Children's Home run by Hexagon Care Services Limited in Darlington

Inspection report for children’s home: 2735269 1 Registered provider: Hexagon Care Services Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A private company owns and manages this children’s home. It provides care for up to two children who may have social or emotional difficulties, or physical disabilities. At the time of the inspection, two children were living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in July 2023.

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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: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2735269 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from positive trusting relationships with staff. Children engage with staff to enjoy varied activities and are supported to participate in new opportunities and try new things. The range of activities available to the children is extensive and supports them in exploring their interests and hobbies, irrespective of barriers.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children at the home attend full-time education. Children are supported by staff and have excellent attendance in education. One school professional said that they have seen a positive difference in the time since the child has been living at the home. They said that the child has made progress and is always happy.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from accessing a therapist in the home. Children have weekly planned appointments with a therapist to help them to understand their starting points and childhood memories. Staff are provided with strategies and insight from the therapist to influence the care that they provide to the children from a trauma- informed approach.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Individual plans are made when a child is admitted to the home. The registered manager considers each child’s specific circumstances and needs, in order to agree a transition that best supports them. This helps the child to settle into the home and reduces the impact of change.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Family time and maintaining important relationships for each child are positively promoted. Staff are actively involved in family time arrangements, including supervising periods. This means that the children have continuity in their care and feel safe.

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

Children feel safe in their home. Staff use the strategies in the children’s plans and information about known risks to provide care. One child said, ‘I am always safe here.’

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

The children’s voices are heard. The staff use several consultation opportunities to gather the children’s opinions and share them with the relevant people. This supports children in being able to have input in their plans and have their voices heard in future decision-making.

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

Children have access to the children’s guide; however, this does not explain how they can complain. Complaints processes are not available to the children; children would be expected to share a complaint with staff to progress it. There is not a system in place for a child to make a confidential complaint if they wanted to. Inspection report for children’s home: 2735269 3 Staff are skilled in de-escalation strategies. There are very few incidents of physical intervention in the home and no missing-from-care instances. Staff record incidents of physical intervention in a careful and considered way. However, not all debriefs are completed by a manager, or member of staff who was not involved in the incident, or in a timely way.

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

The fire risk assessment has been completed to help staff to keep children safe. Not all recommendations have been completed. Personal emergency evacuation plans are not in place for children in the home. This means that there may be a delay in children being supported to leave the home if needed in an emergency.

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good

The home has a permanent and qualified registered manager. The staff team is permanent and supported through a comprehensive training offer to become skilled and knowledgeable. Safer recruitment processes are followed to ensure that staff can provide safe care.

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good

The culture and ethos of the home is one of high expectation and aspiration for the children. The registered manager is visible in the home and models the level of care that is expected from the staff team. Staff have confidence in the registered manager to lead the quality of care.

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good

The registered manager uses monthly audits and quality assurance feedback to continue to develop the quality of care provided in the home. Some of the registered manager’s oversight is lacking detail, which has resulted in some records not being sufficiently completed. This means that children may not have access to the best opportunities.

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good

Known risks that have been identified for the children are understood. The assessments in place to mitigate risks are effective and need to be reviewed to ensure that they remain current. Staff are supported to understand the risks and are provided with strategies to manage them. Not all risks are reviewed. This means that measures put in place to increase safety for children could be unnecessary and intrusive to the children.

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good

Staff receive supervision that is child-focused. Supervision is not reflective to support staff to explore the care that they provide to the children, or the impact on themselves in their role. Inspection report for children’s home: 2735269 4

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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

After consultation with the fire and rescue authority, the registered person must—

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Requirement Due Date

take adequate precautions against the risk of fire, including the provision of suitable fire equipment in the children’s home;

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Requirement Due Date

provide adequate means of escape from the home in the event of fire;

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Requirement Due Date

make arrangements for persons working at the home to receive suitable training in fire prevention;

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Requirement Due Date

and ensure, by means of fire drills and practices at suitable intervals, that persons working at the home and, so far as reasonably practicable, children are aware of the procedure to be followed in case of fire. (Regulation 25 (1)(a)(b)(c)(d))

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Requirement Due Date

In particular, ensure that any child requiring a personal emergency evacuation plan has one completed. 24 March 2024

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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; 24 June 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2735269 5 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. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(f))

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Requirement Due Date

In particular, ensure that children understand how to make a complaint and how to do so confidentially, and that each child has the right information in the children’s guide to support their care in the home.

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Requirement Due Date

Ensure that any serious incidents are reported to the regulator, and that after any incidents of restraint, staff receive a debrief and an appropriate person completes a debrief with the child in accordance with timescales.

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Recommendations

 Any home using closed-circuit television or other monitoring equipment should have a written policy describing how this will support the safeguarding and well-being of those living and working in the home in accordance with regulation 24. Homes must gain consent to any monitoring or surveillance by the placing authority in writing at the time of placement. (‘Guide to Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’ Pg 16 3.16)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that there are systems in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional, which allows them to reflect on their practice and development. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2) Inspection report for children’s home: 2735269 6

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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: 2735269 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Hexagon Care Services Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 1 Tustin Court, Port Way, Ashton-on-Ribble, Preston PR2 2YQ

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Inspector

Kate Jackson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2735269 8 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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