Children's Home run by Hexagon Care Services Limited in Bradford

Inspection report for children’s home: 2674686 1 Registered provider: Hexagon Care Services 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 was registered with Ofsted on 3 May 2022 and is run by a private provider. It provides care for up to two children who experience social and emotional difficulties. The manager registered with Ofsted in May 2022.

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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

Date of last inspection: 17 October 2023

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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: 2674686 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

17/10/2023 Full Good 24/01/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2674686 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children describe feeling happy and settled living in this home. They have trusted relationships with staff who understand and meet their needs well. Staff provide children with individualised care. This helps children to have positive experiences, and they are making good progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy a range of activities both at home and during days out. They enjoy spending time together, and staff record positive memories in well-constructed electronic memory books. Staff are committed to providing children with a range of experiences so that they are physically active, are encouraged to learn and they have fun.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported by staff to maintain relationships with those who are important to them. Children enjoy spending time with their siblings and friends. Parents appreciate the weekly phone calls they have with staff, which help them to understand their child’s progress, and they feel included in decisions about their care. One parent recently joined staff in preparing for their child’s prom.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are mostly well met. Staff seek emergency medical attention promptly when they are concerned about a child. Children are supported to attend routine health appointments and access specialist health services, for example to improve their diet and oral hygiene. Staff work closely with child and adolescent mental health services to ensure that medication is administered in line with children’s needs. However, staff do not always record outcomes of health appointments as effectively as they could in children’s records. The registered manager is therefore not always able to sufficiently evidence children’s health progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making educational progress from their starting points. The registered manager liaises effectively with schools and virtual school heads. This ensures holistic support to maintain school placements and help children achieve the best possible education outcomes. Staff are proactive in identifying provision for children who are transitioning from their current school. One child has attended college open days with staff, who are also providing mock interviews and exploring volunteering opportunities to help the child pursue their ambition.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote children’s self-care skills and independence in line with their age and ability. One child proudly demonstrated his cooking skills and was able to explain how he is developing his budgeting skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager oversees regular and comprehensive consultation with children. He writes to children to show that he has read, understood and acted on their comments. Children feel listened to, and their feedback is central to how the registered manager develops the home. Children have a good understanding of the process they would follow if they were unhappy about their care or living arrangements. Inspection report for children’s home: 2674686 4 Children live in a home that is appropriately maintained and meets their needs. They are involved in choosing furniture and furnishings to personalise their bedrooms. During the inspection, staff were preparing the patio in readiness for garden furniture to be assembled for the summer. This will provide the children with a welcoming area to relax in. Other communal areas, such as the lounge, lack soft furnishings, and there is no play equipment in the garden. The registered manager has identified these areas in the

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

home’s development plan, and approval was confirmed during the inspection. This will further enhance children’s experiences in the home.

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

Children’s needs are well understood by the staff who care for them. Children attend weekly therapy sessions, and the therapist also meets regularly with the registered manager. This helps to inform care planning and the therapeutic development of the team.

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

Children have appropriate and consistent boundaries. Staff help them to manage their emotions; consequently, children feel settled, and incidents are decreasing. Staff provide appropriate levels of supervision and structure to children’s days. Staff are confident in de-escalating children’s heightened behaviour. Children are rarely held, but when they have been held, staff have responded appropriately and proportionally to keep children safe. The registered manager is mindful of the impact of the experience for children. He uses debriefs after a hold to inform their future care planning. This helps children to feel listened to.

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

Staff are becoming more confident in using restorative practice to help children to understand the impact of their behaviour. Children are now writing apology letters and helping staff remove or rebuild furniture that has been broken. However, the registered manager does not consistently oversee the behaviour management log. Additionally, children’s records do not always show when a child has changed their behaviour and a consequence has been cancelled.

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

Staff recognise when children are at risk. They communicate appropriately with social workers to ensure that children are spoken to independently and protected from harm. Children’s risk assessments and placement plans are mainly detailed with appropriate guidance for staff and steps to mitigate risk. One child has developed a code phrase to use if he wants staff support when he is out in the community. Although staff are aware of this, the phrase has not been recorded in the child’s plan. There is a risk that casual staff on shift may therefore not recognise when the child is asking for help. Children have their own versions of the plans. They therefore understand how staff are supporting them to reach their full potential. Inspection report for children’s home: 2674686 5 Children have not gone missing from the home since the last inspection. Children’s missing-from-home plans are up to date to include all known contacts. This will help

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

staff and police to quickly search areas where the child might be.

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

Staff understand the risks that the internet and mobile phones may pose for children. Children understand the strategies that are in place to keep them safe. One child has a mobile phone that staff keep overnight. The staff undertake device checks and respond immediately to any inappropriate content. However, they do not record the outcome of the phone checks. The registered manager is therefore unable to oversee and understand how the child maintains safe and appropriate use of his phone.

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

One new member of staff has joined the home since the last inspection, and appropriate safer recruitment checks have been completed. Casual staff from sister homes who are covering shifts receive appropriate induction, including fire evacuation. Staff therefore have the skills and training to help and protect children when they are working in this home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager knows and understands the home’s strengths and weaknesses. He has met most of the requirements made at the last inspection, including timely notification of a serious incident to Ofsted and challenge of children’s placing authorities to ensure plans reflect their needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The responsible individual is supporting the registered manager to implement systems to maintain improved oversight of the home, which was identified as a shortfall at the last inspection. There are more effective systems in place for monitoring health and safety and children’s patterns of behaviour, using chronologies that are evaluated by the registered manager. However, the registered manager has more to do to oversee the consistency and effective recording in children’s records.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager balances the day-to-day running of the home with operational oversight. Unexpected long-term sickness of the deputy has placed additional pressure on the registered manager, including the necessity to spend time on shift. This has contributed to shortfalls in the effective monitoring of practice and delayed the development of the home. The registered manager has been mindful of ensuring that children are, wherever possible, cared for by staff who know them well. However there have been a number of casual staff from sister homes who children have had to get to know. This has been unsettling and impacted on children’s behaviour at times.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff report that they feel supported by the registered manager. They receive training that gives them additional skills to enhance their roles. The registered manager provides regular supervision and annual appraisals, which are reflective and promote ongoing professional development. The registered manager ensure that planners are both current and consider key periods for children, such as the summer holiday. As a result, staff have clear roles when on shift, and children know what they are doing each day. Inspection report for children’s home: 2674686 6 The registered manager works hard to develop and maintain appropriate relationships with children’s families and professionals involved in their care. Social workers and parents report excellent communication with the staff team and high standards of care, which contribute to the progress children are making. Inspection report for children’s home: 2674686 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, 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

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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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)(d)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that children’s records consistently and accurately reflect the care that they are receiving.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that the home has sufficient staff to meet both the care needs of the children and the operational oversight of the home. 31 October 2024

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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: 2674686 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Hexagon Care Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 1 Tustin Court, Riversway, Preston, Lancashire PR2 2YQ

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Inspector

Joanna Warburton, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2674686 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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