Children's home run by Unity Residential Care Services Limited in Newcastle-under-Lyme

Inspection report children’s home: SC412385 1 SC412385 Registered provider: Unity Residential Care Services Limited

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This home is operated by a private provider. It provides care for up to three children who have experienced childhood instability which has resulted in trauma and associated complex behaviours.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

Two children were living in the home at the time of this inspection. They were both observed during the inspection.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

There is a new manager in post. She registered with Ofsted in December 2024. She is suitably qualified and experienced.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

Inspectors were aware during this inspection that serious child protection allegations were being investigated by the appropriate authorities. While Ofsted does not have the power to investigate allegations of this kind, actions taken by the setting in response to the allegations were considered alongside other evidence available at the time of the inspection to inform inspectors’ judgements.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Date of last inspection: 28 November 2023

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good Inspection report for children’s home: SC412385 2

p.1

Enforcement action since last inspection:

A monitoring visit was conducted on 18 September 2024, after concerns relating to staff practice in the home were notified to Ofsted and the local authority designated officer (LADO). As a result of the visit, the home’s registration was suspended.

p.2

Enforcement action since last inspection:

On 9 December 2024, a further monitoring visit was conducted to review improvements made by the provider to address the concerns outlined in the suspension notice. This visit identified that the previous risk no longer existed. The suspension notice was lifted on 10 December 2024. Inspection report for children’s home: SC412385 3

p.2

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

28/11/2023 Full Good 24/01/2023 Full Good 21/09/2021 Full Outstanding 03/03/2020 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: SC412385 4

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Two children have been admitted to the home since it reopened. The children had been living in the home for three weeks at the time of the inspection. They are already starting to make progress in areas such as communication and self-care skills. They are benefiting from improved health and are beginning to develop trusting relationships with the staff team.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide children with consistent routines and boundaries. This ensures that the care children receive is predictable, which has helped them to settle into the home and contributed to them feeling safe and secure.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is welcoming and homely. Staff have ensured that the home provides a stimulating, nurturing and comfortable environment for children to live in.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff prioritise children’s health needs. They have ensured that children are quickly registered with local health services and will seek specialist support when required. Staff ensure that children have a healthy, balanced diet and regular exercise. Both children are enjoying trying lots of new foods, which is helping to promote a healthier diet and lifestyle.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The clinical team is working closely with the staff team to support them to develop their understanding of the children’s needs. The clinical team is also in the process of completing several assessments. This will support the local authority to better understand the children’s specific needs, which will aid future care planning.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are not yet in education. The manager and staff are working closely with the children’s social worker and education professionals to ensure that suitable education provisions are found that can meet the children’s individual needs. Staff provide children with educational activities, such as trips to the library, cooking and sensory activities. This ensures that children have access to learning opportunities.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide children with opportunities to have fun and try new things. Children have been out on activities in the local community and have had lots of new toys. This will help children to develop socially and build their confidence.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to spend time with their families. This ensures that children continue to build relationships and attachments with those people who are significant to them.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are learning to understand the children’s alternative communication styles. Staff are familiar with the children’s body language and vocalisations. They are developing an understanding of children’s likes, dislikes and preferences. The manager is developing a basic visual emotions board to support children to be able to communicate their feelings. Inspection report for children’s home: SC412385 5 A speech and language assessment has also been commissioned to determine what specialist support is required.

p.4

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

Children are safe. Since the new manager and staff team have been in place, the safeguarding culture has improved. The manager has completed several workshops with staff on topics such as whistle-blowing, safeguarding, care planning and professional boundaries. This ensures that staff are aware of their roles and responsibilities in safeguarding and the protection of children.

p.5

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

Staff manage children’s behaviour well. They use positive reinforcement and clear, consistent boundaries. They are effective in using de-escalation techniques, for example distraction to defuse children’s anxieties. As a result, there have been minimal incidents for the two new children. There have been no incidents of children going missing from the home, and there have been no physical interventions or complaints or allegations.

p.5

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

Managers have robust oversight of children’s written care plans. This ensures that staff are provided with clear, up-to-date guidance on how to meet needs, mitigate risk and keep children safe. There are clear targets in place for children which align with their local authority and education, health and care plan targets. Staff review these regularly to monitor children’s progress.

p.5

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

The manager is developing communication systems so that children can share their wishes, feelings and preferences.

p.5

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

Children live in a safe environment. The manager has completed a comprehensive location assessment. She has consulted with fire consultants when there have been changes to the fire exits of the building to ensure compliance with the fire regulations. Staff complete regular health and safety audits and fire drills with children, ensuring that children know how to evacuate the building in an emergency.

p.5

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

The manager follows safer recruitment processes. This ensures that only appropriately vetted staff work with the children.

p.5

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

There has been one incident where a senior manager failed to share information regarding a previous serious safeguarding matter. Leaders have taken action to address this and are reviewing the organisation’s information-sharing processes to prevent a similar concern reoccurring. In addition, all managers and staff will be undertaking additional, external safeguarding training.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Since the suspension of the home’s registration, there have been changes to the leadership and management of the home. There is a newly appointed manager and responsible individual in post. They have high ambitions for the home and expectations Inspection report for children’s home: SC412385 6 for children to achieve. The manager has made significant changes to the systems that monitor the quality of care that staff provide to children. She has developed an exceptional understanding of the previous shortfalls, areas of development and current strengths of the home. The manager is resolute and committed to the continued development of the home to ensure that children consistently receive good-quality care that supports them to make progress and keeps them safe.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has robust oversight of all written records in the home, through scrutiny of the home’s electronic recording system. She has supported staff to write all children’s records to children in child-friendly, nurturing language. This will be useful to aid children’s understanding if they come to read their records later.

p.6

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is dynamic in her thinking about future care planning and stability for children. Despite children only recently moving in, she has considered how the staff team and home can support the children to remain in the home or if more appropriate move on.

p.6

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel well supported by the manager. They say that she is ‘approachable and listens’. She leads from the front and is not afraid to ‘get stuck in’.

p.6

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager ensures that staff are provided with comprehensive training which supports them to meet children’s needs effectively. She has delivered workshops to staff regarding previous shortfalls to promote staff’s understanding of what is expected of them, good safeguarding practice and high-quality care. When younger children have been admitted to the home, the manager quickly ensured that specialist training was sought to meet children’s needs, for example paediatric first aid and bespoke physical intervention training. There is a training plan in place to further develop staff’s knowledge and skills.

p.6

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a supervision plan in place to ensure that staff receive regular ongoing support. Supervision sessions are of excellent quality. They are highly reflective and include safeguarding as a standard agenda discussion point. This approach supports staff development and continuity of care for children and promotes an open and positive safeguarding culture in the home.

p.6

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The organisation has introduced a new role of children’s practice assurance lead. They have been visiting the home regularly, observing practice and working directly with staff. This extra layer of scrutiny will support the manager to quickly identify and rectify any shortfalls in practice. In addition, this promotes improvements in staff practice and children’s safety.

p.6

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff work with a wide range of professionals to ensure that children receive well-coordinated care. Feedback from the children’s social worker was positive, particularly with regard to communication, staff’s ability to safeguard children and the progress children have made since living in the home. They said: ‘They have given the Inspection report for children’s home: SC412385 7 children exceptional care. Brilliant communication from staff and the manager. They are very proactive in keeping children safe. They have been really great.’

p.6

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

No requirements or recommendations were raised at this inspection. Inspection report for children’s home: SC412385 8

p.7

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: SC412385 9

p.8

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Unity Residential Care Services Limited

p.9

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 2 Lymevale Court, Lyme Drive, Parklands, Stoke-on- Trent ST4 6NW

p.9

Inspector

Sonia Sullivan, Social Care Regulatory Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC412385 10 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.

p.9

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk.

p.10

Inspector

You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk.

p.10

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.10

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.10