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

Inspection report for children’s home: SC479647 1 SC479647 Registered provider: Hexagon Care Services Ltd

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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 and operated by a private provider. It is registered to provide care for up to six children with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

Three children and one young person were being cared for in this home at the time of the inspection. All spoke to the inspector about their experiences of living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager is suitably experienced and has been in post and registered since 8 February 2022.

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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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC479647 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/01/2024 Full Good 31/08/2022 Full Good 29/06/2021 Full Good 14/05/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC479647 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and the one young person living in the home receive a good standard of care from a stable and experienced staff team, who know them well. Staff are committed to the children and young person they care for, and to working through challenges with them. When children move on from this home, they move on to family or semi- independence. This provides children with the opportunity for extended periods of stability.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children and young person have good relationships with staff. They say that staff are fun, and they have ‘good banter’. Staff have a good understanding of the impact of children’s past experiences on their current well-being. This enables them to have discussions with children on key issues sensitively. This is helping children to build confidence and self-worth.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children and young person have positive relationships with each other, and they spend time with each other enjoying shared activities. When children fall out, staff react quickly, exploring the issue with the individual children sensitively. This has enabled the children to resolve any issues and continue having positive relationships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers carefully consider the needs of children moving into the home. They assess their needs alongside the needs of the children already living in the home. The manager and deputy manager ensure that they meet children before they move into the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are facing challenges in their current schools. The manager has been proactive in finding alternative school provision. When children are not in education, staff ensure that plans are in place, such as home tutoring, to support children’s educational progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children and young person feel listened to and understood. Children’s and young people’s views and wishes are promoted in the home. Discussions and meetings take place on a regular basis with the home’s manager also providing feedback.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help the children and young person to develop life-skills appropriate to their age. There are clear plans in place to support them in preparation for independence. The children and young person are encouraged to develop skills such as budgeting, cooking, travelling and household chores.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the children’s and young person’s relationships with people who are important to them. Staff know the children’s friends and the adults who care about them, and they are welcome in the home. Staff make every effort to build relationships with the children’s and young person’s families and support the relationships between them and their children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC479647 4 The home is warm and welcoming and children and the young person enjoy the games room with pool table, games consoles, ping pong tables and areas for studying. Children’s bedrooms are furnished and personalised, and children are supported to keep their bedrooms clean and tidy. However, one child’s bedroom needs repainting. Some furnishings need to be repaired or replaced, specifically the sofa in the living room and a child’s wardrobe. The manager explained that the painting of the bedroom and fixing of

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

the child’s wardrobe are planned to be completed with the child helping the maintenance team to help him take pride in his space and develop new skills.

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

Staff understand the risks to the children and young person they care for. The children’s and young person’s risks are documented in safety plans that direct and support staff to prevent and reduce risk. The children and young person trust staff and will talk to them about their concerns.

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

Although there have been some changes in the staff team in the last year, staff practice remains consistent. Communication between staff is clear. Therefore, there are consistent boundaries in the home. This helps children to feel secure.

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

There has been a high number of missing-from-home episodes in the last inspection period. Some missing-from-home episodes have been for prolonged periods. When children go missing from home, staff search for them and follow missing-from-home plans to ensure the children’s safe return. Children are welcomed when they return to the home, and staff ensure that they are safe and well.

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

Incidents in the home are rare. When incidents occur in the community, staff make detailed reports. Managers have prompt and thorough oversight of incidents and review staff practice in line with children’s individual plans. Children and staff are spoken to after incidents and any learning from incidents is used to amend children’s plans.

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

Staff ensure that they are aware of how to keep themselves safe in the community and provide additional support to children who may feel unsafe. The children and young person are learning the safety skills they will need for adult life.

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

The children and young person have access to specialist professional support, such as drug and alcohol workers, and mental health support. Staff encourage and facilitate the children’s and young person’s engagement with specialist professionals. This means the children and young person have access to the adults who are most able to help them with their specific issues.

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

Managers notify the regulator when there is a serious incident. However, sometimes notifications are delayed. This prevents the regulator from having prompt oversight.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Inspection report for children’s home: SC479647 5 Managers have high expectations of the staff and are committed to improving outcomes for the children and young person.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers have effective monitoring systems in place to ensure oversight of practice in the home. Detailed audits help them understand how the children and young person are making progress and identify any shortfalls in practice. This ensures that the children and young person are receiving good quality care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a home’s development plan, which identifies areas of development for the home, but it does not identify training completed by staff or any training required for staff as part of their professional development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervisions. Supervisions are supportive and focus on practice, outcomes for the children and young person and personal development. Supervisions for newer staff members take place more frequently, with a focus on gaining knowledge and understanding of the role and the care of the children and young person. Staff feel supported and enjoy working in the home and supporting the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings take place on a regular basis. Meetings are used to discuss current issues for the children and young person. The home manager also uses this time to refresh thinking on the home’s policies and safeguarding scenarios. This provides the staff with the knowledge and skills to ensure children’s safety.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers and staff have built positive relationships with all professionals involved in the care of the children and young person. Professionals report that the manager and staff are communicative, know the children and young person well and have a lot of care and compassion which comes through in every aspect of their care. Inspection report for children’s home: SC479647 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should have 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 or on a public holiday. Notification must include details of the action taken by the home’s staff in response to the event. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.13)  The registered person should have a workforce plan which can fulfil the workforce related requirements of regulation 16, schedule 1 (paragraphs 19 and 20). The plan should be updated to include any new training and qualifications completed by staff while working at the home and used to record the ongoing training and continuing professional development needs of staff – including the home’s manager. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph

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Recommendations

10.8)  Staff should seek to meet the child’s basic needs in the way that a good parent would, recognising that many children in residential care have experienced environments where these needs have not been consistently met – doing so is an important aspect of demonstrating that the staff care for the child and value them as an individual. This includes ensuring damaged furniture is replaced or fixed and general upkeep of home’s external decoration. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.7)

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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: SC479647 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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Inspectors

Renée Sims, Social Care Inspector Sarah Huntbatch, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC479647 8 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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