Children's Home run by Nugent Care 2019 in Sefton

Inspection report for children’s home: 2675485 1 Registered provider: Nugent Care Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is privately owned and managed. It provides care for up to three children with learning disabilities and who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The interim manager has applied to register with Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

Three children were living in the home at the time of the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2675485 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/05/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2675485 3

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improvement to be good

Children benefit from living in a spacious and warm home. However, some areas of the home give an institutional impression. This detracts from the home being a nurturing and homely environment for children.

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improvement to be good

Children have positive relationships with the adults who care for them. Children engage in key-work sessions to discuss topics relating to their lives. They also use a variety of communication aids to express their emotions.

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improvement to be good

Staff develop individualised care plans for each child. However, staff do not have access to all children’s current statutory plans. This is a shortfall that potentially hinders children’s progress and experiences.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not consistently help children to engage in education or provide children with a daily structure of educational activities to support their learning. This prevents the children from reaching their full potential. In addition, the manager is not aware of the local offer which sets out the support available for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). This is a missed opportunity to access additional resources and activities for children.

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improvement to be good

The staff team helps children to maintain family time with the people who are important to them. Staff also support children to keep memories of their experiences. They provide care which is responsive and sensitive to children’s identity and cultural needs.

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improvement to be good

Staff help children to prepare for their future. They support children in developing independent living skills, such as cooking, budgeting and maintaining their personal hygiene. One child volunteers at a local charity shop on a weekly basis.

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improvement to be good

Staff encourage children to develop interests and hobbies. One child developed an area of the garden for wildlife projects. Another child travelled abroad to play football with a local team. This broadens children’s experiences and development.

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improvement to be good

Staff regularly review risk management plans for each child and update them following serious incidents. This ensures that staff have the most up-to-date information about children. This helps staff to reduce the risk of harm to children. Staff follow clear strategies to reduce children’s vulnerabilities and keep them safe. Inspection report for children’s home: 2675485 4 Managers report serious incidents to Ofsted so that the regulator has oversight of the action taken by staff to keep children safe. However, managers delay submitting notifications, which affects Ofsted’s initial oversight of incidents.

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improvement to be good

Children feel safe living in the home and know how to make a complaint if they need to. They also say that they have good relationships with the team of staff and feel supported by them.

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improvement to be good

Children rarely go missing from home. If children do go missing, staff keep them safe by following their missing-from-home plans. This helps staff to act quickly and prevent incidents from reoccurring.

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improvement to be good

Staff support children to stay safe online. They carry out direct work sessions with children to talk about safe and healthy relationships. This gives children relevant knowledge about how to keep safe online.

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good

An interim manager currently manages the home and has applied to register with Ofsted. The manager is passionate and child centred in their approach and has high aspirations for the children. However, the manager is not leading and managing the home in a manner that is consistent with some of the processes outlined in the statement of purpose.

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good

Leaders and managers do not ensure that all the necessary documentation is in place for children living at the home. This does not demonstrate effective care planning and limits staff’s ability to meet children’s needs and ensure that they meet their full potential.

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good

The manager does not consistently challenge local authorities when their responses relating to children’s care are not satisfactory. This may delay children’s progress, particularly with health and education.

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good

Staff generally feel supported in their roles and attend regular supervision meetings with managers. They also attend team meetings to share their knowledge and discuss current issues. However, staff’s annual appraisals do not include the opinions of children or key individuals. This limits their effectiveness.

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good

Leaders and managers’ monitoring and review systems need to improve. All aspects of children’s care should be regularly reviewed to ensure that strategies are in place to keep children safe and support them to reach their full potential.

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good

The manager provides a quality of care review report. However, this does not consistently include or evaluate the opinions of children, parents and placing authorities. This is a missed opportunity for the manager to evaluate a range of opinions to improve children’s care. Inspection report for children’s home: 2675485 5 Repeat requirements are made. This does not demonstrate that leaders and managers have taken effective action to address the shortfalls that have previously been identified. Inspection report for children’s home: 2675485 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

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

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)(f)(g)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the manager ensuring that the home is led in line with the statement of purpose. Leaders and managers must have effective monitoring and review systems in place to ensure that children receive care that meets their individual needs and helps them to achieve their full potential. 24 November Inspection report for children’s home: 2675485 7 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

help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

support each child’s learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study;

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Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally;

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Requirement Due date

maintain regular contact with each child’s education and training provider, including engaging with the provider and the placing authority to support the child’s education and training and to maximise the child’s achievement;

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Requirement Due date

help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi)(viii)(x)

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that staff help children to engage in education as part of a daily structured routine and in accordance with children’s relevant plans. 24 November

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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 24 November Inspection report for children’s home: 2675485 8 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

ensure the effective induction of each child into the home;

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Requirement Due date

manage and review the placement of each child in the home; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child’s relevant plans are followed. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, ensure that staff provide care in accordance with children’s statutory plans from the beginning of their placement.

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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. (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e))

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 24 November

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Requirement Due date

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff— 24 November Inspection report for children’s home: 2675485 9 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. (Regulation 5 (a)(c))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 24 November

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c) (5)) 31 March 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2675485 10

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Recommendations

 The registered person should make sure that managers and staff are aware of the local offer which sets out the support available for children with SEND. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 26, paragraph 5.4)  The registered person should ensure that staff appraisals consider, where reasonable and practical, the views of other professionals who have worked with the staff member over the year and children in the home’s care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.5)  The registered person should ensure that the home maintains a domestic rather than institutional impression. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality 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: 2675485 11

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Nugent, 99 Edge Lane, Edge Hill, Liverpool L7 2PE

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Inspectors

Mark Woodbridge, Social Care Inspector James Meeks, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2675485 12 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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