Children's Home run by Partners in Care Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report for children’s home: SC010090 1 SC010090 Registered provider: Partners in Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home is operated by a private organisation. It provides care for up to four children who may have social and emotional difficulties. Three children live in the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is operating without a registered manager.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: SC010090 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/03/2023 Full Good 24/08/2021 Full Outstanding 26/11/2019 Full Outstanding 04/07/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC010090 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have good relationships with all the staff. Staff want the children to be the best version of themselves. The children said that they feel well cared for by the staff team and that they are safe and happy living in this home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are met. They are registered with health professionals and appointments are made as necessary. The children’s emotional needs are assessed and supported by the in-house psychology department. This service ensures that the children receive the right level of support and guidance from the staff who care for them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to lead healthy lifestyles and have healthy diets. They participate in planning, shopping and preparing meals to provide them with skills in budgeting and planning for living independently.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children take part in a wide range of activities and leisure pursuits, both individually and as a group. For example, they attend sea cadets, fishing, go-karting and football. In the home, they have games and activities, including board games, books and gaming consoles. Children say they enjoy competing with staff and often win.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

With the exception of one short-term placement, all children attend full-time education. Staff understand the importance of promoting education and work closely with children to enable them to achieve good educational outcomes. This enhances children’s future employment and career opportunities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Family time is recognised as important for children and is prioritised. Individual arrangements help the children to understand the plans and the arrangements in place to support family visits.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Consistent daily routines ensure that children understand their plans for each day and the expectations placed on them. This provides children with a natural sense of stability and ownership of their plans.

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

The staff are trained to safely hold a child to keep them safe should they be at risk of harm to themselves or others. Assessments that identify risks are thorough and provide staff with simple and effective steps to reduce and manage risks.

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

Since the last full inspection in March 2023, the home has experienced a period of challenge and instability. For example, there has been an increase in the need to hold one child to keep them safe, and more requests for external support including the police and ambulance services. Staff perseverance has ensured that the child was suitably assessed and requests for specialised emotional support expedited. Inspection report for children’s home: SC010090 4 Records of the child being held are thorough and include how the child was held, supported and debriefed in accordance with guidance. However, there are occasions where a child is held on more then one occasion during a single incident. This is not reflected by a separate record for each hold. As a result, the exact number of holds taking place is not always clear.

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

Incidents of children being reported as missing from the home are rare. Since the last full inspection, there have been two incidents of a child being reported as missing. Staff promptly instigated the missing from home guidance to locate and return the child home. Furthermore, the child was provided with additional support including direct work sessions, consultation with the organisation’s therapists and an independent return home interview. This prompt wraparound response has resulted in no further issues regarding the child being missing from home.

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

A room search is undertaken should there be a concern. There has been one room search conducted. Records identify the reason for the search and if any items were removed because of the search. When items are removed, the record details where they are stored for safe keeping.

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

Since the last inspection, there have been four complaints made by children. The records provide a clear overview of the investigation, outcome and feedback to the child. However, the record is held alongside other complaints. This means that should a child wish to review or comment on the document, there is a risk of them observing other children’s complaints.

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good

The home has not had a registered manager since May 2023. There has been a delay in the manager submitting a full application to register with Ofsted. This was rectified during the inspection and a full application has been received.

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good

Some staff say that they feel supported by the manager. However, since the last full inspection, seven staff have left the home following a change of management and incidents occurring in the home. This means that some staff have not been fully supported by managers to be able to remain working in the home.

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good

On one occasion, a child received hospital care as a result of an accident in the home. This was not reported to Ofsted in accordance with regulation 40. On other occasions, notifications do not follow the general data protection regulations and have identified children living in the home using their full names.

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good

Since the last inspection in March 2023, one child has been discharged. The responsible individual agreed that, in combination with other factors, changes in the management and staff impacted on the home’s ability to manage an increase in behaviours and risk for the child. Consequently, suitable transition arrangements were not made available to the child. Inspection report for children’s home: SC010090 5 The independent visitor’s report provides a helpful assessment of the progress and challenges for the children living in the home. Action is taken to address any shortfalls identified during these visits.

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good

Safer recruitment practices are followed to ensure that children are looked after by staff who are assessed as safe to do so. Seven new staff have been provided with an induction and training to care for the children. One member of staff said, ‘It is great to be part of [name of the organisation] family, we are all here to do our best for the children.’ The new staff have a range of relevant experience and skills to bring to the developing team.

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good

Overall, the home is suitably maintained. Each child has a private bedroom decorated in a style of their choice, and they are consulted on the decor of the home. However, paintwork in areas such as the dining room looks tired and in need of a refresh.

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good

As identified within this inspection, there are several records that require further development to ensure that information is accurate, confidential and submitted in line with guidance. Inspection report for children’s home: SC010090 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 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

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

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)(f)(g)(h)) 17 November

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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 any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. Regulation 40 (4)(e)) 17 November Inspection report for children’s home: SC010090 7

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that, where more than one physical intervention has occurred during an incident, each intervention is recorded separately. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home Regulations, including the standards,’ page 49, paragraph 9.59)  The registered person should ensure that records of complaints can be reviewed by children without compromising the confidentiality of other children’s complaints. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home Regulations, including the standards,’ page 62, paragraph 14.6)  The registered person should ensure that regulation 40 reports do not include children’s full names. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home Regulations, including the standards,’ page 63, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should work with the placing authority to ensure that each child’s transition is planned and help each child to prepare for leaving, both practically and emotionally. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home Regulations, including

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Recommendations

the standards,’ page 57, paragraph 11.9)  The registered person should ensure that the decor of the home is regularly maintained. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home Regulations, including the standards,’ page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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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: SC010090 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Partners in Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 2 The Calls, Leeds LS2 7JU

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Inspector

Maria McGranaghan, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC010090 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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