Children's home run by Hexagon Care Services Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 1264333 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 is owned by a private organisation. It provides care for up to three children who may have experienced social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

There were three children living in the home at the time of the inspection. The inspector spoke to all three children about their experiences of living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted on 21 April 2018.

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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: 7 November 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: 1264333 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/11/2023 Full Good 16/02/2023 Full Good 23/11/2021 Full Good 28/08/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 1264333 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children say that they are happy living in the home. Children have formed positive relationships with the staff and are supported to spend time with their own friends out in the community. Professionals say that managers and staff have strong communication links with them, and that children make good progress while living in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that the children are provided with a wide range of activities. Staff are proactive at supporting children to explore their own interests as well as trying new experiences. One child recently went on a trip to Spain with a staff member, where they made new and exciting memories. This means that children can enjoy experiences that build their self-esteem.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to engage in education. One child who was not previously engaging in education has made significant progress, with staff supporting them to gain part-time employment and enrol at college. This ensures that children are equipped with the skills and confidence that they need for their future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is personalised for the children and well maintained. There is a large garden which is used by the children for a range of activities, including the home’s own ‘festival’. This creates a safe base for the children from which they can thrive.

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

Managers ensure that careful evaluation and consideration are given prior to a child moving in. This ensures that the children already living in the home continue to make progress, and the child moving in settles quickly. As a result, children build positive relationships with one another and live together happily.

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

Staff have undertaken training that is individualised to the children’s vulnerabilities. A psychologist also supports the team with regular consultations. This ensures that the strategies used by staff to keep children safe are tailored to each child.

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

Staff build positive relationships with children built on trust and warmth. This ensures that the children feel safe talking to staff about difficult topics. However, planned discussions with children are not clearly linked to identified risks for children. This limits the children’s understanding of how to keep themselves safe.

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

Significant incidents rarely occur for children in this home. However, children’s individual risk plans do not contain detailed steps for staff to follow, specifically relating to room searches and the monitoring of children’s information technology (IT) use. This means that staff do not have clear guidance to ensure that children are kept safe. Also, risk plans do not contain a clear rationale which is regularly reviewed for the use of bedroom Inspection report for children’s home: 1264333 4 door alarms and the monitoring of children’s IT use. This limits the children’s understanding of why specific strategies are in place that impact on their privacy.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is experienced in residential care and is well liked by both the staff and children. Managers have a visible presence in the home, ensuring that they engage with the children and oversee staff practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff say that they feel supported by managers and enjoy working in the home. This means that there is a consistent staff team, and children are cared for by people who are familiar to them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers know the children well and understand their needs. However, children’s care plans and minutes from local authorities are not consistently on the children’s file. Managers have not escalated this to ensure that the necessary documentation is present. This means that managers cannot ensure that staff practice is aligned with the needs of the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers carry out regular supervision sessions with staff to address shortfalls in staff practice, as well as highlighting and sharing good practice. However, the actions taken by staff following one significant incident had not been recorded with the necessary detail and evaluated by managers. This is a missed opportunity to ensure that staff are responding to incidents effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers ensure that the home’s therapeutic model of care is embedded into staff practice. Team meetings are held regularly and often attended by the home’s therapist. This ensures that staff responses are trauma-informed and develop with the needs of the children. Inspection report for children’s home: 1264333 5

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person 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 must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

seek to involve each child’s placing authority effectively in the child’s care, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs;

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 5 (a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that there is appropriate challenge to other professionals when children’s needs are not being met. In addition, that when requesting copies of children’s up-to-date statutory documents, the organisation’s escalation policies are followed.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 17 October 2024

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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; 17 October 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 1264333 6 help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that children’s risk plans reflect the risks known for the child, and that staff have clear guidance to follow to keep children safe.

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that there is direct work completed by staff with children relating to the risks identified for the child.

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Requirement Due date

the privacy of children is appropriately protected;

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Requirement Due date

children can access all appropriate areas of the children’s home’s premises; and

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Requirement Due date

any limitation placed on a child’s privacy or access to any area of the home’s premises—

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Requirement Due date

is intended to safeguard each child accommodated in the home; is necessary and proportionate;

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Requirement Due date

is kept under review and, if necessary, revised; and

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Requirement Due date

allows children as much freedom as is possible when balanced against the need to protect them and keep them safe. (Regulation 21 (a)(b)(c)(i)(ii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that where a door alarm is in use, there is a clear rationale in children’s risk plans to ensure their use is for safeguarding purposes, and this is kept under regular review. 17 October 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 1264333 7 In particular, the registered person must ensure that any monitoring of children’s IT usage is recorded in the children’s risks plans and kept under regular review.

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that the staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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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: 1264333 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

Sarah Gilbert, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1264333 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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