staff approaches to behaviour management are not applied consistently. On some occasions, staff are ineffective in using alternative strategies or de-escalating an incident before it becomes serious. Staff need additional training and guidance to help them understand the underlying causes of children’s behaviour.

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The safety of children

Individual work with children, to discuss important topics, is taking place. The sessions are purposeful and are informed by agreed behavioural targets.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Shortfalls in leadership and management persist. This is due, in part, to a lack of senior staff who are qualified and experienced. This impacts on the ability of the manager to carry out their management tasks while being absorbed in the day-to- day care of the children living in the home and trying to model good practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

When there have been incidents involving children, staff have not had the opportunity to reflect on these incidents and take any learning from them to prevent a reoccurrence. This lack of reflective and developmental discussion limits staff’s ability to develop better responses to incidents.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Staff do not receive regular supervision. This means that they have not had an opportunity to share concerns about practice. While safeguarding is now an agenda item and is discussed in staff’s one-to-one meetings, these discussions are not routinely followed through, or action taken. Consequently, there is a failure to equip staff with an understanding of their duties and responsibilities.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The independent visitor reports have identified shortfalls in the monitoring and oversight of the quality of care. Internal quality assurance systems are not effective. Consequently, areas requiring improvement are not addressed and opportunities to make improvements are missed. Assurance inspection report for children's home: 2570253 4 Following this visit, the provider has been served with a restriction of accommodation notice. This prevents the admission of any more children to the home.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

05/04/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 20/09/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 01/06/2021 Full Inadequate Assurance inspection report for children's home: 2570253 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

children can access all appropriate areas of the children’s home’s premises; and

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Requirement Due date

any limitation place on a child’s privacy or access to any area of the home’s premises—

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Requirement Due date

is kept under review and, if necessary, revised; and allows children as much freedom as is possible when balanced against the need to protect them and keep them safe. (Regulation 21 (b)(c)(ii)(iii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to the front door, fob system and padlocked areas outside. 30 January 2023

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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’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background; 30 January 2023 Assurance inspection report for children's home: 2570253 6 (Regulation 6 (2)(b)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

This is specifically in relation to individual key-work sessions taking place for each child, and understanding and meeting their individual needs.

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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

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)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly relates to raising the need for further assessment of specialist provision for a child’s education. 30 January 2023

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Requirement Due date

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs;

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 5 (b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This is in relation to a child’s continuing education provision. 30 January 2023

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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

that staff— 15 January 2023 Assurance inspection report for children's home: 2570253 7 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

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;

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Requirement Due date

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

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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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This is specifically in relation to ensuring that risk assessments and plans are reviewed and updated as circumstances change, that incident reports are completed in a timely manner and that staff have the skills to identify and act upon on risks and take effective action to reduce risks.

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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

ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate; 15 January 2023 Assurance inspection report for children's home: 2570253 8 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.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development;

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; and

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Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to all staff, and the manager, receiving regular supervision and having appraisals, and that all staff have continued professional training and development to meet the needs of the children. 15 January 2023

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Requirement Due date

*These requirements are subject to a compliance notice. Assurance inspection report for children's home: 2570253 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Pasture View Nurturing Homes Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Pasture View Nurturing Homes Ltd, 92 Linkside, Bretton, Peterborough, Northamptonshire PE3 8PA

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Inspector

Thirza Smith, Social Care Inspector Assurance inspection report for children's home: 2570253 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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