Children's home run by Esland North Limited

Inspection report for children's home: 2680726 1 Registered provider: Esland North 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 is a privately run children’s home that provides care for one child with social and emotional difficulties and associated complex needs. One child was living at the home at the time of the inspection and they were spoken to by the inspector.

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Information about this children's home

The manager registered with Ofsted in November 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 requires improvement to be 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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 2680726 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/06/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2680726 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home provides a welcoming, calm and safe environment, which is enjoyed by the child who is living at the home. It is decorated to a high standard and the child’s bedroom is personalised. There are photographs of the child, their family and their achievements around the home, which supports their feelings of security.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have built positive and trusting relationships with the child and provide good care and support in all areas of their life. Staff are trained in therapeutic practices, which are well understood and embedded into their practice. This helps them to meet the complex needs of the child. The child said that they enjoy living at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote and support education. The child is in full-time education and professional feedback is positive. An education professional said that ‘communication with the home and the manager is excellent’ and that ‘they have a full understanding of the child’s need’. The child has made good progress in their education. Staff share good practice and strategies with the child’s school to ensure that the child is being supported consistently both at home and school.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the child’s health needs well, working with health professionals and agencies to ensure that they remain healthy. The child has a particular health need, which staff provide good support for both practically and emotionally. This allows the child to not be significantly impacted by this need.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help the child to explore a range of hobbies and interests. The child takes part in swimming classes and has been part of a football training group. This is carefully managed and assessed due to the child’s needs. However, staff ensure that the child has access to their local community and peers.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the importance of the child’s relationships with their family. They support these relationships by helping the child to have positive and quality time with family members.

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

Staff have a clear understanding of the child’s needs. Personalised care and support plans are regulary updated and informed by the therapeutic assessments completed by the clinical team. These contribute to staff support providing the child with good levels of support which meets all their needs.

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

The registered manager has created sound risk assessments and support plans for the child. These are reviewed regularly to ensure that they remain appropriate and include up-to-date information to help staff keep the child safe. Staff have a clear understanding Inspection report for children's home: 2680726 4 of the individual risks to the child and, overall, have a caring and consistent approach on how to manage them.

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

The child is confident in the process of making a complaint. Complaints are thoroughly investigated by the manager. This includes the child’s wishes and feelings being gathered and them being made aware of the outcome. This provides confidence to the child that their worries are taken seriously.

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

On occasion, it has been necessary for staff to complete room searches. When these are conducted, the staff and manager carefully consider whether they are required and consult with the child. This ensures that the child is aware of the reasons for the search and supports their feelings of dignity and safety.

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

There have been regular behavioural incidents. The vast majority of these have been managed well by staff. Staff use de-escalation techniques and support plans to manage the child’s behaviours and help them to calm at times of heightened anxieties. Physical restraint has been necessary at times. This is always used as a last resort and is appropriate and proportionate. Following incidents, debriefs with staff and the child take place. The manager has some oversight of incidents. However, there is a need for further analysis of incidents, practice, the impact on the child and for any learning identified to be disseminated to staff on a more consistent basis.

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

Since the last inspection, there has been one incident where the child’s whereabouts were unknown for a period of time. Staff informed the relevant safeguarding professionals and agencies and followed protocol and procedures, which ensured that the child was found safely. However, the incident could have been avoided if staff had followed the child’s care and support plans. While the manager did identify this shortfall, they did not take clear action to embed learning from it into practice. This means that opportunities to improve practice were missed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The staff are positive about working in the home and the support that they receive from the manager. Staff have regular supervisions, team meetings and consultations with the therapy team. These all help to further develop their understanding of the child and enhance their therapeutic care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Management oversight in the home requires improvement. Monitoring systems are in place, but these are not always effective in identifying shortfalls and taking necessary action to address poor practice. The manager does not always take appropriate action when significant incidents take place in the home. There has been a lack of professional curiosity in reviewing a small number of incidents and how staff have responded to them. This has meant that staff have not always received appropriate support, and has affected the child’s experiences in the home. Inspection report for children's home: 2680726 5 The manager and staff have good relationships with partner agencies. One social worker said that they have ‘really positive relationships with staff members’ and that the child has ‘made promising progress since being placed’.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager advocates well for the child, especially with ensuring that their education and health needs are met. The manager has advocated strongly with the local authority to ensure that specialist assessments are completed to further understand the child and their complex needs. This has helped to ensure that the child is being provided with the right care to meet these needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The child’s wishes and feelings are gathered in multiple ways and staff work creatively to gain these. This supports the child’s positive relationships with staff. However, there is a need for these to be evaluated by the manager to further inform their care and support plans.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Restrictions are in place in the home due to high levels of risk to the child. These have been in place for a significant period and are agreed by relevant professionals. Staff have undertaken work with the child to support their behaviours and reduce risks. However, the risk assessment relating to the restrictions has not been regularly reviewed by the manager to ensure that these are still required, or could be altered or removed. Inspection report for children's home: 2680726 6

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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

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(v))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that staff follow the risk assessment and support plans to keep children safe. 6 April 2025

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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 children's home that—

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home (Regulation 13 (1) (2)(f))

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Requirement Due date

This is in relation to the manager not considering the impact of the care provided by staff and using this to inform development of the quality of care provided. 6 April 2025

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

manage and review the placement of each child in the home. (Regulation 14 (1) (2)(a)(b)(ii)) 6 April 2025 Inspection report for children's home: 2680726 7 In particular, review restrictions regularly to ensure that they remain appropriate.

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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: 2680726 8

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Esland North Limited

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: Esland Ltd, Suite 1 & 5, Riverside Business Centre, Foundry Lane, Milford, Belper DE56 0RN

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Inspector

Hayley Booth, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2680726 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 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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