Children's home run by First Blue Healthcare Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2560648 1 Registered provider: First Blue 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

This home is owned by a private company. It provides care for up to three children who have experienced trauma. At the time of this inspection, three children were living in the home. All children were spoken with during the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

A suitably qualified and experienced manager is in post.

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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: 24 October 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: 2560648 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/10/2023 Full Good 17/01/2023 Full Good 11/01/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2560648 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home provides large, pleasant spaces for children and has a warm family atmosphere. Children’s rooms are personalised to reflect their individual interests, and their experiences are celebrated in photos that are displayed throughout the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Because of the positive relationships that children share with the staff, they enjoy living in the home and highly value this. Children describe the staff as kind, patient, understanding and ‘like a family’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making progress from their starting points as a result of the nurturing, attuned and thoughtful care they are receiving. For example, there has been a notable reduction in incidents of aggression, children harming themselves or going missing from the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Before children move into the home, managers and staff meet with them. They provide them with information about the home and, if possible, take them to visit the home. This helps children to settle into the home quickly and build trusting relationships, and reduces children’s feelings of worry before they move.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are skilled in preparing children to move on from the home. They teach children the skills they will need to live independently. When children leave the home, staff celebrate the child’s time in the home, and support them to settle in their new home. For one child, leaders and managers advocated strongly for them to be able to remain in the home after their 18th birthday, and to move to a home of their choosing in the local area. This allowed the young person to complete their education and maintain important relationships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff build effective working relationships with children’s families and friends. This promotes children’s sense of identity. One parent said, ‘Staff have been incredible. They have been superb. They have prepared a young adult for a positive life.’ While another said, ‘They do a fantastic job.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to understand and explore their identity. Children’s religious festivals are celebrated, and children are supported to enjoy their cultural foods and traditions. Leaders and managers ensure that staff are trained to support children in understanding their sexual and gender identities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff do not tolerate incidents of bullying or discrimination. Staff act quickly if they hear a child making a discriminatory remark about another child. They undertake creative and sensitive work to improve children’s understandings of different religions and cultures and to repair relationships. Inspection report for children’s home: 2560648 4 Staff understand the importance of education for children. When children are not in education, managers and leaders advocate for children as a good parent would. They actively seek to overcome barriers and provide children with structured activities to help them maintain confidence in education.

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

Staff know how to keep children safe. They regularly have conversations with children that help them to better understand risk, be more independent, and support their health and education. As a result, children living in the home are becoming safer.

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

However, on occasions, staff do not update children’s risk assessments or plans soon after incidents. Although this has not led to any serious incidents for children, it reduces staff’s ability to keep children safe.

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

Children feel safe and can identify adults who they can talk to if they are worried or upset. When children hurt themselves, staff ensure that the child is safe, and they provide them with comfort. Because of this, when children want to hurt themselves or have done so, they actively seek out staff. This supports children’s safety, helping them to feel loved and cared for.

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

Staff provide nurturing care and have positive relationships with children, which means that children rarely go missing from the home. When they do go missing, staff follow children’s plans and work with the relevant professionals to bring children back to the home safely.

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

Staff are skilled in de-escalation techniques when children are angry or upset. As a result, since the last inspection, staff have not needed to hold children to ensure their safety or the safety of others.

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

Children know how to make complaints. They are confident that when they complain, their complaints are taken seriously. Leaders and managers act swiftly to address the child’s concerns.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers focus on children in all the decisions they make. They are ambitious for the children in their care, effectively and persistently advocating for them as a good parent would.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers use a range of systems to oversee all aspects of children’s care and to drive improvements for children. This ensures that they have a strong presence in the home and a good understanding of the home’s strengths and weaknesses.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have created a positive working environment for staff. They ensure that staff are supported by regular supervision sessions and training. Because of this, staff speak highly of their manager, describing her as passionate and dedicated. Inspection report for children’s home: 2560648 5 This positive environment means that children are cared for by a stable staff team, who are dedicated and motivated.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager ensures that children are protected by the organisation’s recruitment practices. Staff are vetted and assessed as suitable before any appointment is confirmed. These procedures promote the safety of children by preventing unsuitable adults from working with them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children are fond of their dedicated manager. They describe her as funny, loud, supportive, helpful, kind, caring, lovely and respectful. Inspection report for children’s home: 2560648 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. (‘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: 2560648 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: First Blue Healthcare Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Seighford Hall, Clanford Road, Seighford, Stafford ST18 9NL

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Inspector

John Tomlinson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2560648 8 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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