Children's Home run by Holden Knight Healthcare Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2780236 1 Registered provider: Holden Knight Healthcare 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

A private provider operates this home. It is registered to care for one child who may have social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in April 2024.

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Information about this children’s home

This was the home’s first inspection since registration.

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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: not previously inspected

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2780236 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There is one child living at this home. They are settled and making good progress from their individual starting point. The child has previously experienced multiple changes in placement, and this home offers the child an important period of stability in their life.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is cared for by a small staff team. Staff reassure the child that they are a dependable and stable presence in the child’s life. This is helping the child to invest in the home and to understand that staff can be trusted and relied on for support.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are proactive and put arrangements in place so that the child can see family members in a safe and planned way. This ensures that the child remains close to their family and enables them to build on significant relationships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child has built positive and trusting relationships with staff and enjoys spending time with them. Staff understand the child’s need for energetic activities, and so they ensure that there are plenty of opportunities for the child to channel their energy in a positive way. For example, they have regular bike rides and trips to the gym and the local swimming pool.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage and promote the child’s interests. They have introduced the child to new hobbies. For example, the child has bred ducks and has purchased chickens. The child has shown great commitment to their care and takes the responsibility of looking after the birds very seriously.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is subject to restrictions of their liberty. The manager ensures that these restrictions are kept under review and are not a barrier to the child engaging in usual childhood experiences. This is giving the child room to develop and become more independent. For example, the child has started to form friendships in the local community and has enjoyed a summer holiday with staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Before living at this home, the child experienced significant disruption to their education. Staff have successfully supported and encouraged the child to re-engage with education, and the child now attends regularly. In addition, staff engage the child with educational activities in the home, for which the child will gain formal accreditation.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is in good health, and they are registered with community health services. Staff have supported the child to stop smoking. They continue to offer support and advice to help the child to stop vaping. However, the child’s care plan does not give clear guidance to staff on how they should approach this. This does not promote consistency, and a recommendation is made to improve this. Inspection report for children’s home: 2780236 3

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

The child has a high level of supervision, which helps to keep them safe and protected from harm.

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

The child is subject to restrictions of their liberty, and the appropriate legal authority is in place to permit this. The registered manager tries to ensure that the least restrictive measures are in place while still maintaining the child’s safety. The child can find the restrictions frustrating but is accepting of them.

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

The manager responds quickly to emerging risks for the child. She ensures that there is multi-agency involvement when developing risk management plans to safeguard the child.

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

Staff understand their roles and responsibilities in relation to safeguarding the child. However, the child’s plans do not always detail the steps staff should take to minimise known risks to the child.

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

Staff are embedding clear boundaries and rules for the child. This is helping the child to understand what is expected.

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

The child can display challenging behaviours when they are upset or angry. Staff are calm in their approach and defuse most situations effectively. They rarely need to hold the child to keep the child safe. However, the practical strategies used by staff to de-escalate incidents are not captured in the child’s plans. The manager took steps to address this during the inspection, and a recommendation is made to secure improvement.

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

Staff challenge unacceptable behaviour and language used by the child. This challenge is sensitively timed to ensure that it does not inflame the situation. This approach is starting to have an impact, and the child has recently started to apologise for some of their actions. Consequences are rarely used as a response to negative behaviours.

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

There has been a reduction in the number of times the child goes missing from home. There is a clear procedure for staff to follow when the child does go missing. The responsible local authority does not offer the child an independent interview on their return to the home. This is a missed opportunity to understand the child’s motivations. The provider has recently escalated their concerns about this to the local authority.

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

The child has a trusted adult they can confide in when they are worried or anxious about something. Staff encourage the child to express their individuality and to explore their identity. Inspection report for children’s home: 2780236 4

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers are present in the home. They have strong oversight of events in the home and are accessible to staff and to the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager leads by example. She has been pivotal in creating a child- centred culture at the home. The manager is determined in her commitment to provide the child with a stable and consistent home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers and staff demonstrate an enthusiasm for their roles. They understand the child’s needs and the progress that the child is making. The manager has established a diverse staff team with a range of interests, skills and experiences. Staff share interests with the child, and this helps to enrich the child’s experience of living at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager works proactively with other agencies and professionals. The manager ensures that all relevant persons are kept fully updated with the child’s progress and any significant events in the home. These effective working relationships are helping to secure positive outcomes for the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Professionals are consistently positive about the quality of care that is provided to the child at the home. One professional said, ‘Staff have really invested in [name of child]. The child had a lot of moves prior to this, and staff have worked really hard to provide them with consistency, stability and clear boundaries.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Rotas are planned to ensure that there are sufficient experienced staff available. However, shortfalls with the accuracy of the staff rota were identified during this inspection. The manager has not always updated the rota to ensure it reflects which staff have worked at the home each day. A requirement has been made to address this matter. Inspection report for children’s home: 2780236 5

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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

Schedule 4 sets out the other information that the registered person must keep in relation to a children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the records are kept up to date. (Regulation 37 (1) (2)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered manager must ensure that the staff rota is an accurate record of the actual shifts worked by staff in the home. 30 November

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the child’s plans reflect strategies staff are using to manage the child’s behaviours and also to discourage the child from vaping in the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.34)  The registered person should ensure that risk management plans are kept up to date and detail the steps staff should take to minimise known risks to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)

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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: 2780236 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Holden Knight Healthcare Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 200 Brook Drive, Reading RG2 6UB

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Inspector

Sophie Thomson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2780236 7 regulates and inspects to 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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