Children's home run by Lonsdale Care Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2726012 1 Registered provider: Lonsdale 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 is a privately owned home that provides care for up to four children who may be experiencing social and/or emotional issues.

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Information about this children’s home

The home and the manager registered with Ofsted on 23 May 2023.

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Information about this children’s home

Four children were living at the home at the time of this inspection

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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: 26 September 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: 2726012 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

26/09/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2726012 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is a clean, safe and welcoming environment. Staff help children to personalise their bedrooms, including displaying photos of people who are close to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children say that they have an open and supportive relationship with the staff. One child said that they ‘never want to leave’. Another child said that staff are ‘inspiring’ and that staff ‘give us inspirational messages to encourage us to go to school’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children regularly attend school or other education provision. Children are either attending formal full-time education or accessing informal education or online tutoring. This demonstrates that they are making progress from their starting points. Staff are proactive when communicating with education settings to ensure that they provide a consistent and joined-up approach to supporting children. Education professionals say that staff from the home go above and beyond to support children’s learning and development. One family member said that staff regularly pick them up to ensure they can attend their child’s education and review meetings.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to see their families and people who are close to them. They maintain regular communication with parents and carers and keep them updated. This helps children to maintain their identity and continue to see people who are important to them. One child is now able to have family time with key members of their family, where this was not possible before moving into the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Door alarms and window restrictors are used on all doors and windows. This is not assessed individually for children to ensure that these restrictions are necessary and proportionate in order to keep children safe. This gives an institutional feel to the home and compromises children’s privacy and liberty.

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

Children have comprehensive missing-from-home plans, and staff are aware of the procedures to follow should any child go missing from home. Missing-from-home incidents are managed consistently and effectively, leading to a reduction in the number of incidents. This is significant for one child who went missing from home regularly before moving in. Children are given the opportunity to attend training to help them identify ways of keeping themselves safe.

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

Recruitment procedures and practices are safe and effective. All staff are checked and vetted before starting work. These checks ensure that only suitable adults are employed to work with children in the home.

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

Appropriate action was not taken following concerns raised by a child during a physical intervention. Staff did not ensure that relevant information was shared appropriately, Inspection report for children’s home: 2726012 4 which compromised the manager’s oversight of the incident. This potentially placed the child at risk of further harm, and the member of staff involved was not challenged and able to reflect on their practice.

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

Staff review risk assessments regularly. However, some risks are recorded as high and have not been reviewed in line with children’s changing behaviours. Furthermore, some risks are not included in children’s risk assessments, despite these being identified as a risk for the child. This does not ensure that staff have a good understanding of the individual risks and vulnerabilities for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is an ambitious leader and understands the needs of the children and staff well. Staff say that the managers are supportive and that they enjoy working in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The management team works well with families and professionals. This means that children benefit from a joined-up approach. One professional said, ‘Staff go above and beyond for children.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The six-monthly quality of care review is effective in considering the impact of the care that children receive, using feedback from children and wider stakeholders. The quality of care review report demonstrates that children’s progress is reviewed and adapted to meet their needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are supported through regular, reflective and robust supervision. Staff benefit from regular team meetings and have an annual appraisal. During team meetings, staff are reflective and consider the individual needs of the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff attend regular training, which helps them to better understand and meet the children’s needs. The training helps them to develop their skills and implement best practice. Training is reviewed regularly to ensure that it meets the changing needs of the staff and children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Not all looked after child review paperwork and care plans are available. This means that the staff are working with plans that are out of date and do not represent children’s current needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Physical intervention records are not reviewed effectively by the registered manager. One physical intervention was not recorded or reviewed in line with regulation, as the member of staff completing the debrief was also involved in the physical intervention. This meant that the child was not able to share their views with an independent person to be able to highlight any concerns they may have had. Inspection report for children’s home: 2726012 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

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;

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Requirement Due date

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

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that they take effective action in response to concerns raised about staff practice. 2 October 2024

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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

details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the date, time and location of the use of the measure; 2 October 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2726012 6 a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person who used the measure ("the user"), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure;

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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)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that debriefs are carried out by people not directly involved in the physical intervention and that they are reviewed by a manager to ensure any concerns are addressed immediately.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children’s risk assessments are regularly reviewed and update to accurately reflect risks. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 41, paragraph 9.5)  The registered person should ensure that the relevant plans and education review paperwork is in place for each child and they escalate this appropriately if it is not received in a timely manner. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 56, paragraph 11.5) Inspection report for children’s home: 2726012 7  The registered person should ensure that the use of any monitoring equipment is risk assessed and regularly reviewed to ensure that this is a necessary and proportionate measure to keep children safe. This includes a review of the blanket use of window restrictors. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality

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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: 2726012 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Lonsdale Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 20 Brookhouse Road, Caton, Lancaster LA2 9QT

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Inspectors

James Meeks, Social Care Inspector Lisa Summers, His Majesty’s Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2726012 9 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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