Children's home run by Exceptional Care Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2630446 1 Registered provider: Exceptional Care 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 owned by a private organisation. It is registered to provide care for up to two children with social or emotional needs.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in November 2022.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

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inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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inadequate

There are serious and widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded.

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2630446 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/04/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2630446 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Since the last inspection, there have been times that staff have not taken appropriate steps to keep children safe. In addition to this, leaders and managers have not identified the shortfalls in staff practice or taken the necessary steps to improve practice to ensure that children are kept safe going forward.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

There are two children currently living in the home. One child has moved in since the last inspection and is settled. However, one child moved in an unplanned way and staff did not understand the child’s needs or have the skills to be able to keep them safe. This caused instability for this child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The children have built up positive relationships with most staff. Shortfalls in rotas are covered by regular bank staff to ensure that children receive a consistent level of care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children are supported to attend education. Children who do not attend education are supported to participate in online learning at home. Staff have been proactive in supporting one child to secure part-time employment, alongside their further educational studies.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children’s general health needs are met. They are registered with the doctors, dentist and opticians. They are supported to attend routine health appointments. Staff have been proactive following up support from health professionals for a child who has missed their immunisations prior to moving in.

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

Leaders, managers and staff have not consistently taken steps to keep all children safe. Staff did not seek appropriate medical support for a child who had used a ligature. Staff were not provided with guidance on how to manage the risk of ligatures while away from the home. As a result, they did not call for an ambulance when a child’s life was in danger. This placed the child at significant risk of harm.

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

One child and two members of staff were involved in a car collision, which caused damage to the car. Staff did not stop the car at the scene of the accident or report this to the police. They did not take the child for medical attention to ensure that they had not sustained any injuries. In addition, the manager did not discuss this incident further with staff to understand the poor decisions made and failed to report this serious incident to the regulator.

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

On one occasion, staff did not follow the missing-from-home protocol when a child was missing. This was identified by managers and addressed with staff. Subsequently, missing-from-home procedures have been followed. However, the manager does not provide sufficient oversight of missing-from-home incident reports and does not review Inspection report for children’s home: 2630446 4 the return home interviews to ensure that children have not raised additional safeguarding concerns. This is a missed opportunity to understand reasons that children go missing and identify ways to help reduce this.

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

Managers do not identify ways to help staff understand and minimise risks for children. Children’s needs and risks have not been fully identified in risk assessments. In addition, the manager has not supported staff sufficiently following an incident to help them reflect and identify any areas for improvement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager has not provided sufficient oversight of serious incidents and has not identified shortfalls in staff practice. This means staff have not received support or the training required to enable them to take appropriate action to safeguard children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager does not have effective monitoring and review systems in place to ensure that children are kept safe. In addition, when external monitoring has identified shortfalls and stated that children have not always been safeguarded, leaders and managers have failed to take appropriate action to address the shortfalls identified. This places all involved at risk.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager does not share important information with the team or create opportunities for reflective discussion after significant events. Following two incidents, when a child had used a ligature, the manager did not ensure that information was immediately shared and discussed with the whole staff team. This does not equip the staff team with the knowledge that they need to keep the child safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There have been recent changes in the senior management team. The team has identified areas for improvement in the home. When concerns were highlighted in the inspection the new senior manager provided reassurances to the regulator about the immediate actions that he would take to safeguard the children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2630446 5

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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 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;

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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;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

The registered manager must ensure that staff take effective action when a child is at risk of harm and that there are clear strategies in place to safeguard the child. This includes calling an ambulance when a child’s life is in danger.

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Requirement Due date

The registered manager must ensure that staff have sufficient training to enable them to fully understand the risks of ligatures and what action to take to safeguard a child who has used a ligature. 2 June 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2630446 6 The registered manager must ensure that staff understand a child’s risks and what action they need to take to minimise that risk. Leaders and managers should ensure that staff follow risk assessments so that children are safeguarded.

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Requirement Due date

The registered manager must ensure that staff are aware that they should seek medical attention for a child when the child has been in a car crash.

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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

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate;

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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

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;

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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)(b) (2)(b)(c)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that staff have training to enable them to meet the needs of each child and keep them safe.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that regular monitoring and review systems are in place to evaluate staff practice. In particular, where shortfalls are identified, ensure that action is taken.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that information is shared with the team after significant events when children have been at risk of harm, so that they have the knowledge needed to keep children safe. 2 June 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2630446 7 The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious.

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Requirement Due date

A notification made under this regulation—

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Requirement Due date

the other persons, bodies or organisations (if any) who or which have been notified; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions taken by the registered person as a result of the matter;

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Requirement Due date

must be made or confirmed in writing. (Regulation 40 (4)(b)(e) (5)(a)(i)(ii)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

The registered manager must notify Ofsted when there has been a serious incident involving a child. Specifically, this relates to when a child is involved in a car crash. 2 June 2024

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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Recommendation

 The registered person should evaluate all incidents of going missing to identify any gaps in training, skills or knowledge for staff or to record and retain evidence of what worked well. They should consider the return home interview as part of this evaluation. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.31)

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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 Inspection report for children’s home: 2630446 8 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: 2630446 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Exceptional Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Malthouse Business Centre, 48 Southport Road, Ormskirk L39 1QR

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Rachel Springford

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Paula Swindells-Walsh

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Inspectors

Sarah Probert, Social Care Inspector Sylvia Eboigbe, Regulatory Inspection Manager Inspection report for children’s home: 2630446 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 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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Inspectors

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