Children's home run by Hexagon Care Services Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2634698 1 Registered provider: Hexagon Care Services 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

The home is owned by a private company. It is registered to provide care for two children who have experienced childhood trauma.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has applied to register with Ofsted.

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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: 16 January 2024

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2634698 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/01/2024 Full Outstanding 25/01/2023 Full Good 06/12/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2634698 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Two children are currently living in the home and are both settled and making good progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home environment is cosy and welcoming. The property is decorated beautifully, with lots of personalisation throughout to reflect the children and staff in the home. The children feel relaxed and comfortable in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have built positive relationships with children and spend time talking to them and listening to their wishes and feelings. Children are actively involved in making decisions related to their day-to-day lives. This includes planning activities, meals and changes around the home. This supports children to feel valued and heard.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are well supported when moving into and out of the home. Staff spend time getting to know each child to provide individualised support that meets their needs. Staff encourage and enable children to develop skills such as budgeting, cooking and cleaning in preparation for living independently. Children move on feeling confident and supported, which promotes feelings of self-worth and accomplishment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since moving into the home, both children have made positive progress in all aspects of their lives. Staff value and promote education, which has supported both children in attending education consistently. This is particularly positive for one child who had previously been out of education for two years.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to try new activities and follow their interests. Staff have supported one child to develop their passion for ice skating by taking them to ice- skating sessions and providing them with the equipment they require to develop their skills. Children feel supported in reaching their goals.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children seek support and comfort from staff when feeling upset or when they need guidance. Children trust staff and take on board their advice and guidance. This has resulted in children making better decisions and being able to express their feelings and emotions in a more positive way. Consequently, there has been a reduction in negative incidents for both children and a reduction in missing-from-home episodes for one child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children experience warm and loving interactions from staff. Children feel loved and cared for, which is helping them to develop a positive sense of self and feelings of belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to maintain relationships with family and friends. Staff make arrangements for children to spend time with family at significant times of the year or special events, such as performances. Children and their families speak positively Inspection report for children’s home: 2634698 4 of how staff support them in maintaining their relationships while living away from each other. This helps children in developing a strong sense of identity.

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

Children are kept safe both in the home and the community. Staff understand the individual needs, triggers and risks for each child. They have successfully implemented detailed plans improving their safety and well-being. There has been a reduction in children going missing from the home and self-harming incidents.

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

Allegations and complaints are mostly taken seriously by managers and staff and explored in full. Children and staff are provided with clear outcomes of all investigations, and safeguarding measures are put in place to keep children safe. Children feel heard and able to share any concerns they have with staff who they know will take their views seriously. However, one safeguarding incident was not managed or assessed in full. Risk management strategies were not put in place to ensure children’s safety while investigations were completed.

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

Children are supported to reflect on negative behaviours through natural consequences and talking about how they are feeling with staff. Clear boundaries and expectations are in place alongside a variety of rewards for positive behaviours. Children understand that there are always consequences to their actions, which promotes self-awareness and accountability.

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

Communication between the manager and professional network is strong. One social worker said that communication is ‘spot on’. The professional network is clear about what is happening in children’s lives and is able to provide care that is consistent in all the settings the children access. Children are clear about what is expected of them and what they can expect from the adults in their lives.

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

There has been one safeguarding incident where management did not share safeguarding information with all relevant parties. They did not challenge external professionals who informed them not to do this. This did not ensure that all children, including those who do not live in the home, were safe.

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

Children’s health needs are not always recorded accurately in children’s plans. Medical advice around a child’s specific health need was not recorded in their health plan, and therefore not all staff were aware of how to respond should the health issue arise. This could compromise the child’s health.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is committed, determined and child-focused. She is eager to make improvements to ensure that children receive the best possible care and is proactive in advocating on their behalf. She knows both children well and has played an active role in supporting the children in making the progress they have made to date. Inspection report for children’s home: 2634698 5 Children are cared for by staff who are safe to do so. All staff are recruited through a rigorous recruitment process which is clearly recorded. Staff feel valued and speak positively of the support offered by the management team. Staff receive good-quality training, reflective supervision sessions and general support, resulting in team morale being high. Children are cared for by staff who feel positive about being at work and are well equipped to meet the children’s individual needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager challenges professionals when services are not being offered to children as they should be. She has advocated for one child to have a health assessment to ensure that the child has access to services that would support them in achieving the best possible outcomes. Children feel supported and understood by staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

On occasion, the managers are not always clear about the actions of staff or what children are doing within the home. Staff recordings are not always of value due to their limited nature. In addition, the poor recording of and oversight of an incident resulted in the manager not identifying potential practice issues that required further exploration. Poor-quality recordings and limited oversight compromise the manager’s understanding of and their ability to improve the quality of the care being provided to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Systems for reporting safeguarding issues and staff supervision for when the manager is not at work are not in place. A safeguarding issue was not reported within timescales due to the manager being on leave. This prevented other professionals from carrying out their role and responsibilities in safeguarding children. The children’s safety could have been compromised during this time.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is focused on making improvements within the home and upskilling staff to be able to meet the individual needs of each child. Staff have been enrolled on further training specific to one child’s needs. She is also in the process of converting a room in the home into a space that would support the children’s sensory and emotional needs. Inspection report for children’s home: 2634698 6

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Recommendations

 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. Staff should record information on individual children in a non- stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should ensure that there is a system in place so that all serious events are notified, within 24 hours, to the appropriate people. The system should cover the action that should be followed if the event arises at the weekend, a public holiday or when the manager is away from work. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.3)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should oversee the welfare of the children in their care through observation and rigorous oversight of incidents. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraph 10.23)

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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: 2634698 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Hexagon Care Services Ltd

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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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Inspector

Menaka De Silva, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2634698 8 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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