Children's home run by Park Blue Homes Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2509892 1 Registered provider: Park Blue Homes 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 managed by a private provider. It provides care for up to four children with social and emotional difficulties and who may have learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in October 2023.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, four children were living in the home. Inspectors observed interactions with all the children during the inspection.

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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

Date of last inspection: 5 September 2022

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2509892 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

05/09/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 14/12/2021 Interim Sustained effectiveness 27/04/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2509892 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress with their education, health, social development and physical mobility. Staff adopt a sensitive and nurturing role to help children gain new skills. This helps children to improve their personal hygiene and self-care. Children develop trusting relationships with staff. One child described living at the home as ‘amazing’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make happy memories through going to clubs and activities and on outings with staff. Staff support children to follow their interests, such as swimming, football and horse-riding. This helps the children to develop social skills and confidence. The manager is determined that children can have enjoyable experiences irrespective of their abilities. This includes advocating on their behalf for additional resources.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress at school as they attend consistently. Staff promote a structured routine at home, which the children thrive on. This helps the children to prepare for school and have a good start to their day. The manager and staff attend school events so that they are actively involved in the children’s education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s moves in and out of the home are carefully planned. One young person was supported to move into adult provision. Staff made sure that a structured plan was in place, including a timetable, as well as a careful introduction to the new carers and direct work with the young person. This provided reassurances and helped to minimise the potential trauma of the move for the young person.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to enjoy time with people who are important to them. However, one child’s family time arrangement is not accurately reflected in their plans. The manager has also not advocated on the child’s behalf to challenge the placing authority to review the restrictions in place. This means that the child’s parent has not been involved in the child’s life. This has an impact on the child’s sense of identity and hinders the possibility of meaningful relationships between the child and their family in the future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is large and spacious. It is equipped to meet the children’s needs and allows them to develop independence skills safely. Bedrooms are personalised, which helps children to experience a sense of belonging. The sensory room is a quiet space where children can spend time relaxing. However, some areas of the home require attention, such as a damp patch in one child’s bedroom and ventilation in the bathroom.

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

Risk assessments are reviewed and updated regularly. When a child’s risks increase, the registered manager and staff respond appropriately. This includes increasing the staff ratio and staff being available during the night. The children benefit from Inspection report for children’s home: 2509892 4 sensitive educational work by the staff team. This helps to reduce the risks to the children and helps keep them safe.

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

Staff use systems to help non-verbal children communicate, and they help children improve their ability to communicate by using visual tools. This includes pictures (widgets) and giving children options to choose from. Staff acknowledge that children communicate in different ways, and they adapt their approach accordingly. This ensures children’s views are being obtained.

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

Staff help children to attend routine and specialist health appointments. If there is a delay in children receiving the services that they need, the leaders and manager source and fund specialist assessments. This also means that staff receive information from professionals about how best to meet children’s needs.

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

Furthermore, an environmental assessment of the home by a psychologist has helped to make changes in the home. These include cosmetic changes such as paint colour and furniture placement. This helps to improve the home environment for the children.

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

Physical holds are rare and used as a last resort. Positive behaviour is promoted, and children enjoy working towards incentives. Visual tools showing targets and goals help to motivate children to succeed. The achievements help children to feel valued and proud of their accomplishments.

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

Children rarely go missing from the home. Staff understand the increased vulnerabilities of children who live at this home and that an emergency response is required. On the one occasion a child did leave the home, appropriate action was taken by the staff to ensure a safe return. The manager has ensured preventative measures are in place to reduce the risk of future incidents.

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

Robust medication procedures are in place. Following one medication error, actions by the manager and staff have been appropriate. They have included a safeguarding visit from medical professionals, and recommendations made are being implemented. This will help to reduce the risk of future errors being made.

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good

The new manager brings stability to the home following a period of interim management arrangements. The manager recognises that there has been a high turnover of staff since the last inspection. She is committed to developing unity among the staff team to provide consistent care to the children.

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good

The manager is ambitious for all children who live at the home. She models good practice so that staff can learn by example. She is motivated to develop a culture of understanding and helps staff to consider children’s neurodevelopmental needs. Inspection report for children’s home: 2509892 5 Team meetings are held regularly and used as an opportunity to communicate information and share ideas. The manager identifies areas for improvement. This includes training sessions for staff on topics such as autism and medication. This improves staff knowledge and their ability to provide better quality care to the children.

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good

Practice-related supervision is held regularly. This helps staff to reflect on and improve their practice. The manager delegates some supervision to senior members of staff but has oversight of these. This helps the manager identify any supervision of poor quality so that she can offer support.

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good

The manager has developed good working relationships with professionals who are part of the children’s networks. However, some professionals and parents would like more communication, so the registered manager has developed a plan to address this.

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good

The manager has good oversight of the home. Audit tools are effective in identifying shortfalls or areas of improvement. However, the manager does not escalate concerns when the placing authority does not provide information, such as statutory documents. Furthermore, the provider’s escalation policy does not assist the manager to challenge professionals.

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good

The senior leadership team does not always follow safer recruitment procedures. This includes leaders not making sure that pre-employment checks were received for one member of staff. Additionally, leaders further failed to complete a risk assessment once this member of staff began working at the home. Action has now been taken, but children are at risk of harm if safer recruitment procedures are not followed. Inspection report for children’s home: 2509892 6

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person 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 must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or

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Requirement Due date

if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home,

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Requirement Due date

if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

the individual is of integrity and good character;

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Requirement Due date

the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform;

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Requirement Due date

the individual is mentally and physically fit for the purposes of the work that the individual is to perform; and

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. The registered person may permit an individual to start work at the home despite the fact that the requirement in paragraph (3)(d) has not been met if—

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Requirement Due date

the registered person has taken all reasonable steps to obtain full information about each of the matters in Schedule 2 in respect of the individual, but the enquiries in relation to any of the matters in paragraphs 3 to 6 of Schedule 2 are incomplete; 23 February 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2509892 7 full and satisfactory information in respect of the individual has been obtained in relation to the matters in paragraphs 1 and 2 of Schedule 2;

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Requirement Due date

the registered person considers that the circumstances are exceptional; and

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Requirement Due date

the registered person ensures that the individual is appropriately supervised while carrying out the individual’s duties, pending receipt of any outstanding information on the matters in paragraphs 3 to 6 of Schedule 2, which is then considered satisfactory by the registered person.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must take reasonable steps to ensure that any individual who is working at the home and who does not fall within paragraph (2)(a) and (b) is appropriately supervised while carrying out the individual’s duties. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a)(b) (3)(a)(b)(c)(d) (7)(a)(b)(c)(d) (8))

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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

and ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(c)) 23 February 2024

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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

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

seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs; 23 February 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2509892 8 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)(b)(c))

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure arrangements for contact and any contact details are included in the placement plan agreed between the registered person and the child’s placing authority and that they are updated regularly. In particular, the registered person should ensure that staff record all family-time arrangements for children, including indirect arrangements. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 11.15)  The registered person should ensure that the home is a nurturing and supportive environment that meets children’s needs. The registered person should ensure that repairs and maintenance in children’s personal space, such as bathrooms and bedrooms, are addressed promptly. (‘Guide to the Children’s promptly. (‘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: 2509892 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Park Blue Homes Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 38 Freemans Way, Harrogate HG3 1DH

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Inspectors

Cat Makel, Social Care Inspector Miriam Dolman, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2509892 10 regulates and inspects 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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