Children's home run by Esland North Limited

Inspection report children's home: 2699847 1 SC2699847 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 operated by a private provider. It provides care for up to two children who may have social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, one child was living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The home was registered in October 2022. The manager registered with Ofsted in March 2024.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: Inadequate

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

During a full inspection on the 23 and 24 May 2023, the home was judged to be inadequate. Compliance notices were served under section 22A of the Care Standards Act 2000. These were in relation to regulation 6 the quality and purpose of care standard, regulation 12 the protection of children standard and regulation 13 the leadership and management standard. Inspection report children's home: 2699847 2 A monitoring visit took place on the 10 July 2023. At this visit, it was identified that sufficient progress had been made and that the compliance notices had been met. Inspection report children's home: 2699847 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

23/05/2023 Full Inadequate Inspection report children's home: 2699847 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Two children have moved into the home since the last inspection. Both children experienced positive and well-planned moves, they visited the home before they moved in, met the staff team and participated in activities. However, one child moved out again a few days prior to the inspection as it was identified that their needs could not be safely met living in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported with their health needs and regularly attend health appointments. Instances of children refusing to attend appointments have been well managed by the staff team and children have been encouraged to access support to ensure that their health needs are being met.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to engage in exercise. One child has recently joined the gym and enjoys walking. However, there is a lack of focus on healthy lifestyles and the importance of a balanced diet and nutrition. Consequently, one child continues to make unhealthy food choices which often go unchallenged by the team.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are aspirational for children and support their education. The child living in the home is making progress in their education and currently completes a varied timetable of one-to-one tuition and attendance at an alternative provision. The team is now working with professionals to identify a suitable mainstream school and support the child’s transition.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to spend time with people who are important to them and are encouraged to engage in a variety of activities and interests. Staff have identified drama groups, supported a meal out with a friend and enjoyed bowling and the cinema.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to actively participate in discussions about the home and their lives. This is supported through the use of child-friendly consultation forms. Staff regularly act on children’s requests, which demonstrates to children that their views are important.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is nicely decorated and well presented, with photos of the children and staff on display in communal areas. Staff make every effort to support children to decorate their rooms in a way that reflects their interests and children are proud of their private space.

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

External professionals say that children are safe in the home and that staff prioritise children’s welfare. The manager works with professionals, including the police, health service and children’s placing authorities, to identify risks and implement strategies to keep children safe. Inspection report children's home: 2699847 5 Staff understand the individual needs and behaviours of children and know how to respond to risks. Risk management plans clearly identify children’s risks and vulnerabilities. However, strategies to support staff in the event of a significant incident are not always recorded. This does not ensure that all staff know how to respond effectively and safely manage risks for children.

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

There have been several occasions when it has been necessary to hold one child to keep them safe. Records demonstrate that holds have been used as a last resort, in accordance with regulation. Records contain a detailed account of the incident, consultation with the child and an evaluation of the effectiveness of the hold. This process of evaluation provides an opportunity for staff to reflect on their practice and learn alternative strategies to keep children safe.

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

The home has appropriate procedures in place for when children go missing from the home. Staff have responded appropriately to locate children during incidents of being missing. Children have been supported to speak with someone independent of the home on their return.

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

Children are supported to learn about risks. This includes learning about building positive relationships, online safety and the risks of exploitation. This means children’s awareness of risks and how to stay safe is improving.

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

Children know how to complain and are confident to do so. Complaints are investigated thoroughly, and children are supported to understand the outcome and share their views. This enables children to feel listened to and to know that their voices are heard.

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

Allegations of harm have been responded to without delay, these have been managed appropriately and shared with relevant professionals.

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

Recruitment checks are robust. Prior to starting work in the home, new staff are suitably vetted following safer recruitment guidelines. This promotes safe working practices and minimises risks to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is enthusiastic about improving the outcomes for the child living in the home. She is supported by a committed staff team who have taken the time to get to know the child and want the best for them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel supported by the manager. They receive regular supervision sessions and benefit from debriefs following significant incidents. Staff also receive support from the organisation’s clinician to improve the care delivered to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings regularly take place and provide opportunities for staff to consider children’s needs, reflect on incidents and support areas of development for the team. Training provided to staff is good however, the manager has not ensured that staff have Inspection report children's home: 2699847 6 been supported with training that is specific to the needs of all children, including training to support children who may be living with eating disorders.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Door alarms are used in the home and children have individual risk plans to support their use. However, all monitoring and surveillance measures used in the home are not accurately detailed in the homes statement of purpose and the rationale for their use is not always clear. This limit’s children’s privacy and does not ensure that the home’s statement of purpose reflects practice in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have clear systems in place to monitor the quality of care provided to children and to continually improve practice in the home. Inspection report children's home: 2699847 7

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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 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

help each child to understand how to keep safe. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that children’s plans are individualised to each child and contain clear steps for staff to follow should an incident arise. 9 July 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

keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it.

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Requirement Due date

Subject to paragraph (6), the registered person must ensure that the home is at all times conducted in a manner which is consistent with its statement of purpose. (Regulation 16 (1)(5))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that the statement of purpose accurately details the use and purpose of surveillance at the home. 9 July 2024

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which— 9 July 2024 Inspection report children's home: 2699847 8 include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are kept up to date. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that each child’s records are completed and maintained.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children are offered advice, support and guidance on health and well-being. Staff should have the relevant skills and knowledge to be able to help children understand, and where necessary work to change negative behaviours in key areas of health and well-being such as nutrition and healthy diet, (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’ page 35, paragraph 7.18)  The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs and that the manager understands the key role they play in the training and development of staff in the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’ page 53, paragraph 10.11)

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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: 2699847 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: Suite 1 & 5, Riverside Business Centre, Foundry Lane, Milford, Belper DE56 0RN

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Aulora-Jayne Mortimer

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Inspector

Kelly McCurdy, social care inspector Inspection report children's home: 2699847 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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