Children's Home run by Hexagon Care Services Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report for children's home: SC480681 1 SC480681 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 children’s home is one of a number owned and managed by the same private company. It is registered to provide care for up to four children who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

There is a manager in post. He registered with Ofsted in 2015.

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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 good

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good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Date of last inspection: 2 November 2021

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: SC480681 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

02/11/2021 Full Good 11/12/2018 Full Good 28/11/2017 Full Good 22/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report for children's home: SC480681 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There are three children living in the home. Since the last inspection, six children have moved in and three have moved out. The home is a very large and old building that brings challenges in making it a homely environment. Some improvements have been made to the home. However, there are further improvements to be made. A recommendation has been made to address this.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy a good quality of care that enables them to make good progress. Staff work hard to ensure that children live in a safe, caring and supportive environment. This coordinated approach helps children to have improved outcomes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have individualised care plans. However, some care plans do not contain all the relevant information in relation to the children’s complex needs. This means staff do not have up-to-date information on how to meet children’s needs. A requirement has been made in relation to this.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to see their family and people who are important to them. This helps children with their sense of identity and helps them to maintain important relationships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children make progress in their education. All three children are currently engaging in education. Two of the children have excellent attendance. One child has no school identified, and a home tutor is in place.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the children to engage in activities they enjoy. One child attends Thai boxing, and another is part of a football team. This provides positive experiences for the children and supports them to develop their social, emotional and physical well-being.

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

Risks are identified and understood by staff. They know the children well and work with children to keep them safe. However, written risk assessments are not always clear, and staff do not have clear action plans to follow to reduce risks. A requirement has been made in relation to this.

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

When children go missing from home, staff follow clear missing-from-home procedures to ensure children are returned to the home quickly and safely. Staff go out to look for children and share information with all the relevant people.

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

Staff work well with children to promote positive behaviours through incentives, rewards and positive relationships. Incidents of challenging behaviour are well managed by staff. Physical interventions are rarely used. When they are, they are proportionate, and staff and children are given the opportunity to reflect on the incident. Inspection report for children's home: SC480681 4 Direct-work sessions are individualised to each child. Topics covered show that areas of risk are discussed. This demonstrates that children are being helped to learn what it means to keep themselves safe.

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

When complaints or allegations are made, they are fully investigated, and appropriate action is taken swiftly to ensure children are safe.

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

Managers recruit new staff safely. These safe recruitment procedures make sure that children are protected by preventing unsuitable adults from working in the home.

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

Children live in a home that is physically safe and secure. Staff complete regular health and safety checks and follow a range of safety procedures to protect children from potential hazards.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a registered manager in post. However, he is currently not working. There was a deputy supporting the home. However, they too are now absent from work. In the absence of a management team, an acting manager has been brought in from another home to provide support, and a senior residential worker has been supporting this acting manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A real strength of this home is the relationships between the children and the staff team. Staff know the children well; they are invested in children and have high ambitions for them. A consistent and stable staff team means children can build positive, sustainable relationships.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are suitably qualified and experienced in residential childcare. There is a good training programme in place to ensure that staff have the necessary skills to meet the complex and challenging needs of the children in their care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers appreciate the significance of the careful matching of children’s needs. However, impact risk assessments do not always include the strategies required to manage identified complex needs and risks. This means that staff were unable to support one child’s needs after they moved in. Consequently, the child had to leave the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have regular supervision. However, this has not always been of good quality. The acting manager has implemented a new supervision structure to encourage reflection and to ensure that supervision is purposeful and reflective.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team works closely with partner agencies to meet children’s needs. The inspector received positive feedback from two children’s social workers, both of whom commented on the great communication from the home. Inspection report for children's home: SC480681 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 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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring children’s written risk assessments contain all known risks and clear strategies for staff to manage these risks. 16 June 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

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure children—

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring children’s care plans contain information about all of their needs and strategies for staff to meet them. It also refers to ensuring assessments are made when children come to live in this home, which detail how the staff can meet children’s complex needs. 16 June 2023 Inspection report for children's home: SC480681 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that improvements are made to the home to ensure it is a comfortable and homely environment for children to live in. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that all staff receive supervision that allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children in their care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61 paragraph 13.2)

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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: SC480681 7

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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: 1 Tustin Court, Port Way, Ashton-on-Ribble, Preston PR2 2YQ

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Inspector

Rachael Crook, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC480681 8 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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