Children's home run by Esland North Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2553861 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

The home is privately owned. It is registered to provide care for three children who may have behavioural, emotional, social difficulties and learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

There were two children living at the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

There is a new manager who is not yet registered with Ofsted.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: Requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2553861 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/03/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good 11/01/2023 Full Good 11/05/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2553861 3

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improvement to be good

There are two children living at the home. Their relationship has deteriorated over time, and they do not socialise together. This limits the amount of time that children spend in shared areas of the home. It is also impacting on the capacity to have a harmonious atmosphere. One child has spent extended time with family as she did not want to come home. The staff have worked hard to try and resolve the difficulties between the children, but the issues remain. As a result, children are not able to fully relax and enjoy living at the home.

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improvement to be good

Despite this, children have positive relationships with staff. They do activities together and the staff regularly take children to see friends and family. This means that children maintain important connections and relationships. One child is achieving well with horse riding activities as part of her education timetable. This is very much encouraged by the team which has helped the child to make good progress.

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improvement to be good

Both children are attending education. They have bespoke timetables which have been tailored to their needs and interests. Children said they are enjoying learning and their attendance has increased since the last inspection. As such, children’s routines have also improved, and they are spending time with other people outside of the home. This is helping them to build confidence and gain social skills.

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improvement to be good

Some staff are not yet demonstrating a good understanding of trauma and how to respond to children’s behaviour. The team does not have a cohesive approach to therapeutic parenting. One child said that sometimes he gets angry about the ways in which staff communicate with him. Managers are aware of this and there are plans to develop the team to improve this area of practice.

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improvement to be good

One child receives good support with his health needs, and he has particularly benefited from therapy from an external provider. Despite efforts from staff the other child is not yet accessing health services. For example, she recently had an accidental injury where staff administered first aid, however the injury did not have oversight from a registered health professional.

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improvement to be good

The staff work hard to keep children safe from harm. There are thorough risk management plans in place which detail how known risks are mitigated. These plans show that staff know the children’s vulnerabilities well. The manager ensures that risk management plans are updated following incidents so that information remains up to date. Inspection report for children’s home: 2553861 4 Managers and staff have been required to manage several serious incidents since the last inspection. Some have been managed well; however, some incidents could have been avoided or managed more effectively. On one occasion a child became very distressed, and the situation escalated. The child and staff were hurt during this incident. At one point the child was left without staff support which placed them at increased risk of harm.

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improvement to be good

The manager has notified Ofsted of serious incidents appropriately and there has been a reduction in severity and frequency in recent weeks. One child has been receiving weekly therapy which is helping them to manage their feelings in healthier ways. Children do not go missing from home which is positive. One child has spent some extended time with family when they were unhappy. During this time the staff carried out visits to them to make sure they were safe and well. One child has made three allegations. Relevant agencies were informed, and the allegations were fully investigated. The manager identified appropriate actions from the investigations to ensure that children remain safe.

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good

A new manager has been appointed since the last inspection. She is just settling into the role and has not yet registered with Ofsted. The manager is still getting to know the children and staff. As such she is yet to establish her authority and vision for the home.

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good

New staff have also been appointed in recent months. Children are still getting to know them. For some staff this is the first time they have worked in a children’s home. They received a thorough induction with good training which means they have made a positive start. However, new staff also means there are differing levels of confidence and experience in the team. More established team members are helping but this also puts responsibility on them to take the lead when working with children in difficult situations.

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good

Staff enjoy working at the home. They say they are well supported and have regular training and supervision where they can reflect on the needs of children. There have been some challenges where there has been inconsistency in the rules and boundaries implemented for children which has caused staff some confusion. This is beginning to improve however practice is not yet fully embedded. Leaders and managers have undertaken appraisals since the last inspection. These were of a good standard with feedback from peers and colleagues. They contained clear action plans for the coming year. As a result, there is clear direction for staff regarding their strengths and areas for improvement. Inspection report for children’s home: 2553861 5 Managers challenge external professionals when services have fallen short of meeting children’s needs. This has been successful on some occasions. However, one child has an outdated pathway plan, and the provider does not have important

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good

details about another child’s life history. Managers have not yet been effective in obtaining these key pieces of information in a timely way. As such, children do not have a full understanding of important areas of their lives.

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good

The manager and senior leaders understand the areas for development in the home. A lot of reflection has taken place since the last inspection. Managers recognise that practice is not yet consistent and further work needs to be done to understand children’s needs and how to respond effectively to them. Managers have a positive attitude to making improvements and are making a ‘fresh start’ with a new manager and staff. Inspection report for children’s home: 2553861 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;

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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

This specifically relates to ensuring that staff have all relevant information to understand children’s needs and provide care to meet those needs. 17 September

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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 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 27 August 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2553861 7 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.

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the manager ensuring that the team together to have a shared understanding of trauma informed practice to provide a cohesive approach.

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Requirement Due date

To ensure that all staff understand children’s plans for each day.

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Requirement Due date

This also relates to reviewing the ongoing improvements in the home at regular intervals using feedback from children and staff and other professionals.

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Recommendations

 The manager person should ensure that where the placing authority or another relevant person does not provide the input and services needed to meet a child’s needs during their time in the home or in preparation for leaving the home, the home must challenge them to meet the child’s needs (see regulations 5(c)). Staff should act as champions for their children, expecting nothing less than a good parent would. The registered person should consider the use of an independent advocate (see paragraph 4.16) if the child’s needs are not being met (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 12, paragraph 2.8).  The registered person should ensure that each child’s day to day health and well- being needs are met. Staff should work to make the children’s home an environment that supports children’s physical, mental and emotional health, in line with the approach set out in the home’s Statement of Purpose (‘Guide to the

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Recommendations

Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 33, paragraph 7.3).  The registered person should ensure that children feel safe and are safe. Staff should support children to be aware of and manage their own safety both inside and outside the home to the extent that any good parent would. This particularly relates to supporting children during incidents (Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.9). Inspection report for children’s home: 2553861 8

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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: 2553861 9

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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

Laura Walker, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2553861 10 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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