Children's home run by Esland North Limited

Inspection report for children's home: 2723807 1 Registered provider: Esland North Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately run home provides care for up to two children. There were two children living at the home at the time of this inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager 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 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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 2723807 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/07/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2723807 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage children to explore their interests. They look locally for events that children can attend and pre-book them. Children are excited to attend the activities with staff and to spend time together. This supports children’s positive relationships with staff. Children like their home. However, they say the garden could be made ‘prettier’ by planting flowers.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children attend school regularly. Staff support children by attending parents evening and celebratory assemblies. This shows children that staff are proud of them. Staff communicate effectively and work well with education professionals. This includes the forward planning for school transitions. As a result, children feel prepared for changes in their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have high aspirations for children. They support children to think of achievable goals and support them to reach for these. Staff advocate for children’s views and wishes. One parent says that due to staff advocacy they feel more involved in their child’s life.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Although children’s records are often written in a caring way, staff do not consistently write records to a good standard. Records do not always include key information. This results in information being out of date or inaccurate. The manager is working with the staff team to improve this. The children’s guide is not kept up to date and some sections are not individualised to the children’s needs.

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

Staff support children to determine what type of therapy is best for them. When necessary, they advocate for the right therapy to be found. This supports children to access the personalised support they require. Due to this personalised approach, children want to attend sessions.

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

When children present with a new behaviour which could be self-injurious, staff explore the possible causes. Staff liaise with relevant professionals to find out how best to support the child. However, staff do not always assess all information when reviewing children’s behavioural patterns. Not all staff have the training required to support the children’s specific needs.

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

Staff help children to understand their emotions and how these impact on their behaviour. When children living at the home do not get on, staff support them to better understand each other. If children upset one another, they seek to apologise and make amends. Children like to do this by buying each other their favourite chocolate bar to say sorry. This shows progress in their relationship. Inspection report for children's home: 2723807 4 Medication recording systems do not highlight when an error occurs. This specifically relates to when unused medication is returned to the pharmacy. This is because a receipt is not always obtained. When errors in medication practice have occurred, the manager has learned lessons.

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

The home’s location risk assessment is not regularly updated. The manager has not worked with other external agencies to ensure the location is assessed to keep children safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has formed positive working relationships with people who are important to the children. Family members and external professionals say that children have made progress since moving to the home. They feel this is partly due to the manager’s oversight and advocacy for children. Communication with the people who are important to children is a strength of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Through oversight, the manager is aware of the staff team’s strengths and areas for development. This includes areas of development for himself as a new manager. The management team has a clear plan in place to support this. One area identified by leaders for development is the staff’s ability to assess the available information and show professional curiosity regarding possible patterns or trends in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager does not regularly review decisions, including those made by his predecessor. He is therefore unaware of the rationale for certain rules or routines in the home. This results in staff caring for children in ways that are more restrictive than necessary. For example, the TV remote was kept in the office and the sensory room locked when not in use. The manager rectified this on reflecting that such measures were no longer necessary.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff say they are well supported by the manager and that staff morale is high. They say that team meetings are good and support their development. Although supervisions take place regularly, the records do not always evidence reflective discussions. Appraisals have not been held within the required time frame. The manager has a plan for carrying them out and is gathering feedback from staff and others to support the process. Inspection report for children's home: 2723807 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 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

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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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

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; and

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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)(a)(b) (2)(c)(g)(i)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this relates to ensuring that staff have the appropriate knowledge and training to meet the needs of the children. It also relates to ensuring that staff, including the manager, show professional curiosity and assess the information available to them. Also, to ensuring that there is a clear rationale for decisions and that decisions are evidence based. 29 August 2024 Inspection report for children's home: 2723807 6 The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home. (Regulation 23 (1))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this relates to ensuring that all medication is accounted for and there are appropriate records for the disposal of unused medication. 29 August 2024

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must review the appropriateness and suitability of the location of the premises used for the purposes of the children’s home at least once in each calendar year taking into account the requirement in regulation 12(2)(c) (the protection of children standard).

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Requirement Due date

When conducting the review, the registered person must consult, and take into account the views of, each relevant person. (Regulation 46 (1) (2))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this relates to ensuring that the location risk assessment is appropriately updated and that it includes the views of external agencies. 29 August 2024

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Requirement Due date

The children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

develop positive relationships with them;

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Requirement Due date

take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives.

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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

keep the children’s guide and the home’s complaints procedure under review and seek children’s comments before revising either document. (Regulation 7 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this relates to ensuring that the children’s guide is kept up to date and is written in an age-appropriate way for children. 29 August 2024 Inspection report for children's home: 2723807 7

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Recommendations

 Staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  Children’s homes staff should seek to identify and provide appropriate opportunities for children to develop themselves in accordance with their wishes and feelings and as part of the home’s plan for their care. This includes nurturing a child’s interests, such as having a well-maintained garden where children can enjoy an array of activities. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 31,

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Recommendations

paragraph 6.4)  Just as in a family home, children should be able to access all shared areas of their home. Limits on access may only be put in place to safeguard each child in the home (regulation 21(c)(i)). Any decisions to limit a child’s access to any area of the home must only be made when this is intended to safeguard the child’s welfare. All decisions should be informed by a rigorous assessment of that individual child’s needs, be properly recorded and be kept under regular review. In particular, this relates to the sensory room being locked during the day and the TV remote being kept in the office. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.10)  The registered person should have systems in place so that all staff receive supervision of their practice which includes reflection on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations,

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Recommendations

including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)  All staff must have their performance and fitness to carry out their role formally appraised at least once annually. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.5)

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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: 2723807 8

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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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Inspectors

Ellen Monk, Social Care Inspector Sophie Wales, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2723807 9 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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