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

Inspection report for children’s home: SC480704 1 SC480704 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

The home is owned by a private provider. It provides care for up to five children who may have social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection four children were living in the home. They spoke with the inspector about their experiences living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

A manager has been appointed and has recently submitted his application to register with Ofsted.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC480704 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/05/2022 Full Good 15/03/2022 Interim Improved effectiveness 12/10/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 13/11/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC480704 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children in this home continue to make good progress. They were keen to share with the inspector their positive experiences of living in the home. One child described the team as ‘amazing’ and another had previously written a poem about their positive experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Transitions for children moving into and out of the home are extremely positive. Children say they welcome and support new children moving into the home by including them in activities and talking about their own experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There is a culture of acceptance from children, and they embrace the differences of their peers. This inclusivity has been instilled by an aspirational staff team.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to spend time with those who are important to them, and friendships are promoted.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff team maintains a close working partnership with a variety of health professionals to ensure that children’s physical and emotional health needs are met. However, there was no record of one child’s immunisation history. There are shortfalls around information being requested in a timely manner to ensure that children’s needs continue to be met.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have made significant progress in their education. One child has achieved nine GCSEs. All children are in full-time education and have ambitions for the future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are provided with opportunities to enjoy a variety of activities and first-time experiences. Some children recently enjoyed a holiday abroad and one child has started driving lessons and passed their theory test. Others have enjoyed going to concerts and football matches.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is nicely decorated and welcoming. However, fire evacuation signs inside and outside the home detract from the otherwise homely feel. There are photos around the home, which promote a sense of belonging for the children and provide memories of time well spent together.

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

Allegations are acted on without delay. They are shared with relevant professionals and appropriately investigated to ensure that children are safe.

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

Incidents between children in the home are extremely rare. When significant incidents have occurred, the manager has acted swiftly to ensure that children are safeguarded. Incidents are reflected on, with direct work and mediation taking place to support children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC480704 4 Children’s risk plans are regularly reviewed and understood by staff. However, further detail is required in plans relating to self-injurious behaviours to ensure that there is clear guidance for staff to follow in the event of an incident.

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

The staff help all children to make safer choices. Relevant topics such as the dangers of e-cigarettes and substance misuse are discussed in children’s meetings, enabling children to be better informed. Additional work has been carried out with children in response to incidents, on topics such as internet safety, the age of consent, sexuality and relationships.

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

Staff understand the children’s individual needs well and respond appropriately. There have been two occasions when children have had to be held to keep them safe. On both occasions, the holds were effective and children were supported. Reflective practice and debriefs take place with the children and the staff team to ensure there is learning from these incidents.

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

There are clear missing-from-home protocols for children. When children have gone missing, staff have actively looked for them and have worked with other professionals to minimise risk. The manager requests and attends appropriate meetings to ensure that there is a multi-agency approach to supporting children. However, the manager has not consistently requested the minutes for all meetings. As a result, children’s plans do not always reflect the agreements made between professionals.

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

Before children move into the home, careful consideration is given to children’s history, behaviours and the skills and experiences of the staff team. However, records do not always accurately reflect the rationale for decisions made or evidence the consultation with external professionals and children already living in the home.

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

Safer recruitment practice is in place. Staff have received appropriate induction and training for their role. However, not all staff have completed training relevant to children’s individual needs, including training around self-injurious behaviour and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. This means that not all staff have the necessary skills and experience to support the children in their care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager was appointed recently and has submitted his application to register with Ofsted. He is child-focused and committed to making improvements to further develop the service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular practice-related supervision. However, staff do not always reflect critically on their practice, children’s progress or learning from training.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings take place monthly and provide opportunities for the team to reflect on the children’s progress and any concerns. It is not clear from the records who attends each meeting or if the actions set are addressed. Opportunities have been Inspection report for children’s home: SC480704 5 missed to use team meetings to provide learning from research and development to improve and inform practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has good oversight of the day-to-day running of the home. However, there are shortfalls in the monitoring and evaluation systems. The manager had failed to highlight the use of institutional language in some records. They were also not aware, until this was identified by the inspector, that not all children’s files had the required up-to-date statutory documentation. The manager took immediate action to address this during the inspection. Inspection report for children’s home: SC480704 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, 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

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

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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered person ensuring that all staff complete training specific to children’s care plans in a timely manner. In addition, that there is clear guidance in risk plans for staff to follow in the event of an incident, particularly in relation to self-injurious behaviour. 7 July 2023

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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

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

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Requirement Due date

research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; and 7 July 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC480704 7 use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1) (2)(c)(i)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered person ensuring that research and development are discussed in team meetings and monitoring and review systems are improved.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are kept up to date. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered person ensuring that copies of children’s immunisation histories, up-to-date local authority plans and strategy meeting minutes are requested without delay. 7 July 2023

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the use of internal and external signage does not detract from the homely feel of the home, to maintain a domestic rather than institutional feel. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure there is consultation with children already living in the home and their placing authority social workers before any other children move into the home. In addition, that the rationale for decision-making is clearly recorded in the assessments. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 56, paragraph 11.4)  The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a

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Recommendations

non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should ensure that staff supervision records show how staff reflect critically on their practice and the needs of the children and how they discuss their learning from training and its impact on their work with children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC480704 8 (‘Guide to the Children’s Home’s Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraphs 13.2 and 13.3)

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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: SC480704 9

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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: Unit 1 Tustin Court, Riversway, Preston, Lancashire PR2 2YQ

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Inspector

Kelly McCurdy, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC480704 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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