Children's home run by Hexagon Care Services Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2613627 1 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

A private provider runs this children’s home. The home is registered to provide care for one child who may have social and/or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home and the manager registered with Ofsted in December 2020.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected outstanding

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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outstanding

Date of last inspection: 25 January 2022

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2613627 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

25/01/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2613627 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The child has made and continues to make exceptional progress. There is strong evidence that the child has benefited from living at the home, and is receiving care that provides them with stability and consistency, and helps them to feel accepted. The child receives care that provides high levels of nurture and structure, which follows the home’s recognised model of care. The home is warm and welcoming. All of these factors help the child to feel safe and secure, and build trusted relationships with staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff work with the child to enable them to enjoy a variety of new experiences. Some of these enhance the child’s life chances. The child attends army cadets regularly, which is helping them to learn and develop new skills, make friends and be more independent. The child is developing their sense of identity and pride through their achievements. Staff celebrate the child’s successes and are highly supportive of their interests, hobbies and things that are important to them. The child goes to the gym, fishes and has been on a range of day trips and holidays with staff. All of these help the child to lead a fulfilling life.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The child is well supported with developing their independence. Staff have designed an independence programme that is suitable for the child’s individual needs. This helps them to develop their skills in looking after themself well and how to manage their home. Staff talk to the child regularly about how to keep themself safe in situations and around people. This work is starting early to prepare the child well as they grow and reach key transition points. This increases the child’s ability to live independently and have confidence as they prepare for moving out of the home in the future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff promote the child’s social and emotional health. They place an emphasis on helping the child to recognise and express their feelings and emotions. The child receives weekly psychological therapy, and a psychologist provides consultation for staff. This approach has supported the child to express their feelings and emotions positively. There is a measurable improvement in the child’s well-being, which supports their progress. The child enjoys good health and attends all their medical appointments.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The child is making excellent progress in their education. The child attends school regularly. The child aspires for their future career. Staff are supporting the child to plan for continuing their studies in the future. This will help the child to follow a career that they enjoy. Inspection report for children’s home: 2613627 4

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

The child is better protected by a team of staff who understand risks to their safety and are highly effective in managing and mitigating them. Staff follow comprehensive and holistic risk assessments, which provide them with clear and effective strategies to defuse potential incidents.

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

Since moving in to the home, the level of risk to the child’s safety has reduced significantly and this reduction has been maintained over a long period of time. There are very few incidents and there is no use of restraint. The child has not been missing from home since they moved in, which is a marked reduction. However, if this does occur, staff know what to do and they have detailed plans in place to follow. This means that the associated risk of being missing from home has reduced greatly.

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

The child told the inspector that they feel safe at the home and can talk to staff about any problems or concerns. Staff have worked with the child proactively to assist them in expressing their feelings and emotions positively. This practice follows the home’s recognised model of care, which supports the child’s well-being and reduces the risks to their safety.

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

The child is taking age-appropriate risks, which enables them to learn how to keep themselves safer from potential risks online and when out in the community. There is a mobile phone agreement in place, which the child, their social worker and managers have agreed. This means that when there are restrictions in place, they are proportionate, justified and regularly reviewed.

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

Staff do not use sanctions. Instead, staff work with the child in a restorative way. There is a positive incentive scheme at the home. Staff involved the child in designing the scheme. This is meaningful for the child, and they enjoy a range of rewards to celebrate their positive choices and successes.

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

Staff understand their roles and responsibilities in safeguarding the child. Managers regularly practice scenarios in staff supervision and team meetings to keep staff knowledge up to date. Staff know what action they will take if they have any concerns about the safety of the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

An experienced and qualified manager and deputy manager lead the home. There is a clear vision for care provided and high aspirations for the child. Staff receive training, regular and effective supervision, and attend team meetings. There is a clear structure to team meetings and information is shared upwards and downwards between staff and the manager. There is a psychologist that provides consultation to staff, which benefits their knowledge and the application of the home’s recognised model of care. This helps staff to have the knowledge and skills to meet the child’s needs well. Staff also told the inspector that they feel well supported by the managers of the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2613627 5 The manager has a range of systems that support the oversight of the running of the home. This includes the visits from the independent person, which are valued by the manager. Senior managers complete regular quality assurance checks to audit the

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

care provided. The manager also actively seeks feedback from professionals, staff, the child and family to support the development of the service to help to improve the care provided. There are positive working relationships with other professionals, who report that communication with staff is effective. This supports with improving the quality of care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager makes sure that the home is maintained physically, and that the damage from wear and tear is repaired promptly. This means that the home is well maintained and feels homely.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home has enough staff to provide consistent care. The manager has made improvements when interviewing candidates for roles to work in the home. They now make sure that they explore candidates’ skills on safeguarding children thoroughly. However, the manager does not always make sure that the risk assessments they complete, where they cannot obtain or verify references, contain accurate information. This is a missed opportunity to strengthen their recruitment procedures.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager makes sure that the home’s statement of purpose is reviewed regularly and shared with the regulator. This supports Ofsted to effectively regulate the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2613627 6

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Recommendations

 The registered provider should ensure that recruitment of staff safeguards children and minimises potential risks to them. In particular, this includes ensuring that the registered person obtains written employer references for staff and that staff risk assessments contain accurate information when assessing the suitability and fitness of staff. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)

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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: 2613627 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Hexagon Care Services Ltd

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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

Honor Hamshaw, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2613627 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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