Children's home run by Hexagon Care Services Limited

Inspection report for children’s home for 2614506 1 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

This home is owned and operated by a private provider.

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Information about this children’s home

It is registered to provide care for up to two children with social and emotional needs, and learning disabilities. The home may also provide care for children with sensory needs.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is currently caring for two children.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager is suitably qualified and experienced, and has been registered in post since February 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

Date of last inspection: 14 February 2023

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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 for 2614506 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/02/2023 Full Good 18/01/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home for 2614506 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have good relationships with the staff who care for them. Staff know the children’s interests and take them to activities, such as cycling and football practice. One child commented that the best thing about the home was the staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager understands the importance of maintaining good relationships with the families of the children. Where children and their families have had difficult relationships with professionals, the staff have made extra effort to ensure that their relationships are positive. This helps children to be settled in their home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children attend school. Staff transport the children to school, which helps them to be punctual and have good attendance. Staff communicate well with the schools and support the children to complete homework. Children are making progress socially and academically.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are in good health. Staff register the children with local medical services and facilitate their routine appointments. Staff understand the children’s extra health needs and ensure that these are reviewed by the relevant professionals. Children have regular therapy with the in-house therapist to support their emotional health. The therapist also supports the staff team to work with the children in line with their individual needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The environment is homely and well-maintained. Staff help the children to personalise their bedrooms. Staff have arranged the furniture in one child’s bedroom to support their sensory impairment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff ensure that moving in to and out of the home is positive for children. Children are given the opportunity to visit the home prior to moving in. Staff are welcoming during visits, which helps to put children at ease. Staff provide children with the information that they need about the home. This ensures that children are not made unduly anxious and they settle into the home quickly.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff ensure that the needs of children who are far from their home area are met. Staff transport children to see their family and support family members to visit the local area. This helps children to maintain links with the people who are most important to them.

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

Staff build relationships of trust with children. They use these relationships to encourage positive behaviour. Formal sanctions are rarely used. When they are, they are fair and proportionate to the behaviour. Staff encourage children to engage with restorative sanctions, such as taking damaged items to the tip. Inspection report for children’s home for 2614506 4 Children rarely go missing from the home. When they do, the staff understand and follow the individual missing-from-home plans. Staff are tenacious when trying to locate a missing child. Staff inform the relevant agencies when other professionals have not acted to safeguard children.

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

Staff encourage positive behaviour. Plans that assist staff to manage behaviour are clear and individual to the specific children. The manager and the in-house therapist update the plans regularly with input from staff and children. Staff understand and follow the plans. Therefore, the children have consistent boundaries.

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

The police have been called to the home on one occasion to assist staff in managing children’s behaviour. The manager has arranged additional staffing to ensure that staff do not have to call the police to the home to manage behaviour.

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

When staff hold children, this is as a last resort and proportionate to the risk of harm. Children and staff are given the opportunity to reflect after children have been held, to help to identify triggers for these incidents. However, the manager has not yet addressed the identified triggers to help to reduce incidents. A requirement has been made in relation to this.

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

Fire safety in the home is managed well. Staff and children who are new to the home are informed of what to do in an emergency. Staff ensure that children who are new to the home have extra support to understand the procedures.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager ensures that staff receive a quality induction. This includes daily supervision for the newest members of staff. All staff receive regular supervision.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff contribute to the plans to support children during the regular meetings with the in-house therapist. Practice is shared through monthly team meetings. Team meetings include the children’s expressed views. Staff discuss the views of the children and plan actions to meet them. Therefore, the children’s views are acted on and contribute to the planning for the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff complete all mandatory training. The manager identifies extra training that would support the staff to meet the needs of the children. This includes training to support sensory impairment. This helps staff to have the knowledge and understanding to meet the needs of the children who they care for.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The statement of purpose includes the qualifications of the in-house therapist. However, it does not include the supervision arrangements for the therapist. It also does not include how the effectiveness of therapy is measured, and how this information can be accessed. A requirement has been made in relation to this.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff have good-quality relationships with external professionals and agencies. External agencies report that the staff communicate with them well. Inspection report for children’s home for 2614506 5 This means that the children experience coordinated support from the professionals who help them. Inspection report for children’s home for 2614506 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 must comply within the given timescales.

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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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1) (2)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This is specifically in relation to recognising patterns in the reasons for physical interventions and planning to reduce them. 30 November 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must compile in relation to the children’s home a statement ("the statement of purpose") which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1. (Regulation 16 (1))

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Requirement Due date

This is specifically in relation to ensuring that the statement of purpose includes the details of the professional supervision of the staff involved in providing therapy, how the effectiveness of the therapy provided is measured, the evidence demonstrating its effectiveness, and how this can be accessed. 30 November 2023 Inspection report for children’s home for 2614506 7

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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 for 2614506 8

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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 PR2 2YQ

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Inspector

Sarah Huntbatch, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home for 2614506 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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