Children's home run by Physis Care Service Ltd

Inspection report for children's home: 2754135 1 Registered provider: Physis Care Service Ltd

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned by a private company. It provides care for two children who have social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager is suitably experienced and has been registered with Ofsted since 15 February 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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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 2754135 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/05/2024 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children's home: 2754135 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

This children’s home was judged inadequate at the full inspection on 14 May 2024. Serious failures were identified, meaning that children were not protected, their care and experiences were poor, and they were not making progress. A monitoring visit was carried out on 1 July 2024 at which it was deemed that most of the shortfalls had been addressed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of this inspection, there was one child living at the home. No children have move in or out of the home since the last inspection. Staff have continued to build positive relationships with the child. This has supported the child feel more settled. The child said that staff provide them with good care and support.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff and the manager have worked well with the child’s social worker and virtual school professionals in advocating for the child to have access to education. They have challenged partner agencies effectively in respect of the drift and delay in providing the child with suitable education provision. This will ensure that the child has an identified education placement when the new school year commences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child has made good progress from their starting point, for example, in their future career aspirations. Staff and managers have worked in partnership with other professionals to ensure that the child has a good supportive team around them. This has enabled the child to make remarkable progress with her health, daily routines, self- esteem and confidence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff and managers have supported the child to have more positive experiences of time spent with close family and friends. This includes the child’s family and friends visiting them at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child has enjoyed various activities in the home and the community. This has given them opportunities to socialise with children of a similar age and to make new friends. They are looking forward to a planned holiday to the seaside with staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home continues to provide a warm and welcoming environment. The child has personalised their bedroom and their personality shines through. Staff support the child to prepare meals independently, however, these are not always healthy and nutritious. They have not been consistent in role modelling how to cook nutritious meals and in developing good routines around mealtimes, for example, sitting down to eat meals together.

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

Inspection report for children's home: 2754135 4 Since the last full inspection, staff and the manager have revisited safeguarding policies and procedures to ensure that they are aware of their roles and responsibilities in keeping children safe. They are now able to keep children safe.

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

Since the last inspection, there have been few safeguarding incidents. This is attributed to staff working hard to form good relationships with the child and setting consistent routines and boundaries for them.

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

When the child has left home without permission, staff have followed the missing-from- home protocols and worked with social workers and police to support the child to return home safely. On the child’s return, staff showed professional curiosity to find out who the child had been with and whether they had suffered any harm. They provided the child with reassurance and discussed how they can support the child to prevent similar incidents from occurring.

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

There has been one incident when physical restraint was used by staff. This was used as a last resort to keep the child safe. There was good management oversight of the incident, which evaluated the effectiveness of its use. Records included the child’s voice and their views about the incident. This good practice enables the manager to promptly identify any concerns or shortfalls in staff practice.

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

Staff and managers role model positive behaviours and use rewards with the child to reinforce positive behaviours. This has supported the child to make positive choices around keeping safe. However, staff and managers do not have a system in place to record rewards given to the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is passionate about providing good care for children and wants them to achieve positive outcomes. She has supported the staff team to improve their practice by ensuring that they have relevant training to meet the child’s needs. This is supporting the child to start making some measurable progress in most aspects of their life.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager’s monitoring and reviewing of the service has significantly improved since the last inspection. She is working with the new independent visitor and acts on their recommendations. The manager is now more aware of the home’s strengths and areas for improvement, which enables her to promptly address shortfalls in staff’s practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff said that the manager is supportive and provides them with an environment where they can learn and continue to develop. This helps them to provide good and consistent care to children. The manager uses staff meetings as learning opportunities where staff can reflect on their practice and look at what has worked well and what could be improved.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Partner agencies speak positively about how well the manager and staff support the child. Inspection report for children's home: 2754135 5

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children are provided with nutritious meals suitable for each child’s needs. Where appropriate, children should be involved in choosing and preparing meals and opportunities to sit together and eat should be promoted. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.8)  The registered person should ensure that all children’s case records are kept up to date and stored securely. In particular, they should ensure that there is a system in place for recording rewards and consequences. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3)

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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: 2754135 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Physis Care Service Ltd

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Inspector

Rumbi Mangoma, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2754135 7 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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