Children's home run by Hexagon Care Services Limited in Preston

Inspection report for children’s home: SC480240 1 SC480240 Registered provider: Hexagon Care Services Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a private children’s home registered to provide care for up to five children. In February 2024, the provider requested a variation to the home’s registration. The home’s statement of purpose now states that children living in this home may have a range of learning disabilities. The home specialises in caring for children with autism and additional complex needs. There is a school on the same site. The inspectors only inspected the social care provision on this site.

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Information about this children’s home

The home has a new manager and responsible individual. The manager registered with Ofsted in March 2024. She is suitably qualified and experienced.

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Information about this children’s home

There were three children living in the home at the time of the inspection. The inspectors spoke to or spent time observing all the children during the 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: SC480240 2

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

The home was out of operation between September 2021 and February 2024. The home continued to be registered with Ofsted during the period of closure but was taken off the inspection programme. A monitoring visit took place on 22 February 2024 to establish if the provider had made suitable arrangements for the home to resume operating. The provider demonstrated that they had suitable resources to resume operation in line with the home’s statement of purpose. Inspection report for children’s home: SC480240 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

02/06/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 30/01/2019 Full Good 29/11/2017 Full Good 09/02/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: SC480240 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have built positive and trusting relationships with staff. Staff are nurturing in their approach. Children are relaxed and happy around staff. The home is a comfortable place to live. The home has been adapted specifically to meet children’s sensory needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When children move into the home, their moves are well planned. Children visit the home and spend time with staff and their views are captured about how their move can be made easier. When they move in, children are provided with routine, structure and an organised daily plan. In addition, children are supported to continue seeing people who are important to them. This provides children with consistency, which is key in supporting children with additional needs and it has helped them to settle into their home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make progress from their individual starting points. There are structured plans in place to help children to develop their independence skills and to support good educational outcomes. Children develop their self-care skills, the ability to regulate their emotions and the ability to build positive relationships with others. External professionals said children’s lives have changed significantly because of the support they receive from the staff team. One child’s social worker said that the home was an exceptional placement.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand children’s additional needs, their communication needs and how to interact with them. They use social stories, visual aids and prompts to help children to develop their communication skills. Effective multi-agency working means that children’s needs are regularly reviewed, and additional support is implemented when required. This is done through regular team around the child meetings and multidisciplinary team meetings.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are monitored to ensure that they can access support and guidance from the relevant professionals, including dieticians, paediatricians and epilepsy specialists. An in-house psychologist supports the staff team in the work they do with children, through group consultations and one-to-one reflection sessions. Children have access to in-house therapy sessions to help them to understand their emotions and to work through trauma. This has provided children with a safe space to talk about their feelings and to explore their identities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Direct-work sessions with children are approached sensitively and any sensory needs taken account of to support the sessions. They are pitched at children’s individual levels and understanding, using their preferred communication styles. They are used to promote children’s views, wishes and feelings and to track the progress they make. In addition, children are supported to access advocates to share their views independently. Inspection report for children’s home: SC480240 5 Children’s interests and hobbies are promoted through weekly clubs, such as going to Rangers, football clubs and youth clubs. This helps children to be active and provides opportunities to develop their self-confidence and social skills with their peers.

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

Children are kept safe and secure because of the consistent support and care provided by staff. They are helped to understand safe and acceptable boundaries. Risk assessments provide clear guidance for staff to support children and to keep them safe. Children’s plans are agreed with their social workers as part of multi-agency risk management planning. Lessons learned from incidents are used to adapt children’s behaviour support plans, to tailor how staff respond to children in line with their wishes and to meet their individual needs.

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

Risk planning before children move into the home is thorough. The manager consults with the relevant professionals in children’s lives to be able to make a balanced decision about the suitability of children living together. When one child moved out of the home to a solo home in the same organisation, the move was well planned, and they were supported by staff they knew. This ensured that they were provided with continuity of care and support as they moved into their new home.

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

Restraint is used as a last resort. The manager scrutinises restraint records and her incident evaluations are thorough. She demonstrates that she is focused on developing the team’s behaviour management practice and improving the support that children benefit from. She seeks guidance from behaviour support trainers and requests training refreshers to support the staff team in their management of incidents.

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

Children do not go missing from the home. Police have only been involved when staff can no longer keep the child or themselves safe. There have been no incidents of bullying in the. All children have clear routines and plans, so that any time they spend together is minimal and well managed by staff. Any consequences used are restorative and proportionate. However, the manager does not evaluate the effectiveness of any consequences to determine if they should be used again.

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

Staff understand their roles and responsibilities to safeguard children. There have not been any formal allegations made by children. However, when there was an increase in concerning comments made by one child, the manager did not consult with the local authority designated officer (LADO) to implement an allegations management risk assessment to ensure that strategies were in place to mitigate risks and promote a transparent culture.

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

Following a medication error, the manager addressed this with both members of staff involved and the extended team. This included holding an emergency team meeting, making changes to medication procedures, running staff refresher training sessions and having staff competency reviews. There have been no further medication errors. Inspection report for children’s home: SC480240 6

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is suitably qualified and experienced. She knows the children well and understands their individual additional needs. She has positive and trusting relationships with the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has organised systems in place that help her to monitor the quality of care being provided to children. The manager drives improvement to make sure that children’s needs are met. She does this through regular multi-agency meetings, work with the in-house therapist and consultation with an autism specialist professional.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team is relatively stable and there is minimal use of agency staff. When new staff are recruited, a robust process is in place to ensure that only staff who are safe to work with children do so.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff benefit from strong leadership and say that they feel supported in their roles. New staff are provided with a clear induction and probation process. Following on from this, regular supervision allows them to reflect on their practice and to develop their skills. Team meetings take place regularly and are used to share valuable information and updates about children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager monitors staff training needs to ensure that staff have the necessary skills to meet children’s specific needs, including neurodiversity and epilepsy. This means that children receive care and support from a team of staff who are suitably trained to meet their needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager’s review of the quality of care report provides clear oversight and evaluation of the operation of the home and any changes made to improve children’s experiences. It includes feedback from children, staff and professionals to demonstrate the impact of the service on children’s experiences. The senior leadership team has identified areas where their independent person visits could be improved, and they have acted on this to ensure that they remain effective and purposeful. Inspection report for children’s home: SC480240 7

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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

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

a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(iv)(vi)) 23 January 2025

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that they seek to involve the local authority and other relevant persons whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. Specifically, they should consult with the LADO with regards to implementing an allegations management risk assessment to ensure that strategies are in place to mitigate risks and to promote a transparent culture. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.4)

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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: SC480240 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Hexagon Care Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Hexagon Care, 1 Tustin Court, Port Way, Ashton-on- Ribble, Preston PR2 2YQ

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Inspectors

Cheryl Field, Social Care Inspector Anna Belshaw, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC480240 9 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 children who are looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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