Children's home run by A-Triangle Care Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2712048 1 Registered provider: A-Triangle Care Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is registered to provide care and accommodation for one child who may have experienced emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The home may provide care and accommodation for children with learning difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been in post since November 2022.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

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inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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inadequate

There are serious and/or widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded and/or the care and experiences of children and young people are poor and they are not making progress.

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2712048 2

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inadequate

The home opened on 11 November 2022. This is the home’s first inspection. There was one child living in the home at the time of the inspection. The child has made some progress, but significant shortfalls in help and protection and leadership and management have impacted on the child’s overall experiences.

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inadequate

Staff are not equipped with the knowledge, skills and understanding to provide effective support for the child. This contributes to the child making limited progress and means that the child is not provided with the support and help that they need.

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inadequate

The child’s educational progress is limited. The child is not enrolled at a school. The child has recently started to receive tutoring and some educational work is provided by staff in the home. However, the plans for the child’s future education are unclear.

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inadequate

Arrangements for contact with family members have not been sufficiently assessed to ensure that they are in the child’s bests interests.

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inadequate

Staff turnover has been high. It has been difficult for the child to develop trusted and secure relationships with the adults who look after him.

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inadequate

The home does not provide sufficient activities for the child to engage in to develop his creative, cultural, intellectual, physical, and social interests. Large parts of the child’s day are spent engaging in unstructured activities, such as playing on his games console and watching online videos.

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inadequate

The home has supported the child to make some progress in relation to his physical and mental well-being and independent living skills. Staff have supported him to engage in some activities in the community, but these remain limited.

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

Safeguarding practices are ineffective. The registered person has failed to take sufficient steps to obtain and clarify information held by external professionals. Consequently, staff do not have all of the information that they need to clearly identify and manage risks safely and effectively.

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

Staff are not always safely recruited. Gaps were identified in the suitability checks of staff. This means that leaders and managers cannot be assured that those who are working in the home are safe to do so.

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

Not all staff have completed the provider’s mandatory training programme. Some staff had not completed training in safeguarding and management of actual or Inspection report for children’s home: 2712048 3 potential aggression. Managers have failed to ensure that all staff have the skills to identify and act on any signs that the child may be at risk of harm.

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

The processes for risk assessment and management are inadequate. The child’s risk management plan is long and difficult for staff to use effectively. Not all staff have read it. When significant risks arise, they are not always recorded in the risk management plan. The plan does not adequately describe the roles that external professionals will perform to reduce and manage risk.

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

Staff are unclear of the process to follow when a child goes missing. For example, staff members are unsure of how many staff should follow a child who goes missing. Not all staff have read the updated missing-from-home procedure. The registered person accepts that the procedure may be applied inconsistently and needs to be reviewed.

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

The home is well maintained and furnished. However, the standards of hygiene in the bathroom are inadequate. The bathroom, which is used by both staff and the child, did not contain soap or hand-cleaning lotion on either of the inspection days. This puts the health of staff, children, and visitors at risk.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager has been registered since November 2022. The manager has not yet developed a sufficient understanding of the home’s areas for development or taken effective action to make improvements.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There are substantial shortfalls in the oversight of the home by managers. There has been a failure to identify and act on significant flaws in relation to both safe recruitment and training. The hours that staff members have worked are not always recorded accurately.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The registered person does not always review and evaluate important incidents that occur within the home. The registered person does not consistently use the reports that are completed by the home’s independent visitor to improve the quality of care provided.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff do not always read and sign important documents. For example, not all staff have read the current version of the child’s behaviour management plan or the child’s risk management plan. As a result, staff may be unaware of significant changes that may affect how well they keep children safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Team meetings are not used consistently to discuss risks or agree risk-reduction measures. Until recently, measures were not in place to ensure that all staff read the minutes of team meetings. Important information may not be communicated effectively to all staff. Inspection report for children’s home: 2712048 4 Medication records are not accurately maintained. Some records were unsigned and undated. Staff may not be clear about when a child has taken medication. This may put the child at risk of harm if medication is not taken as prescribed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

When the registered person is absent from the home processes are not always implemented as they should be. Weekly fire drills did not take place for two weeks when the manager was absent. Managers should make sure that arrangements are in place to ensure that core functions are conducted irrespective of the presence of the registered person.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Managers do not challenge the placing local authority effectively when plans do not meet the child’s needs or there are delays in receiving information. This means that staff continue to support the child using plans that do not meet their needs. This has had an impact on the child’s safety and progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Managers notify Ofsted of significant events that occur at the home. However, these notifications are not always sent within a satisfactory timescale. This affects the external monitoring of children’s safety and welfare. Inspection report for children’s home: 2712048 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;

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans; and

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Requirement Due date

seek to develop and maintain effective professional relationships with such persons, bodies or organisations as the registered person considers appropriate having regard to the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the children’s home is to provide care and accommodation. (Regulation 5 (a)(c)(d))

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Requirement Due date

This relates specifically to the registered person escalating concerns effectively if the provider does not have all the relevant local authority documentation. 17 September

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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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

raise any need for further assessment or specialist provision in relation to a child with the child’s education or training provider and the child’s placing authority; 17 September Inspection report for children’s home: 2712048 6 help each child who is above compulsory school age to participate in further education, training or employment and to prepare for future care, education or employment. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(viii)(ix))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to the registered person ensuring that the children are encouraged to engage in education, and that this is a part of an established and consistent daily routine during school term time.

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Requirement Due date

The enjoyment and achievement standard is that children take part in and benefit from a variety of activities that meet their needs and develop and reflect their creative, cultural, intellectual, physical and social interests and skills.

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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

develop the child’s interests and hobbies;

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Requirement Due date

participate in activities that the child enjoys and which meet and expand the child’s interests and preferences; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child has access to a range of activities that enable the child to pursue the child’s interests and hobbies. (Regulation 9 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to the registered person ensuring that the children are encouraged to engage in activities, and that they are part of an established and consistent daily routine. 17 September

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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

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm; 17 September Inspection report for children’s home: 2712048 7 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

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies;

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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 effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii)(b)(e))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to the registered person ensuring that there are robust assessments of risk and risk management plans in place; ensuring that all staff have read and understood the child’s assessments and plans; ensuring that children’s safety plans and the missing child policy are always followed consistently by staff; and ensuring that there are always sufficient staff to care for children.

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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

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; 17 September Inspection report for children’s home: 2712048 8 ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

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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

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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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

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and

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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) (a) (b) (c) (d) (e)(f)(g)(h))

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Requirement Due date

having systems in place to monitor and review the children’s plans and their progress in accordance with their relevant plans, and ensure that the records are signed and dated by the author of each entry;

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Requirement Due date

ensuring that the staff have the experience, qualifications, and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensuring that staff complete mandatory and child-specific training in a timely way;

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Requirement Due date

ensuring that there is a stable and sufficient staff team in place who can provide consistent care for the child;

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Requirement Due date

ensuring that the registered person and the responsible individual work together so that there is consistent leadership and management practice in place.

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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 17 September Inspection report for children’s home: 2712048 9 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—

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Requirement Due date

that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

This relates specifically to the registered manager ensuring that pre-admission planning robustly considers the needs of any new child and those of all children already living in the home, and how any risks can be managed.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular the registered person must ensure that—

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Requirement Due date

a record is kept of the administration of medicine to each child. (Regulation 23 (1) (2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This relates specifically to the registered person ensuring that the date when medication is given to a child is recorded. 17 September

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Requirement Due date

After consultation with the fire and rescue authority, the registered person must—

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Requirement Due date

ensure, by means of fire drills and practices at suitable intervals, that persons working at the home and, so far as reasonably practicable, children are aware of the procedure to be followed in case of fire. (Regulation 25 (1)(d))

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Requirement Due date

This relates specifically to the registered person ensuring that they carry out fire drills and practices at suitable intervals, and that staff are aware of the procedure to be followed in case of fire. 17 September

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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

The registered person may only— 17 September Inspection report for children’s home: 2712048 10 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, if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform;

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a)(b) (3)(b)(d))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person should ensure that safer recruitment is followed so that staff are suitably checked before working with children.

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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

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation;

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child—

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Requirement Due date

concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious.

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Requirement Due date

A notification made under this regulation—

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Requirement Due date

the matter; 17 September Inspection report for children’s home: 2712048 11 the other persons, bodies or organisations (if any) who or which have been notified; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions taken by the registered person as a result of the matter;

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Requirement Due date

must be made or confirmed in writing. (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e)(g) (5)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to the registered person ensuring that regulation 40 notifications are sent to Ofsted without delay.

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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: 2712048 12

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: A-Triangle Care Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 5 Crescent East, Hardhorn road, Thornton/Cleveleys, Lancashire FY5 3LJ

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Inspectors

Dawn Walker, Social Care Inspector Steve James, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2712048 13 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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