Children's Home run by The Gateshead Group Ltd in Gloucestershire

Inspection report for children's home: 2731370 1 Registered provider: The Gateshead Group 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

The home is owned by a private provider and offers care for up to three children. The provider states in the home’s statement of purpose that care is provided for children who have experienced social and emotional difficulties. At the time of this inspection, one child was living in the home.

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Information about this children's home

The home was first registered with Ofsted in June 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

Date of last inspection: 7 November 2023

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: Following the full inspection in November 2023, Ofsted suspended the home’s registration for a period of 3 months due to concerns about the safety of children. Following a subsequent monitoring visit when a compliance notice was issued in relation to leadership and management, the children who were living in the home at that time were supported to move out.

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good

Since November 2023, the home has received two monitoring inspections to check the progress of leaders and managers in making the necessary improvements Action was taken to address the points raised in the compliance notice and it was not reissued Inspection report for children's home: 2731370 2 following the monitoring visit in January 2024. This is the home’s first full inspection since the suspension was lifted in February 2024.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/11/2023 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children's home: 2731370 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Before children move into the home, leaders and managers carefully review the child’s support needs to assure themselves that the staff can care for the child and help them to keep safe. The child who has moved into the home was supported to visit and meet the staff. This gave the staff the opportunity to get to know the child and learn about their interests. As a result, staff were able to personalise the child’s bedroom for them before they moved in. This helps children to feel welcomed and develop an early sense of belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is making progress from their starting point. They are supported to attend their existing educational provision and access familiar healthcare services. As a result of this continuity, the child’s school attendance remains high, and their health needs are being met.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is being supported to gradually spend more time with their family in their family home. The registered manager and staff are working with family members to promote positive and consistent routines and boundaries between the two homes. As time with family continues to be a successful and positive experience for the child, the amount of time that they spend with their family has increased and this has informed their future care planning. The child is very clear that they would like to return to live with their family, and these views and wishes are being listened to.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is provided with a range of enjoyable activities, including going to the park, baking, and spending time online. Staff’s interactions with the child are warm, friendly, and caring, and staff are genuinely interested in the child’s thoughts and feelings.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help the child to maintain a healthy balance between their time spent online and participation in other activities. When difficulties with online access are identified, staff support the child to adjust their routines so that they can safely switch from time online to time offline. Consequently, the child is being helped to develop healthier routines.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The environment is clean and tidy. However, it lacks a sense of homeliness and warmth. There are very few soft furnishings or photos in the home, and the child’s belongings are now kept on the floor in their bedroom. The furniture that was in the child’s bedroom has been removed due to the risk of harm to the child. However, these arrangements have not been reviewed and there is no plan for how staff will support the child to keep themselves safe and have their furniture returned to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The adaptations that had been made to the environment are identified as consequences for the child’s behaviours that staff have found difficult to manage. These consequences are not restorative in nature. The child is not being supported to understand the purpose of the consequences or how they could express themselves more safely in the future. Inspection report for children's home: 2731370 4

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

The child’s care plans provide staff with an overview of the child’s needs and the associated risks.. Staff know the support strategies well, which helps them to respond to the child effectively. However, some of the records that are made by staff use language that negatively describes the child’s needs. These records are not always objective and are sometimes written in a derogatory manner.

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

Restraint has not been used in this home because the staff are using more positive strategies to help keep the child safe. On three occasions, staff have used their body positioning to prevent the child from being exposed to increased risk. This was necessary and proportionate to the risk of harm and demonstrates staff’s commitment to restraint only being used as a last resort.

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

On one occasion, the child has left the home during the night without staff permission. Staff followed the child and encouraged them to think about the risks that they were being exposed to. Following a long walk, staff were able to support the child to return to the home safely without further incident.

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

Staff have identified that the child tends to struggle to express their emotions more often when they return to the home after spending time with their family. Despite this link being made, the individual support that the child receives on return to the home has not been reviewed. As a result, staff are not supporting the child to manage this difficult transition as well as they could.

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

The home is sufficiently staffed. Safer recruitment checks are in place, including criminal record checks when staff have lived overseas. However, leaders and managers are not always sufficiently curious about the information that is provided to them by candidates. As a result, some discrepancies in educational and employment histories have not been identified or clarified. Consequently, leaders and managers cannot always accurately demonstrate staffs’ suitability to work with children.

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

As only one child is living in the home, many of the recently updated safeguarding processes and procedures have not yet been used. As a result, they remain untested.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have responded positively to the feedback that was provided at the last inspection. A development plan was implemented, and leaders and managers have taken steps to address the requirements and recommendations that were made. Leaders and managers are aware of the importance of embedding these changes into staff practice so that standards can continue to develop.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager regularly monitors the quality of care that is provided to the child living in the home. To support this process, leaders and managers have recruited a new independent person to complete external audits. Leaders and managers hope that Inspection report for children's home: 2731370 5 this will provide them with enhanced oversight so that any vulnerabilities in the care that is provided to children are swiftly identified and resolved.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff training compliance is high. Leaders and managers have prioritised staff training and held honest conversations with staff when the care that they are providing does not meet the expectations of the registered manager. Staff respond positively to this feedback and feel supported by the management team. One member of staff commented that they ‘have never had such a supportive manager before’.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings and staff supervision sessions provide staff with the opportunity to reflect on the child’s needs and the support that they offer. Discussions during team meetings are complemented by insights from the child’s external support network about the care that they need. Leaders and managers use team meetings and staff supervision sessions to support staff to deliver good-quality care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have voiced some concerns about future care planning to the child’s external support network. As a result, additional care planning meetings have been arranged. Inspection report for children's home: 2731370 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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children's home's overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children; and

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children's needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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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

treat each child with dignity and respect;

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Requirement Due date

provide personalised care that meets each child's needs, as recorded in the child's relevant plans, taking account of the child's background;

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Requirement Due date

provide to children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably;

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Requirement Due date

provide to children personal items that are appropriate for their age and understanding; and

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(iii)(iv)(vii)(viii)(c)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that staff are supported to review the needs of children and identify when children may benefit from increased support from staff. Specifically, this relates to offering children increased support at 8 July 2024 Inspection report for children's home: 2731370 7 times that staff know that children may struggle to express themselves safely.

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Requirement Due date

Secondly, the registered person should ensure that children are provided with the personal belongings and furniture that they require to live in the home comfortably. Specifically, this relates to providing children with sufficient storage in their bedrooms. Staff should also support children to keep their bedroom clean and tidy, and minimising the use of environmental restrictions. Furthermore, the registered person should ensure that the environment maintains a homely rather than clinical appearance throughout.

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Requirement Due date

Thirdly, the registered person should ensure that the records that staff write about children are clear, accessible to children and avoid negative descriptions of children. The registered person should ensure that records about children refer to them respectively and promote their dignity.

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour.

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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

help each child to develop socially aware behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

encourage each child to take responsibility for the child's behaviour, in accordance with the child's age and understanding. (Regulation 11 (1)(b) (2)(a)(ii)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should support staff to help children to reflect on their emotions and how they communicate them so that they can be supported to identify safe ways to express themselves. 8 July 2024

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that recruitment of staff safeguards children and minimises the potential risks to them. In particular, the registered person should Inspection report for children's home: 2731370 8 analyse and review the information that is provided to them by candidates so that any discrepancies are identified and resolved before the candidate starts working in the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)  The registered person should ensure that any consequences given to children following behaviours that staff have found challenging should be restorative in nature and help children to recognise the impact of their behaviour on themselves, other children, the staff caring for them and the wider community. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.38)

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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: 2731370 9

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Children's home details

Registered provider: The Gateshead Group Limited

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: 59 Wainwright Avenue, Hamilton, Leicester LE5 1QW

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Inspector

Martin Brown, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2731370 10 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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