Children's Home run by Milestones Care Homes Ltd in Wirral

Inspection report for children’s home: 2483789 1 Registered provider: Milestones Care Homes Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately run children’s home is registered to provide care for up to three children. The provider states in its statement of purpose that it provides care for children who may have social and/or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is currently operating without a registered manager. A new manager has been appointed, who intends to apply to register 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

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: 2483789 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

23/06/2021 Full Good 17/07/2019 Full Good 25/02/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2483789 3

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improvement to be good

There are currently three children living in this home. The inspector observed positive relationships between children and staff during the inspection. Children told the inspector that they are happy living in this home.

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improvement to be good

Children take part in activities that they enjoy, such as going to the cinema, playing basketball or going on day trips to places of interest. They also enjoy going to youth clubs in the local community.

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improvement to be good

Children are enrolled in full-time education and have good attendance. The staff work closely with education professionals to ensure that they all have a clear understanding of children’s needs and that any issues are addressed. One education professional said, ‘The stability [name of child] has at the home has made a massive difference to how engaged they are at school.’

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improvement to be good

The manager and staff promote the health and well-being of children living in this home. However, one child’s plan does not identify the support required to manage the use of e-cigarettes.

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improvement to be good

Children are able to spend time with the people who are important to them and staff understand the significance of these relationships. Children told the inspector that they are able to invite friends and family to their home.

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improvement to be good

The home is well presented and comfortable and children are able to choose the decor for their rooms. Children are encouraged to lock their bedroom doors, however, they do not have a key for their own room, meaning that they are unable to unlock and access their bedrooms independently.

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improvement to be good

There have been no complaints made since the last inspection. All the children said that they would talk to the manager or staff if they had any worries or concerns and felt that they would be listened to and supported.

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improvement to be good

Children have individual risk management plans, which are updated with any new information. However, plans do not include all the strategies staff are to follow in order to minimise risks to children. While the inspector observed staff using agreed strategies, these measures are not clear in children’s plans.

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improvement to be good

The arrangements in place to ensure that children are safe while accessing the internet are not robust. While staff take appropriate action when they identify Inspection report for children’s home: 2483789 4 concerns for children’s safety, insufficient action has been taken to review the measures in place to keep children safe online.

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improvement to be good

There have been no incidents of children going missing from this home. However, missing-from-home protocols do not make it clear how often staff should have contact with children when they are in the community or at what point they should apply missing-from-home procedures.

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improvement to be good

There has been only one incident of physical intervention since the last inspection. Staff promote positive behaviour through meaningful rewards for children and consequences are used sparingly. However, records do not demonstrate that the measures have been reviewed for effectiveness, to ensure that they are having the required effect on children’s behaviour.

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improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, an independent fire risk assessment has been completed which raised several actions required to improve fire safety in the home. Although some action has been taken, a number of actions are still outstanding and the assessment has not been reviewed since it was carried out. Furthermore, external doors require a key to open them from the inside, meaning that children would be unable to leave the home independently in the event of an emergency. This requirement was raised at the home’s last inspection and is restated.

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good

Since the last inspection, there have been changes to the management arrangements. The registered manager has recently left the organisation and the home is being managed by the previous deputy manager, who intends to apply to register. She is working towards the relevant qualification to underpin her knowledge of the role.

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good

Staff spoken to describe a supportive environment. They were positive about the home and the support they receive from the interim manager. Staff receive regular supervision. However, the home’s manager has not received supervision since taking on the day-to-day running of the home and there are no supervision arrangements in place. This does not support the manager to fulfil her role effectively.

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good

Team meetings take place regularly and are well attended by the staff team. Staff use this time to reflect on their day-to-day practice and discuss how they can best support children.

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good

Staff have access to a range of training to support them in their roles, including training specific to the individual needs of children living in the home. However, this is not always prioritised for staff in a timely way. Managers have provided interim guidance and instruction on key topics for staff. However, it is not clear that they have the knowledge and skills to do this. Inspection report for children’s home: 2483789 5 The home has an independent visitor to provide external scrutiny of the home. However, the content of reports gives limited feedback to the provider. This does not support leaders and managers to develop practice in the home.

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good

The manager has completed a review of the quality of care, which has been submitted to the regulator within timescales. However, the report lacks evaluation and does not consider the views of children and key stakeholders, to inform improvements.

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good

External stakeholders say that there is good communication about children’s progress and any incidents that have occurred. However, on occasion, these incidents have not been notified to the regulator.

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good

Leaders and managers have failed to meet all the requirements issued at the last inspection; these have been restated following this inspection. Inspection report for children’s home: 2483789 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.

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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 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)(d))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that the home environment is maintained so as to protect children from harm, and that thumb-turn locks are fitted to external doors.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 12 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

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 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 premises used for the purposes of the home are located so that children are effectively safeguarded; 9 February 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2483789 7 that the effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly. (Regulation (12) (1) (2)(a)(i)(b)(e))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all strategies to minimise risks are recorded in children’s plans and that the arrangements and policies in place relating to children’s online safety are reviewed.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated.

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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 have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of 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)(c)(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, and that there are effective monitoring systems in place to ensure there is oversight of all aspects of the day-to-day running of the home.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 9 February 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that the home’s manager receives regular supervision. 9 February 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that— 9 February 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2483789 8 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

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

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)(a)(iv)(v)(vi)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that measures are monitored for effectiveness and demonstrate consultation with children.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there. (Regulation 40 (4)(c)) 9 February 2023

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children; 9 February 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2483789 9 The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (2)(a) (5))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that reports include feedback from stakeholders.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that any individual appointed to carry out visits to the home as an independent person must make a rigorous and impartial assessment of the home’s arrangements for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the children in the home’s care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.5)  The registered person should ensure that each child has their own personal space, which will usually be their bedroom. The registered person should ensure that children have a key to their bedroom door. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.18)  The registered person should ensure that staff have the relevant skills and knowledge to be able to help children understand, and where necessary work to change, negative behaviours in key areas of health and well-being, including the

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Recommendations

use of e-cigarettes. These concerns should be recorded in children’s relevant plans. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 35, paragraph 7.18)

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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: 2483789 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Milestones Care Homes Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 32 Fieldway, Maghull, Liverpool L31 5NB

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Inspector

Genevieve O’Reilly, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2483789 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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