Children's home run by Meadows Care Limited in Rochdale

Inspection report for children's home: SC069198 1 SC069198 Registered provider: Meadows Care 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

This children’s home is operated by a private organisation and provides care for up to three children who may have emotional or social difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered in December 2023.

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Information about this children’s home

There are currently two children living in the 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: SC069198 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/06/2023 Full Good 24/01/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 22/03/2022 Full Outstanding 15/05/2019 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children's home: SC069198 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Professional and family feedback is positive about the care and support provided to the children. Communication is a strength of the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The physical environment is maintained to a good standard. Children’s bedrooms are personalised, and communal areas are decorated to create a homely atmosphere. The home is comfortable and provides an environment where children can flourish.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Relationships between children and staff are strong. Staff are warm and caring towards the children. They spend good-quality time with the children and know them well. Children enjoy being with the staff. This helps them to trust in the adults caring for them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff team is proactive in ensuring that children have records that provide them with memories of their experiences. One child was able to travel abroad with staff before their move into independence. Children’s achievements are also celebrated. For example, a child was taken out to have a meal of their choice to celebrate their educational achievements.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Education is promoted in the home. When children are not in full-time education, there are routines in place to maintain structure and provide learning.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the importance of family time for children. They support children to have regular time with their families in accordance with their care plans. Staff have developed good relationships with parents and ensure they receive regular updates. This provides a consistent approach for the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When children move on from the home, staff ensure that this is done at the child’s pace. Staff support children to move from the home in a way that meets their individual needs and prepares them for the next stage of their lives. Staff stay connected with the children to offer them ongoing security.

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

The manager and staff know and understand children’s risks. They work closely with stakeholders to ensure that children receive the support they need. All safeguarding incidents are quickly reported to the relevant safeguarding professionals. This gives children consistency of safe care.

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

Staff know what to do when children go missing from the home. The manager and staff are proactive in their response and follow the child’s plans, making sure professionals and families are kept up to date. Incident reports are detailed and include the actions that staff have taken to locate the child. When the child returns to the home, they have Inspection report for children's home: SC069198 4 the opportunity to speak with an independent person. This enables staff to have a better understanding of the reasons for the child going missing. This provides opportunities to reduce the number of incidents of children missing from the home.

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

Staff successfully use de-escalation techniques to avoid the use of physical interventions. When incidents have occurred that require a child to be held, this has been used as a last resort to prevent injury to the child and others. Records are detailed, and the manager ensures that staff and children are spoken to and have the opportunity to reflect. This allows children to maintain trusting relationships with staff.

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

One child has self-injurious behaviours. Detailed risk assessments provide staff with clear guidance that reflects the child’s changing needs. These assessments are enhanced by thorough evaluations by therapeutic professionals. The child, therefore, receives a sensitive and nurturing response.

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

When complaints are made, these are thoroughly investigated in a timely manner. This provides children with a clear explanation of the outcome of any allegation and the opportunity to have restorative meetings to promote relationships.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is led by a manager who is child-focused and ambitious for the children in her care. She leads by example, showing care and warmth, and is a positive role model to the staff team. This allows the children to feel cared for and valued.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is reflective about her role as a new manager, and she recognises the impact of staff turnover on the children. The manager has maintained a core staff team and has clear plans in place for recruitment to provide the children with stability and continuity of care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers do challenge professionals when they consider that care planning for children is not reflective of their current needs. However, the manager needs to escalate concerns when necessary to ensure that the individual care planning needs of children are progressed in a timely manner.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

When incidents occur, management oversight is variable. At times, monitoring and review systems have not been consistent. This impacts on the quality of record-keeping and expectations of staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular and effective supervision that is focused on children’s experiences, needs and plans. Staff say that they find supervision to be supportive and that they feel listened to and valued by the managers.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team understands the children’s individual needs and vulnerabilities. Team meetings and clinical support provide opportunities for staff to reflect and consider the effectiveness of the approaches used with children. Equally, this allows managers to have oversight of staff’s strengths and areas of development. Inspection report for children's home: SC069198 5

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Statutory requirement

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

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; and

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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

In particular, ensure that the actions identified in the children’s plans for family time and free time are clearly defined and working in the child’s best interests. 12 November 2024

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Specifically, this is in relation to factual records of the consequences given to children and the rationale and duration of these. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the 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: SC069198 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Meadows Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Egerton House, Wardle Road, Rochdale, Lancashire OL12 9EN

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Inspector

Angeline Clarke, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC069198 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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