Children's home run by Esland North Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2738634 1 Registered provider: Esland North Limited

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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. The home is registered to provide care for one child.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, one child lived at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The home’s manager registered with Ofsted in December 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 requires improvement to be 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 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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good

Date of last inspection: not previously inspected

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2738634 2

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improvement to be good

This home is judged, at this first inspection, to require improvement. This is due to inconsistent management oversight and a lack of practice development following incidents. Some incidents involving children have not always been managed well. Since the home was registered in December 2023, the home has cared for one child.

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improvement to be good

The child has built strong positive relationships with her care team. She enjoys spending time with staff, having her hair styled or going out on fun activities. The child has a love for history and the idea of haunted places. Staff therefore look for fun yet educational places to visit.

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improvement to be good

Staff encourage the child to partake in her planned tutoring sessions. Staff spend time completing homework and other educational activities with the child. This helps to motivate the child to learn. Staff advocate for the child’s educational needs.

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improvement to be good

Professionals who know the child best comment on how settled she has been at the home. They state that staff know the child well and that the child feels safe. The child has weekly discussions with staff to plan her upcoming activities. However, staff do not directly ask for her views on the quality of care they provide to her. This is a missed opportunity to ensure the child has a voice in her care.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not always respond at the time when risks arise. For example, staff did not intervene when an adult was having an inappropriate conversation with the child. Staff instead allowed the conversation to continue and later informed the police. Staff do not always have effective follow-up discussions with the child to help her understand risks or how to keep herself safe.

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improvement to be good

The child feels able to talk to staff about her feelings. If she has hurt herself, she will seek help from staff. When room searches need to take place, staff seek consent from the child. On one occasion, staff failed to complete a room search after the child had displayed self-injurious behaviour. The room search did not take place until the next day, which is not in line with the child’s risk assessment.

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improvement to be good

On one occasion, the child was able to acquire a knife due to staff mistakes. Staff were able to manage the situation effectively and safely remove the knife. However, the handling of this incident afterwards was poor. The manager was not transparent with the responsible individual, and Ofsted was not informed for several weeks. Although practice learning has been identified, this is yet to be shared with the staff team. Inspection report for children’s home: 2738634 3 Since moving to the home, there has been a reduction in physical interventions and the child leaving the home without permission. This supports professionals’ views that the child enjoys living at the home and spending time with staff. Staff’s record- keeping of incidents is not always clear. This creates confusion about what exactly happened and prevents reflective practice discussions.

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good

The child likes the manager. She seeks the manager out to tell her about her day. The manager and staff team write positive notes of affirmation to the child. The child gets excited about celebrations in the home and enjoys decorating the home in a theme. She showed her appreciation of the manager by asking staff to create a surprise birthday party for her.

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good

The manager’s oversight of the home is not yet robust. Recording errors, such as those relating to medication, are not picked up through audits. Inconsistencies in general record-keeping are also not recognised. When areas for development are known, the manager does not ensure the learning is disseminated effectively throughout the team. These are missed opportunities to improve care practices for children.

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good

The responsible individual and manager have a plan in place to support the manager’s development and oversight of the home.

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good

Professionals state that the manager knows the child well and that she updates them on the child’s progress effectively. Staff feel highly supported by the manager. However, staff do not receive regular or reflective supervision to support their practice development. Inspection report for children’s home: 2738634 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, 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

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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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)(c)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this relates to the registered person ensuring that they have effective and consistent oversight of the home. It is important that this oversight strives to make continuous improvements in the quality of care for children through staff development. It also relates to ensuring that monitoring systems in place are effective, such as those for medication. 20 June 2024

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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; 20 June 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2738634 5 help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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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)(ii)(iii)(v))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this relates to staff assessing possible risks to children as and when they arise and acting accordingly to reduce the risk. It also relates to having consistent educational discussions with children to support them to understand risks and how to keep safe.

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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

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(e))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this relates to the registered person ensuring that Ofsted is notified of significant incidents in a timely manner. 20 June 2024

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children are consulted regularly on their views about the home’s care of them. This is to inform and support continued improvement in the quality of care provided. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.11)  The registered person should have systems in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice that allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)

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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: 2738634 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Esland North Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Esland Ltd, Suite 1 & 5, Riverside Business Centre, Foundry Lane, Milford, Belper DE56 0RN

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Kathleen McGowan

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Inspector

Ellen Monk, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2738634 7 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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