Children's home run by First Blue Healthcare Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2724741 1 Registered provider: First Blue Healthcare Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home registered with Ofsted in April 2023. It provides care for up to three children with learning disabilities and who have been affected by adverse childhood experiences that have led to associated trauma and complex behaviours. The home is privately owned and forms part of a large social care organisation that offers care and support.

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Information about this children’s home

This is the home’s first inspection since it registered.

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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 are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded, and the care and experiences of children 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: 2724741 2

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inadequate

There are serious safeguarding concerns in this home that put children at risk of harm. In response, Ofsted has issued a notice restricting accommodation at the home. In addition, compliance notices were issued under regulation 12, the protection of children standard, and regulation 13, the leadership and management standard.

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inadequate

Leadership and management, and safeguarding arrangements in the home are inadequate. Consequently, this has had a negative impact on the overall experiences and progress of children.

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inadequate

Before children move in to the home, leaders do not fully consider their needs or staff’s ability to care for them. This has been a contributing factor for one child who has had to leave the home prematurely. Furthermore, poor planning and decision- making has had a detrimental impact on children as they have been exposed to and, in some instances, replicated the behaviours of each other.

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inadequate

The inexperienced staff team does not always respond appropriately to support children. For example, on one occasion, staff held a conversation with a child to address concerns about the child accessing inappropriate images on their phone. This conversation was not planned well and not managed sensitively by staff. As a result, the child became distressed and, along with another child, ran away from the home. Staff have escalated situations rather than de-escalated them because they are inexperienced and lack the skills to support children who are in crisis.

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inadequate

Children’s educational experiences vary. For example, staff supported a child to commence attendance at a local school in September 2023. However, another child moved in to the home in May 2023 and is still not in any formal education setting. Staff supported the child to visit a local college and a course was identified. However, the local authority was unable to provide the college with the documentation confirming parental consent. This meant that the child was unable to start the course and the offer of a place was removed. Managers and staff failed to challenge this and did not ensure that they advocated effectively for this child. Consequently, children’s educational needs are not always met.

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inadequate

Despite the shortfalls identified, children do have some positive experiences. One child informed the inspector that they felt safe and liked living in the home. In addition, the inspector observed the child interacting well with staff and having fun. Staff listen to and act on children’s wishes to ensure that children regularly spend time with their families. As a result, children can see loved ones and maintain positive relationships. Inspection report for children’s home: 2724741 3

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

Safeguarding arrangements to support children who are at risk of exploitation and going missing from the home are inadequate. This is because staff and leaders do not fully understand children’s risks and do not take effective action to reduce these risks. For example, staff failed to follow children’s plans and poor supervision levels in the home led to two children going missing on two occasions on the same day. In addition, staff failed to carry out any searches of known locations used by the children when they were missing, despite one child being missing for four days. As a result of these failures, children were at risk of significant harm.

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

Staff and leaders do not act or make decisions that protect children from harm. For example, staff and the registered manager continued to allow one child to access unsupervised time in the community, despite having intelligence that older adults were exploiting the child. In addition, a lack of curiosity meant that staff did not conduct any checks to see who the child was meeting when granting unsupervised time. These poor decisions left the child exposed to significant harm.

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

Protocols to keep children safe are either unclear or do not exist. This means that staff practice is inconsistent and ill informed. For example, at a strategy meeting, a police officer shared information about concerns and evidence they had relating to one child concealing weapons. However, the registered manager did not act and put strategies in place to manage these risks in the home. Failing to act on information shared by professionals to reduce risks has the potential to increase children’s vulnerability.

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

Leaders and managers fail to consistently work effectively with external professionals to put measures in place to keep children safe. In addition, they have not advocated or challenged other agencies consistently to ensure that responses by other agencies reflect the level of risk to a child. For example, following a significant disclosure made by a child relating to an incident when the child was missing from the home, a strategy meeting was requested. However, this did not take place for three weeks and was not escalated as a concern by the registered manager. As a result, the response by the multi-agency team around the child has failed to increase one child’s safety.

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

Despite the safeguarding shortfalls, some of the home’s systems are adequate. For example, systems to keep children safe when using the internet are in place and reviewed regularly. Staff use physical restraint to manage significant incidents as a last resort to keep themselves and children safe. Records completed provide a good overview of the incident and leaders ensure that staff and children are routinely spoken to. This allows them to learn from and reflect on their experiences.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Management oversight and monitoring of the home is poor. Senior leaders and the registered manager’s systems have failed to identify the widespread failures in the Inspection report for children’s home: 2724741 4 quality of children’s safeguarding plans. Ineffective monitoring systems do not support the protection of children or improve the quality of care that they receive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Managers do not consistently provide staff with regular supervision or opportunities to reflect on their practice. For example, following several safeguarding incidents, staff have not received regular supervision to review their understanding of children’s risks and the actions that they should take to keep children safe. As a result, staff are not able to reflect on their practice and consider how they are promoting the welfare of children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Not all staff have the skills, experience, or knowledge to manage children’s behaviours. Staffing shortages have resulted in inexperienced staff leading shifts while working alongside external agency staff. This lack of experience and knowledge of the children has meant that staff were not able to manage challenging situations effectively. Consequently, this approach has left children vulnerable and compromised their safety.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Training systems fail to adequately equip staff with the knowledge and skills to keep children safe. For example, some staff complete several online training courses on the same day, and one staff member completed 30 courses in two days. This means that staff are not provided with the skills to safeguard children and improve the care that they receive in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Senior managers in the organisation have recently become more involved in the day- to-day running of the home. Some action has been taken to safeguard children; however, it is too early to see the impact of this. Inspection report for children’s home: 2724741 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, 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

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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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

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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(vi)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that staff assess children’s risks effectively, recognise that children are at risk of harm, and take action to keep children safe. 19 November

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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— 19 November Inspection report for children’s home: 2724741 6 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 have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of 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; 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)(c)(e)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that the home has suitably trained and skilled staff to provide consistent care to children and protect them from harm.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered person should ensure that they have effective oversight and monitoring of children’s risks and staff’s responses to significant incidents in the home. It further relates to the manager’s oversight of the quality of care that children receive in the home.

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Requirement Due date

Managers must have clear monitoring and review systems to improve practice and understand children’s progress and experiences.

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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

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 19 November Inspection report for children’s home: 2724741 7 the children’s home is to provide care and accommodation. (Regulation 5 (c)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that they work effectively with external professionals to put in place measures to keep children safe. Also, the registered person should ensure that they consistently challenge the relevant professionals’ performance when their response and support does not reflect the level of risk for children.

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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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

meet each child’s behavioural and emotional needs, as set out in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop and practise skills to resolve conflicts positively and without harm to anyone;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand, in a way that is appropriate according to the child’s age and understanding, personal, sexual and social relationships, and how those relationships can be supportive or harmful; and

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Requirement Due date

understand how children’s previous experiences and present emotions can be communicated through behaviour and have the competence and skills to interpret these and develop positive relationships with children. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(iv)(vi)(ix))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that staff understand and are equipped with the skills to identify that children’s previous experiences and trauma may be 19 November Inspection report for children’s home: 2724741 8 communicated through their behaviour. Also, leaders are to ensure that staff have the skills to carry out specific and direct work with children sensitively and in line with their needs to help them to learn from their experiences.

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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

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Requirement Due date

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

plan for, and help, each child to prepare to leave the home or to move into adult care in a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with the child’s placing authority. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that they work effectively with placing authorities to support children to move in to and leave the home in a manner that does not impact on children’s emotional well-being and safety. 19 November

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development; and

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, all staff must receive regular supervision to support their development in the home. 19 November

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice. Inspection report for children’s home: 2724741 9

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children are in full-time education while they are of compulsory school age unless their personal education plan contained within the care plan or other relevant plan states otherwise. The home must aim to support full-time attendance at school unless the child’s relevant plan indicates this is not in their best interests. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 28, paragraph 5.14)

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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: 2724741 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: First Blue Healthcare Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Seighford Hall, Clanford Road, Seighford, Stafford ST18 9NL

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Inspector

Dean Wilton, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2724741 11 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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