Children's Home run by Omega Care Group Limited in Cheshire West and Chester

Inspection report for children’s home: 2599183 1 Registered provider: Omega Care Group Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned by a private company. It is registered to provide care for up to three children who may have social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, one child was living in the home. The child spoke to the inspector about their experiences living in the home. A child who has recently moved on from the home also shared their experiences with the inspector.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since December 2021.

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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 requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2599183 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/04/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 20/01/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2599183 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a warm home which is clean and well maintained. Children have the opportunity to personalise their bedrooms, and there are photos of children displayed around the home. Children feel supported and enjoy living in this home. The progress they make is underpinned by the trusting relationships that staff develop with them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There have been a number of children moving into and out of this home over the last year. Managers made decisions to move children into the home based on the information that was available to them at the time of referral. These decisions considered the needs of other children living in the home. When children have had to move out of the home, this has been done with children’s best interests in mind. Staff have offered high levels of support to children to help them move on from the home in a positive way.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are good advocates for children and have challenged other professionals when children’s needs are not being met. One social worker commended the team on their personalised and child-centred practice. As a result of this practice, children are making positive progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff develop good relationships with people who are important to the children. They encourage children to spend time with their family and friends. Staff have supported children to improve relationships with family, with one family member saying, ‘Staff go above and beyond’. As a result of this, most children have been able to spend time with people who are important to them. However, when children do not see their family members, staff have not promoted contact by other means.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff offer children a variety of activities and outings. They encourage children to remain active and take care of their health and hygiene. When needed, staff take children to health appointments and ensure that children take their medication. Staff have advocated for children’s emotional health needs to be met.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff complete regular sessions with children to help them understand their emotions, positive behaviour, and how to keep themselves safe. While these sessions are positive, staff often fail to complete planned work with children based on their identified needs.

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

Children feel safe and can identify staff in the home who they would speak to if they had any worries. Children understand why rules and boundaries are in place and feel that staff take children’s views into account. Children know how to make a complaint. Inspection report for children’s home: 2599183 4 Staff are consistent in their responses and provide firm boundaries along with nurturing care. Risk management plans and missing-from-care plans are updated regularly. However, these do not include specific strategies for staff to follow should an incident arise.

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

Staff have developed positive relationships with key people involved in keeping the children safe. Professionals consistently comment on how well staff communicate with them. This enables all adults to work together to best support the children.

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

Staff use physical interventions as a last resort. Staff have learned to recognise when children have worries. When staff have had to restrain a child, they have recorded the incidents appropriately.

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

Allegations of harm do not happen often in this home. When this has happened, appropriate procedures have not always been followed. Recording of decision- making around allegations has not been consistently clear. This does not maintain high safety standards in the home.

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

Staff working with the children are appropriately qualified and safer recruitment practices are followed. The manager is clear in her expectations of staff employed in this home. This ensures that all staff are suitably knowledgeable and safe to work with vulnerable children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is experienced and suitably qualified. She has a good understanding of the children’s needs and leads with a nurturing approach in the home. The manager and deputy managers are supportive of the staff team, with one staff member saying that managers have provided ‘opportunities to grow, develop and thrive’.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team is fairly new but appears stable. Staff receive regular supervision and attend monthly team meetings which provide them with the opportunities to reflect on their own practice and learn from each other. The manager ensures that all staff receive development opportunities and training relevant to the needs of the children living there.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has good internal monitoring systems and makes good use of independent monitoring to ensure that staff provide consistently good care to the children. This oversight promotes the safety and well-being of the children living in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children’s case records are generally well kept. However, there have been instances where there is little written evidence of key events or actions taken by the staff team. This does not enable children to have a full and clear understanding of their journey in care and could result in key information being missed. Inspection report for children’s home: 2599183 5 Staff and managers have a good understanding of each child and the areas in which they most need support. They celebrate children’s accomplishments and support them through difficult times. One staff member said that ‘We aim to build a family.’ Inspection report for children’s home: 2599183 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 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))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that all allegations are consistently referred to safeguarding professionals and consideration is given to the safety of all children when making decisions about deployment of staff members. 18 July 2023

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff are provided with clear steps to respond to each child’s individual behaviours. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’ page 39, paragraph 8.14)  The registered person should ensure that all children receive proactive direct work, targeted to their specific needs, to help them understand how to keep themselves safe. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’ page 42, paragraph 9.7)  The registered person should ensure that children are encouraged to maintain relationships with family through creative means when they do not wish to have direct time with them. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’ page 58, paragraph 11.18)  The registered person should ensure that staff understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes

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Recommendations

Regulations, including the quality standards’ page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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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, Inspection report for children’s home: 2599183 7 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: 2599183 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Omega Care Group Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 40–42 Kemble Street, Prescot L34 5SQ

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Inspector

Aislinn Cooper, Social Care Regulatory Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2599183 9 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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