Children's Home run by Partners in Care Limited in Westmorland and Furness

Inspection report for children’s home: SC035049 1 SC035049 Registered provider: Partners in Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is operated by a private organisation and provides care for up to three children.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in July 2022.

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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: SC035049 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

26/04/2022 Full Good 26/01/2022 Full Inadequate 22/10/2019 Full Good 30/10/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC035049 3

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improvement to be good

Two children were living in the home at the time of the inspection. They are making positive progress. They have developed positive relationships with staff who care about them. However, shortfalls in safeguarding and leadership and management have impacted children’s overall experiences and safety.

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improvement to be good

There is still not an effective multi-agency approach for supporting one child with their additional needs. This has resulted in unsatisfactory conditions in their bedroom with a number of potential health and safety hazards. In addition, some areas of the home require updating, decorating and modernising. Externally, the garden is not well maintained with a broken shed and a broken child’s bicycle.

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improvement to be good

The children living in the home have experienced disrupted education. The manager has worked collaboratively with professionals to offer various opportunities for formal and informal learning. One child is now making significant progress in their education and is attending school full time. This supports children’s learning and development.

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improvement to be good

The children have lived in the home for some time and have developed a sense of permanence and belonging. However, staff practice is sometimes inconsistent with regard to children’s plans. For example, one child has an incentive plan in place to gain internet access throughout the night, even though other plans refer to the importance of a regular bedtime routine for the child.

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improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, there has been a stable staff team. This has supported children to develop positive and trusting relationships with staff. Children said they feel safe and protected. As a result, incidents of children being missing from home have significantly reduced.

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improvement to be good

Recruitment systems in place have not been used effectively to ensure that vetting checks have been renewed. Subsequently, one member of staff has been working in the home without an updated Disclosure and Barring Service check.

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improvement to be good

One staff member purchased an inappropriate item for a child that later caused the child an injury. This item had not been discussed or agreed with the child’s social worker. This impacts on children’s safety.

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improvement to be good

Positively, staff are trained to use a therapeutic approach, which supports children to develop strategies to regulate and understand their emotions. This has resulted in only one use of physical intervention. Inspection report for children’s home: SC035049 4

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good

The home is managed by a suitably experienced and qualified manager, and she is supported by a competent deputy manager. Their ability to work together has had a positive impact on the children and staff, who like working in the home.

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good

There are shortfalls in the manager’s monitoring and oversight. There are ongoing changes from paper-based records to a digital system. However, there are currently duplicate copies of children’s plans and risk assessments with different information. This impacts on the consistency of care provided.

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good

Staff benefit from a good induction programme, regular supervision and annual appraisals. The manager and staff also receive regular support and guidance from the company psychologist. However, the manager does not always help staff to review and reflect on their own practice to ensure that children receive consistent care.

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good

Managers have not made effective use of internal monitoring systems, meaning areas for improvements are not always identified or addressed. This hinders the manager’s ability to identify any lessons learnt.

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good

The inspectors received positive feedback from a range of professionals. They were complimentary about the positive communication from the home and the staff being good advocates for the children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC035049 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, the 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

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

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Requirement Due date

seek to involve each child’s placing authority effectively in the child’s care, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 5 (a))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, ensure that there is a clear multi-agency approach in place to support children’s individual additional needs and detail how all professionals should best support these needs. 14 June 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

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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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

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 designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(ii)(v)(b)(d))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, ensure that the home and grounds are safe and free from potential hazards. Ensure that children’s bedrooms 14 June 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC035049 6 are free from dangerous and damaged items to represent a safe, nurturing and homely environment.

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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

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 in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, review and improve systems for paperwork for risk assessments and care plans to avoid having multiple copies of the same document containing different information. The manager must also improve the monitoring and review of the home in order to have full oversight of staff practices, record keeping and to identify any lessons learned. 14 June 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or

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Requirement Due date

if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home,

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Requirement Due date

if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

The requirements are that— 14 June 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC035049 7 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

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained—

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Requirement Due date

the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) ("the Level 3 Diploma"); or

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Requirement Due date

a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma.

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls 2 years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home; or

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who was working in a care role in a home on 1st April 2014, 1st April 2016.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 32 (1) (2) (a)(b) (3)(d) (4)(a)(b) (5)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, in order to safeguard children, ensure that all staff working in the home have up-to-date Disclosure and Barring Service checks.

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Requirement Due date

Furthermore, ensure that all staff who are now outside of regulatory timeframes are supported to complete the relevant qualification.

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that staff provide a nurturing environment that is welcoming, supportive and which provides consistent and appropriate boundaries in relation to children’s behaviour. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.7) Inspection report for children’s home: SC035049 8

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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: SC035049 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Partners in Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 2 The Calls, Leeds LS2 7JU

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Inspectors

Nicola Clements, Social Care Inspector Sarah Jackson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC035049 10 inspects 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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