Children's home run by First Blue Healthcare Limited

Inspection report for children's home: 2515613 1 Registered provider: First Blue Healthcare Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home provides care for up to two children with social and emotional difficulties. Two children currently live in the home, who were both spoken to during the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been in post since January 2024 and has submitted her application to register with Ofsted. The manager also manages another children’s home.

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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: 5 December 2023

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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: none Inspection report for children's home: 2515613 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

05/12/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 13/12/2022 Full Good 17/08/2021 Full Good 21/11/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2515613 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Both children have continued to live in the home since the last inspection. They continue to make steady progress, which has been assisted by their ability to build trusting relationships with the staff and manager. Since the last inspection, there has been a change of manager, responsible individual and staff team, which did unsettle the children. However, the current staff team and manager have a clear understanding of the children’s needs. They also ensure that the children know who will be supporting them each day.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to engage in their education and both children have good attendance. Staff attend important meetings with education professionals to ensure that children are meeting developmental milestones, which has encouraged children’s future aspirations. The responsible individual advocated on behalf of one child when they experienced discrimination and challenged professionals to reconsider the child’s action plan. This resulted in the child feeling supported and builds on their trusting relationships with staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the new manager started, the number of incidents of children going missing has reduced and communication between staff and external professionals has improved. The manager’s input has increased children’s school attendance, boosted children’s self- esteem and team morale.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Activities outside the home have helped to build children’s self-confidence and the support networks around them. Activities are based on each child’s interests, to engage them in daily routines.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Recently, there was an incident between the children. The manager identified that activities need to be planned when both children are at home. This has helped staff with managing the challenges and conflict that come with supporting children with different needs. Consequently, there have not been any further reported incidents.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to spend time with their families. This continues to help build on their self-esteem and promote their identity. Children are supported with plans to move on from the home, however, documents need to be updated regularly to reflect changes made to the arrangements for the time children spend with their families.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s progress and achievements are recognised and rewarded. Staff and managers acknowledge this needs to be documented consistently, so children can see the progress they are making.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s views and wishes are considered. Children asked to move the television and have a new sofa, requests which have now been acted on. Inspection report for children's home: 2515613 4 The home has homely features such as pictures of the children, and children have personalised bedrooms. The manager brings her dog to the home. This has brought fun and laughter to the home and boosts morale.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home environment is clean and tidy. However, there is still a pungent smell in the bathroom next to the sleep-in staff office. This was identified at the last full inspection. This takes away from the homely feeling. Similarly, the garden is on a steep slope, it could be improved to make it more accessible for children to enjoy. Plans have been made to fit a new bathroom and redesign the garden.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

On one occasion when there was conflict between children, one child’s views and values were prioritised over the other. Managers did not discuss both children’s viewpoints. This resulted in one child’s circumstances not being addressed fairly and adequately. Managers need to ensure that challenge is applied with all children when appropriate and children feel their views are respected equally by staff.

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

Staff understand the risks posed to each of the children and understand their lived experiences in detail. Children are protected from harm and when there are new challenges, staff have been quick to respond to children’s developing needs.

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

Managers have recognised the need to have knowledgeable and experienced staff. They have been more selective in staff recruitment, and the new staff have helped children to feel more comfortable in approaching them and speaking about their emotions. This has led to a reduction in incidents of children going missing from home and of physical interventions.

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

Staff are knowledgeable about safeguarding procedures and the therapeutic model used in the home. For example, one child would like to have unsupervised time in the community. Due to the trusting relationships being built, there are plans to adjust risk assessments in line with the child’s growing independence.

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

Generally, children’s care planning documents are available to staff. However, when they are not, managers have not always escalated the need for key documents with the local authority, and within appropriate time frames. This means staff do not always have access to up-to-date assessments and safety plans for children.

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

Children’s rights are discussed and promoted by staff with all children during key-work sessions, to help children build upon self-advocacy skills. Peer on peer bullying and discrimination are challenged by staff.

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

Children are educated about the importance of online safety and risks relating to sexual exploitation. Clear boundaries are set and staff sensitively discuss these topics in key- work sessions, and safety plans are shared with children. Inspection report for children's home: 2515613 5 A social worker said there had been improvements in communication and staff practice since the new manager started. Clear updates are provided and physical interventions are discussed with professionals. One social worker valued the efforts made by staff to encourage a child to attend vital therapeutic sessions, to assist with their future care planning. Staff promote children’s individual care planning needs to ensure that they can move on from the home when the time is right.

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

Risk assessments are generally updated with information relating to incidents. However, one staff member shared what they would do following a recent incident between children which was not reflected in the up-to-date risk assessment. Therefore, consistent parenting strategies may not always be implemented with children when required.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is enthusiastic and caring. She has a genuine desire to improve the outcomes and experiences for all children who come to live at the home. The new staff who have been recruited share the same vision as the manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff access a wide range of training that provides them with the skills and knowledge to be able to care for the children effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There have been a number of changes to the staff team, which have unsettled children. Children are now cared for by a consistent team and agency staff have not been used since the new manager took over. A social worker noted how the manager has not overlooked the impact of staff changes on children, and has managed this effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel supported. Team meetings are held regularly, with discussions about the children. Staff feel listened to and their suggestions are acknowledged.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a good understanding of the home’s strengths and areas for improvement. This has been achieved by carrying out weekly and monthly audits. External audits are used, with recommendations to improve the quality of care provided at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

However, the manager’s oversight of documents and ability to address necessary changes from monitoring audits are not always consistent. Shortfalls were identified in relation to medication records not being completed consistently for a child who takes daily medication. This prevented an accurate overview of their medication intake.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Physical intervention records are completed, but not always within timescale and some do not include information regarding the duration of holds. The management oversight has not always included actions for staff members to address these issues. This was identified at an assurance visit carried out by Ofsted in March 2024 and by the independent visitor. There is a risk of physical intervention being used when not necessary and critical learning not being applied in future practice. Inspection report for children's home: 2515613 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

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so ("the authorised person")—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(iii)(iv)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that records of restraint are completed in full, and both staff and children receive debriefs following incidents.

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Requirement Due date

This is restated from the previous inspection. 15 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

engage with them; and 4 September 2024 Inspection report for children's home: 2515613 7 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

ascertain and consider each child’s views, wishes and feelings, and balance these against what they judge to be in the child’s best interests when making decisions about the child’s care and welfare. (Regulation 7 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to managers and staff challenging inappropriate conduct by all children, to ensure that children’s views are considered and valued.

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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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to managers having more consistent oversight of records and documents, to ensure that they are completed effectively and within timescales by all staff. When this has not been achieved, recording does not meet required standards, managers should address practice with individual staff members. 4 September 2024 Inspection report for children's home: 2515613 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: 2515613 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: First Blue Healthcare Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Seighford Hall, Clanford Road, Seighford, Stafford ST18 9NL

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Inspector

Caoimhe Richards, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2515613 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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