Children's home run by Physis Care Service Ltd

Inspection report children's home: 2754135 1 Registered provider: Physis Care Service 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 company. It provides care for two children who have experienced social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children's home

The manager is suitably experienced and has been registered with Ofsted since 15 February 2024, when the home opened.

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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 failures that mean children and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded and the care and experiences of children and young people are poor and they are not making progress.

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inadequate

Date of last inspection: not previously inspected

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report children's home: 2754135 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

One child lives at the home and has done so since March 2024. No other children have moved into or on from the home since the home was registered.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

A poor response from managers and staff to a significant incident in the home contributes to the inadequate judgement in the help and protection of children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The child is currently not in education. Managers and staff are working with the child’s social worker and education professionals to find a suitable education provision for them. However, staff do not consistently support the child to get into a good routine in readiness for the school day. In addition, although there is a plan in place for education activities, staff do not encourage the child to participate in them. These are missed opportunities to support the child’s development, learning and readiness to return to school.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff do not meet the child’s health needs well. Managers do not know if recommendations raised following a health review have been followed up. Staff do not provide the child with healthy and balanced meals to promote their wellbeing. In addition, managers and staff are not doing all they can to encourage the child to stop smoking.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Most aspects of the home are well maintained and provide a warm and welcoming environment for children. However, there are areas requiring improvement. For example, the child has not received support to personalise their bedroom, despite bringing belongings with them to do so. There is also a noticeable lack of privacy in the back garden due to unsuitable fencing.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The child has positive relationships with some staff, which is helping them to settle in. They also benefited from a planned transition into the home. They were able to read the children’s guide to the home and meet some staff. Staff listen to the child and this is helping the child to feel involved in decisions about their care. The child spends quality time with their close family and friends, with good support from staff.

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

The manager and staff do not understand their roles and responsibilities in keeping the child safe. For example, they did not take effective action when they observed the child engaging in risky behaviour in the home that compromised their health. This left the child at risk of harm. This serious incident went on for several hours.

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

When the manager became aware of what had happened, she took some action but this did not go far enough to ensure that staff know what to do if the child presented similar behaviours again. In addition, this serious incident was not notified to Ofsted. Inspection report children's home: 2754135 3 On one occasion, staff did not follow the procedures that are set out in the child’s plan. For example, staff did not inform the police when they should have done so. In addition, they did not show professional curiosity and take note of key information that may have helped the child to be located. When the child returned, staff were not as nurturing and reassuring as they could have been. They talked to the child about consequences for going missing from home rather than exploring where the child had been and what happened while they were away from the home. These shortfalls do not provide reassurance that

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

staff know what to do should children go missing from home again.

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

Managers do not have a system in place to monitor and review medication administered to children. This does not help them to ensure that this is managed safely and any errors are identified and addressed quickly.

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

Managers do not consistently implement safer recruitment processes consistently, This does not help to ensure that only suitable adults care for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager and senior managers welcomed the child into the home without fully considering the strengths and vulnerabilities of the staff team. Some inexperienced staff work together to support the child and this affects the quality of care that the child receives. This is because staff do not know how to respond to the child’s needs and behaviours.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

As well as opportunities within the local area, there are risks. Managers have not considered these risks when making decisions about children coming to live at the home. For example, the home is on a dual carriage way and close to a motorway. However, it is not clear how risks relating to this are mitigated.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

When the manager is unavailable outside of the usual working day, staff have been left without support. Managers have not considered alternative on call arrangements for when staff are unable to contact the manager. This has left staff without advice and guidance at times when they have needed it to support children and challenge behaviour that is inappropriate. Steps were taken to address this during the inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Managers have not updated the statement of purpose when needed. As a result, this does not include up-to-date information about staff who are caring for children together with their experience and qualifications. Consequently, it is not clear to the reader if there are sufficient qualified and experienced staff working at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff do not have the skills and experience to provide children with good care consistently. Several staff have not completed training in important topics such as how to support children who go missing from care, medication management, safeguarding, behaviour management and equality and diversity. Four staff are out of time scales to complete their relevant qualification in residential child care. Managers go not have effective systems in place to monitor this and plan for staff development. Inspection report children's home: 2754135 4 Staff do receive regular good quality supervision. This provides an opportunity for them to reflect on their practice. Inspection report children's home: 2754135 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, 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;

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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

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

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

In particular, ensure that staff support children to develop good daily routines that will support their learning and return to school, understand and meet children’s health needs and make improvements in the home and garden. 28 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

that staff— 28 June 2024 Inspection report children's home: 2754135 6 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. (Regulation12(1)(2)(a)(i)(ii)(v)(vi)) 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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(h)) 28 June 2024

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must compile in relation to the children’s home a statement (“the statement of purpose”) which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1.

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Requirement Due date

notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16 (1) (3)(b)) 28 June 2024

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or

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Requirement Due date

if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home, 28 June 2024 Inspection report children's home: 2754135 7 if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

The individual has the appropriate experience, qualifications and skills for the work that the individual is to perform;

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2.

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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained—

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Requirement Due date

the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) (“the Level 3 Diploma”); or

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Requirement Due date

a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma.

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls 2 years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home; or

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who was working in a care role in a home on 1st April 2014, 1st April 2016.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may defer the relevant date if the individual—

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Requirement Due date

does not work, or has not worked, in a care role in a home for a prolonged period; or

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Requirement Due date

works, or has worked, in a care role in a home on a part-time basis. (Regulation 32(2)(ab)(3)(d)(4)(a)(b)(5)(a)(b)(6)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that all staff are safely recruited and undertake training to develop the skills they need to meet children’s needs. In addition, ensure that for those staff out of timescale to complete the required qualification, there is a plan for them to do this as quickly as possible. The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if— 28 June 2024 Inspection report children's home: 2754135 8 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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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that the appropriateness and suitability of the location and premises of the home is reviewed when considering new children coming to live at the home. In particular, ensure that risks relating to the dual carriage way and nearby motorway are fully considered. (Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations including the quality standards, page 64, paragraph 15.1)

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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 children's home: 2754135 9

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Physis Care Service Limited

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Inspector

Rumbi Mangoma, social care inspector Inspection report children's home: 2754135 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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