Children's home run by Pathway Care Solutions Ltd in Nottingham

Inspection report for children’s home: SC428700 1 SC428700 Registered provider: Pathway Care Solutions Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A private provider runs this children’s home. This children’s home registered with Ofsted in June 2011. The manager registered in April 2018.

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Information about this children’s home

The home provides care for up to four children with social and/or emotional difficulties. At the time of the inspection, three children and young people were living at the home.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: 12 September 2022

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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: SC428700 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/09/2022 Full Good 19/01/2022 Full Good 23/07/2019 Full Good 10/07/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC428700 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people move into the home in a well-planned way. This helps to ensure that there are positive relationships between children and young people. Staff provide comprehensive support to children and young people to help and prepare them to leave the home positively. This helps to give children and young people the best start possible as they reach adulthood. When moves on from the home have been delayed, this has usually been outside of the control of the staff and managers, who make great efforts to support children and advocate for them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people like living at the home. They feel safe, and they have made positive and trusted relationships with named staff. Children and young people enjoy a range of different activities, and the staff help children and young people to stay connected with people who are important to them outside of the home. This helps children and young people to maintain the relationships that are important to them. However, children and young people’s memories of living at the home are not always captured.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since moving into the home, children and young people have made progress in their education. The staff work well with schools to support the children and young people and to share important information. Regular access to psychological therapies and support from staff are helping children and young people to better understand and express their emotions and feelings and the impact of these on others.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home has ample space and feels like a family home. The presence and personalities of children and young people are visible throughout, and the home is generally well maintained. However, the paintwork in the hallway and stairs is worn and tired and would benefit from more regular maintenance.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Overall, staff support children and young people well with their health and well- being. However, the health needs of one young person are not incorporated into their care plans. This does not provide assurances that staff are actively working with the young person in these areas. Staff and managers are not proactive in supporting some of the children and young people with their personal care and in ensuring that their bedrooms are tidy.

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improvement to be good

Staff have not completed all the necessary safeguarding training and do not have a thorough understanding of the procedures needed to help protect children and young people living at the home. The home’s safeguarding procedures relate to children only, but one young person has now turned 18. No training or guidance on Inspection report for children’s home: SC428700 4 how to address any safeguarding issues relating to adults living in the home has been accessed. Managers have not escalated their concerns when there have been delays in safeguarding processes not being followed appropriately by others. This does not provide appropriate safeguards in line with legislation for those living in the home.

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improvement to be good

During this inspection, a concern was raised to the inspector, and the managers are taking action to investigate this. When complaints or allegations are made, managers report them appropriately, investigate them thoroughly and identify lessons learned to try to reduce the risk of these incidents recurring.

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improvement to be good

Managers have failed to notify Ofsted of all the serious events that have happened. There are three incidents where the notifications did not contain all the relevant information or were not completed. This does not enable the regulator to maintain oversight of the risks to children and young people.

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improvement to be good

The staff and managers are not aware of the current risks that may surround the location of the home, as there has not been any consultation with local relevant people. Without this key information, the staff’s ability to effectively reduce the risks to children’s safety when in the community is limited.

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improvement to be good

Staff understand and respond to children’s individual needs well when they become upset or distressed. The staff listen to children and hold regular conversations with them to help them learn about the risks to their safety and manage their feelings and emotions. The staff can defuse potential incidents effectively. There have been no physical interventions or consequences for children.

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improvement to be good

There are a low number of incidents of children going missing or absent from the home. When children are missing or absent, staff try to find them and stay connected with them. They also take action to report appropriately and to work with other agencies to support the children to return home in a safe and supportive way.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is led by a well-established, experienced and qualified manager. The home is properly resourced with sufficient staff, who are suitably vetted and qualified. This helps children to receive consistent and stable care. The staff spoken to during the inspection reported that they feel well supported by their managers and colleagues. Staff also receive regular supervision and training. The support and investment equip the staff to care for children well.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is implementing a development plan for the home that builds on the existing therapeutic model of care in the home into trauma-informed practice. The manager anticipates that this will improve the quality of care and benefit children and young people. A member of staff is the designated champion for the project and is pioneering this in the home. Inspection report for children’s home: SC428700 5 There are well-embedded and effective oversight systems to enable the running of the home. These enable leaders and managers to identify strengths and areas for improvement that require attention. As a result, except for some areas for improvement, there were no significant shortfalls identified at this inspection that negatively impacted on children’s care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Following an incident where a child accessed sensitive information inappropriately, managers have taken appropriate action to address the issue. They also provided staff with additional training and changed procedures to reduce the risk of this recurring in the future.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers work effectively with external professionals who work in the local area and further afield and are involved in children and young people’s care. The manager is a strong advocate for children and young people and challenges external professionals appropriately in the best interests of children and young people. Inspection report for children’s home: SC428700 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 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

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(v))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must make sure that all staff receive suitable training to enable them to reduce the risk of harm to the children and young people that they care for.

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Requirement Due date

The procedures in place must be suitable for reporting safeguarding concerns about children and young people who live at the home. 15 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. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)).

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must make sure that children’s care plans reflect their identified needs and that 30 November Inspection report for children’s home: SC428700 7 care is planned and delivered to meet these needs in children’s everyday care.

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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

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

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. (Regulation 40 (4) (b)(d)(i)(ii)(e) (5)(a)(i)) 19 October 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must review the appropriateness and suitability of the location of the premises used for the purposes of the children’s home at least once in each calendar year taking into account the requirement in regulation 12(2)(c) (the protection of children standard).

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Requirement Due date

When conducting the review, the registered person must consult, and take into account the views of, each relevant person. (Regulation 46 (1) (2)) 30 November

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Recommendations

 The registered manager should ensure that the children’s home is maintained well to ensure that it is nurturing, supportive and feels homely. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that staff keep and encourage children to keep appropriate memorabilia of the time spent living at the home and help them record significant life events. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.5) Inspection report for children’s home: SC428700 8  The registered person should ensure that where there are delays in safeguarding procedures, appropriate action is taken to escalate this to ensure that actions to protect children follow the requirements of relevant legislation. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 44, paragraph 9.22)

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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: SC428700 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Pathway Care Solutions Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Atria, Spa Road, Bolton BL1 4AG

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Inspectors

Honor Hamshaw, Social Care Inspector Jess Elliott, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC428700 10 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

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