Pola Well Care Ltd

Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Pola Well Care Ltd 1 Pola Well Care Ltd Registered provider: Pola Well Care Ltd

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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provider

This supported accommodation service is owned and managed by a private provider. The service can accommodate up to five children and young people in one shared or group living house that is not limited to accommodating looked after children and care leavers.

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provider

At the time of this inspection, this service was providing supported accommodation for three children.

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provider

The service manager has been registered with Ofsted since the provider was registered in January 2024.

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provider

Inspection dates: The inspection began on 2 December 2024 when we announced the inspection. The inspector was on site on 4 and 5 December 2024.

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Outcome

Inconsistent quality of service delivery adversely affects some children’s experiences, and this may limit their progress. Leaders and managers must make improvements.

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Summary of findings

Leaders and managers are not always operating in a way that is consistent with the ethos, and which delivers the outcomes, set out in their statement of purpose.

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Summary of findings

There are weaknesses in quality assurance systems, reporting safeguarding incidents to Ofsted, recording of incidents and the support children receive.

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Summary of findings

Leaders and managers are aware of the work needed to improve systems underpinning the service and took immediate action to address one of the shortfalls. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Pola Well Care Ltd 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children

In the main, children are supported by staff who know them well. Staff help children to attend appointments and meetings. Records detail the progress some children make and the skills they develop. In particular, one child who could not speak English when they moved in is now attending college and engaging well with friends. Staff are doing well to support this child’s cultural needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Records capture the attempts staff make to encourage and motivate children to engage with learning opportunities or employment. It is recognised that one child has not attended school for a number of years, and there has been some progress in helping them to return to learning. However, for this child and one other, their attendance is inconsistent, resulting in prolonged periods of time spent in their bedrooms. These children are lacking a structure to their day and are not engaging in activities to help them reach their potential.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children have support plans that detail how they should learn to budget and eat healthily. However, progress children make in developing these skills is varied. For example, two members of staff said that cooking alongside children does not routinely take place and that essential cooking ingredients are not provided. This means children’s opportunities to gain experience in how to prepare and cook a meal or snack are reduced. These children were heavily reliant on takeaways and junk meals. One child had no food in their cupboard or fridge, and one had little. During the inspection, the registered service manager took action to provide some basic essentials for the children and to review their model of support.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children live in a house that provides them with most of the essential items they need to learn how to live independently. Children’s bedrooms are personalised and children said they were happy with their rooms. However, the communal areas of the house are furnished to a basic standard and are not homely. Some cupboards are locked. A lack of attention to these rooms means children are not being provided with a nurturing and welcoming environment where they can thrive and prepare for greater independence.

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How well children are helped and protected

The children talked to were positive about their experiences of living in the house. They said they felt safe and overall were happy. There are warm and friendly interactions between the staff and the children.

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How well children are helped and protected

In the main, when children are upset or worried, they are supported by staff who know them well and are able to reassure them. Risk assessments and support plans provide staff with strategies to reduce risk and improve behaviours. However, staff have on some occasions been challenged by the behaviours of some of the children and have required the police to attend. On one such occasion, an incident resulted in the registered service manager being assaulted, property being damaged and a child being arrested. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Pola Well Care Ltd 3 Action taken to support the children and share these safeguarding incidents with the local authority social workers is appropriate and timely. However, the registered service manager failed to consider five of these incidents to be serious enough to notify Ofsted in line with regulation 27, and some of the records of these incidents

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How well children are helped and protected

Children going missing is not a common occurrence. However, on the occasions children have gone missing, not all records detail the action taken by staff or have management oversight. In these instances, it is unclear if any learning has taken place and the support the children receive when they return is not documented.

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How well children are helped and protected

The registered service manager said consequences are given to children following incidents, but these are not recorded. This means that it is not clear if their use is reviewed, if the child is consulted and if the consequences are effective and fair.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers want to improve the outcomes for the children that they support. A strength of the service is the positive relationships that they have with other professionals, their knowledge of each of the children and the relationships they build. However, a number of shortfalls were identified in the leadership and management of the organisation, which means that the registered service manager is not operating in line with the statement of purpose.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The registered service manager does not have an effective recording and monitoring system in place. A number of records were poorly written or incomplete, misplaced or wrongly filed, and management oversight was not recorded on some documents. This lack of an operational system for monitoring and improving the quality of support negatively impacts on the experiences of children, as it prevents a systematic review of children’s progress and the areas of staff development needed. It has also affected the submission of the quality of support reviews required since registration in January 2024.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Staff record the progress children make across a number of documents. A ‘goal booklet’ designed by the registered service manager is one such tool. However, they are not being used to their full potential, as they do not include sufficient information and management oversight. This means the small steps of progress some children are making is not captured and a journal of their time living in the accommodation is incomplete.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Managers and leaders are present in the home and provide staff with a range of useful training courses and regular supervision. Staff spoke positively of the support, supervision and learning opportunities that are provided.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Professionals spoken to were generally positive about the relationships they have with the registered service manager and staff. They said they have effective Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Pola Well Care Ltd 4 communication and were provided with regular updates. However, one social worker did remark that the accommodation was not homely.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The registered service manager and the nominated individual reflected on the findings of the inspection and provided assurances that they would address each shortfall. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Pola Well Care Ltd 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 Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023 and the ‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards’. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires, and leads a culture in relation to the supported accommodation undertaking that puts children first and prioritises their wellbeing and development.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

lead and manage the supported accommodation undertaking in a way that is consistent with the ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the undertaking’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 4 (1) (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must demonstrate effective management oversight of all records and staff practice.

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Requirement Due date

The registered persons must make sure that children are provided with opportunities and facilities to develop independent living skills. This specifically relates to providing reserves of food ingredients so that staff can support children to learn how to cook. 4 April 2025

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Requirement Due date

The accommodation standard is that children experience a comfortable and secure living environment.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the premises used as supported accommodation—

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Requirement Due date

offer a comfortable, positive, and nurturing environment, while respecting children’s need for privacy. 4 April 2025 Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Pola Well Care Ltd 6 (Regulation 6 (1) (2)(b)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered persons must make sure that the house has furnishings that make it homely and nurturing.

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Requirement Due date

The registered persons must review their use of locked cupboards to avoid an institutional and risk-averse approach to managing risk.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify the CIECSS and any relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child and the registered person considers that incident to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 27 (3)(b)(f)) 4 April 2025

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain a system for monitoring and improving the quality of support provided by the supported accommodation undertaking by completing a review ("a quality of support review") at least once every six months, which must take into account—

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Requirement Due date

the views of children, including any feedback and complaints received;

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Requirement Due date

feedback from individual children on the impact the supported accommodation has had on the child’s life, especially regarding how well prepared the child felt for transition into supported accommodation and how well prepared the child feels for transition out of supported accommodation;

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Requirement Due date

feedback from each child’s accommodating authority, staff, and any relevant persons;

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Requirement Due date

any relevant research and developments in relation to the way in which the needs of children are best met.

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Requirement Due date

After completing a quality of support review, the registered person must produce a written report setting out the actions the registered person intends to take as a result of that quality of support review. 4 April 2025 Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Pola Well Care Ltd 7 The registered person must provide a copy of the review report to the CIECSS within 28 days beginning with the day on which the report is completed, and make a copy of it available on request to each child’s accommodating authority (Regulation 32 (1)(a)(b)(c)(d) (2) (3))

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Recommendations

 A robust review of incidents, including producing relevant records, must take place with the child and relevant key workers such as a social worker, personal adviser or advocate, where possible within 24 hours of the incident. (‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards’, page 57)  All children’s case records must be kept up to date and stored securely. Case records must be kept up to date and signed and dated by the author of each entry. The supported accommodation setting’s records on each child represent a significant contribution to their life history. (‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including Quality Standards’, page 58)

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children 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 Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Pola Well Care Ltd 8

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered service manager: Justine Hove

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Supported accommodation provider details

Email address: office@polawellcare.co.uk

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Inspector

Linda Bond, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Pola Well Care Ltd 9 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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