Children's home run by Esland South Limited in Nottingham

Inspection report for children’s home: SC024089 1 SC024089 Registered provider: Esland South Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned and provides care for up to three children who have learning disabilities or experience social and/or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been in post since 2 November 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 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: SC024089 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/08/2022 Full Good 23/03/2022 Interim Sustained effectiveness 02/06/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 07/08/2019 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: SC024089 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the children to have enjoyable experiences. Activities are planned based on the children’s choices. Helpful pictures and symbols are used to support a child with communication needs to make their choices. Children enjoy bicycle rides in the local community, going swimming and to the cinema. At home, children get involved in activities such as games evenings with staff or using their electronic devices. Children are supported to safely enjoy different activities and to explore their interests.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff speak positively about the children. They proactively seek the children’s wishes and views and act on them. This has helped to maintain positive relationships between the children and staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff develop close partnership working with social care, health and education professionals to ensure that the children remain the focus for all professionals. Staff support the children to attend health appointments and contribute to their care planning at their review meetings.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A social care professional and a child’s parent were very positive about the care and support staff provide. They said that this good-quality care has contributed to the child making good progress in many areas of their life. The child’s communication and social skills have developed. They are now better able to understand and follow instructions. Another child has been helped to develop alternative, more positive ways of expressing themselves. The consistent, good-quality care provided by the staff has made a positive difference in the children’s lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage open discussions with the children about important matters, such as race and religion. On planned theme nights, children experience cultural food and learn about different cultures. Staff promote positive thinking about differences in people.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a welcoming and comfortable home. A sense of belonging is conveyed for both children in the home. Their bedrooms are personalised with their favourite toys, personal belongings and photos of them and their families. One child has the option to relax in a sensory room, while the other child has access to a snug room equipped with various toys and books. The children’s achievements are displayed on a board in the lounge.

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

Children have trusting, secure relationships with staff. One child said that they would feel comfortable to speak to the registered manager about any worries. The staff support another child, who has additional communication needs, to express their feelings and wishes using their preferred communication aids. Staff ensure that Inspection report for children’s home: SC024089 4 children’s views and wishes are heard. This contributes to the children feeling secure.

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

Staff have a good understanding of the children’s backgrounds, current needs and vulnerabilities. They provide appropriate support to the children, to minimise potential risks. The staff are guided by detailed risk assessments that are individual to each child.

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

The staff have installed parental controls on children’s electronic devices to ensure their safe use.

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

Staff understand that the behaviours the children present are a form of communication and may sometimes stem from past trauma they have experienced. Staff sensitively respond to challenging situations involving the children. They consistently use de-escalation techniques to try to calm situations. Staff only use physical intervention when needed to ensure the safety of the children or others.

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

Children are happy and settled in the home. They rarely go missing. On the small number of occasions when children have gone missing, staff have taken appropriate action to ensure the children’s safety.

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

Health and safety checks are carried out to help to maintain a safe environment for the children and others.

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

The manager takes appropriate action in response to any allegations. They ensure that relevant safeguarding partners are informed. However, on one occasion, the regulator was not informed of a child protection enquiry being instigated for a child. This occurred before the current registered manager was appointed.

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

Pre-employment checks are carried out to a good standard for staff recruited directly by the manager. However, the manager did not have oversight of an agency staff member’s full employment history. This means that the manager did not have access to all relevant information to inform her decision-making regarding the individual’s suitability to work in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There has been a change of senior leadership in the home since the last inspection. The current manager leads by example and works alongside staff, demonstrating the expected standard of care. Staff feel well supported and speak positively about the manager’s approach.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is a strong advocate for the children. Her proactive approach has helped to ensure that a child with complex needs receives input from the child and adolescent mental health services. The manager has appropriately challenged the practice of other professionals, in the children’s best interests. Inspection report for children’s home: SC024089 5 The manager ensures that the children are well supported to understand and be involved in decisions made regarding their care. Staff encourage children’s participation through planned key-work sessions and informal conversations. These are supported with communication aids as required. The children have independent advocates and are supported by staff to express themselves at their review meetings. This helps to ensure that the professional network remains child focused.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager ensures that staff are well equipped to carry out their roles. She has implemented a new induction training programme which provides staff with important information from the outset. Staff are well supported through supervision sessions and team meetings. They have input from the home’s clinical team. A member of staff said that the manager has helped to develop their confidence and supported them to progress to a senior role.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is aware of the home’s strengths and areas for development. Their focus is to develop a stable full staff team. To ensure appropriate staffing at all times, the manager has covered shifts in the home and arranged for consistent agency staff to work.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager reinforces expectations and shares lessons learned from incident reviews with the wider staff team. This, and action taken to address the requirements and recommendation from the last inspection, demonstrates the manager’s commitment to ongoing development. Inspection report for children’s home: SC024089 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should notify Ofsted and other relevant persons if one of the situations specified in Regulation 40 (4)(a) to (d) occurs. In particular, Ofsted should be informed if a child protection enquiry involving a child is instigated or concluded. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.10)  The registered person should ensure that the recruitment of staff safeguards children and minimises potential risks to them. This includes ensuring that the manager has oversight of all required employment checks carried out by agencies for agency staff. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)

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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: SC024089 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Esland South Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Suites 1 and 5, Riverside Business Centre, Foundry Lane, Milford, Belper, Derbyshire DE56 0RN

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Inspector

Sasha Reid, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC024089 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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