Children's Home run by Brinscall Care (NW) Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2808009 1 Registered provider: Brinscall Care (NW) Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is run by a private provider. It offers care for up to three children who may experience social and/or emotional difficulties and or learning difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home and manager registered with Ofsted in December 2024.

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Information about this children’s home

There were three children living in the home at the time of the inspection. All three children were spoken to during the inspection.

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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: not previously inspected

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2808009 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is a warm and welcoming environment. Staff help the children to personalise their bedrooms and communal spaces. The children’s wishes and feelings are sought through regular children’s meetings. The children’s views are considered in the day-to- day running of the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s engagement in education and learning is good. All the children have increased their education attendance significantly, which helps to ensure they have the best chance of succeeding in later life. Staff work hard to ensure that children complete any homework as required.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children say that they have good relationships with staff and key workers. They say that the manager and deputy manager are helpful and supportive and that they would go to any staff members if they were unhappy or wished to make a complaint. This demonstrates that children feel valued and listened to.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff use rewards and incentives to help children work towards their individual goals. These have been successful in engaging children, for example, to attend appointments to improve their health. Children are encouraged to lead healthier lifestyles, with the staff promoting opportunities to become more active. Children enjoy cooking healthy meals.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff prioritise children’s health and well-being. Children’s health needs are understood by staff. They are supported to attend routine and specialist appointments. One child has been supported through sensitive, caring and compassionate life-story work to help them overcome a fear of health professionals. This proactive and innovative work has ensured that the child attends all their health appointments.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The blanket use of door alarms and window restrictors at the home is not fully assessed individually for children, to ensure that these restrictions are necessary and proportionate. This detracts from the overall family feel in the home and is not reviewed regularly.

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

Children say that they feel safe and well cared for. They express confidence in the manager and staff and say they can share any concerns or worries. The manager works closely with external professionals to ensure that risks to children’s safety and well-being are understood and addressed. Risks and concerns in relation to children are reducing. This results in children enjoying greater levels of independence.

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

Staff understand children and why they may behave in certain ways. They are skilled in de-escalating challenging situations. Staff use innovative and child-focused behaviour Inspection report for children’s home: 2808009 3 support approaches. This positive reinforcement, through incentives and reward systems, ensures that children associate good behaviour with positive reward.

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

Children have bespoke missing-from-home plans, and staff are aware of the procedures to follow should any child go missing from home. There has been only one missing-from- home incident, which was managed effectively.

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

External professionals say that staff communicate well, advocate for the children and keep them informed about any issues arising and any progress made. A social worker said they do not have any concerns with the way the home is managed or their child’s care.

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

Staff know the children well. This relationship-based approach means that any concerns such as self-injurious behaviours are managed sensitively. Any changes in behaviour are closely monitored to ensure support is available without delay.

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

Recruitment procedures and practices are safe and effective. All staff are checked and vetted before starting work at the home. These checks ensure that only suitable adults are employed to work with children. However, some signatures and review information are missing. This has not impacted on safer recruitment.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is led and managed by an ambitious and knowledgeable management team. The team demonstrates a clear understanding of therapeutic approaches when supporting children with complex needs and ensures that staff implement these in their practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff attend regular training, which helps them to better understand the children’s needs. This means that staff develop their skills to ensure that they implement best caring practices. Managers review training regularly to ensure that it meets the changing needs of the staff and children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The care children receive is regularly reviewed and tracked. Robust reviewing and monitoring systems allow the management team to quickly identify emerging themes and shortfalls. This enables them to respond effectively and in a timely manner to adjust plans and address shortfalls.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers ensure that all placing authority documents are up to date and received in good time. When documents are not made available, the managers escalate their concerns. Not all placement documentation is completed, signed or dated and some is duplicated. This impacts on the external audit processes.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are motivated and speak highly of the leadership of the home. They describe good levels of support and a culture of positive challenge and reflective practice. The manager makes good use of supervision, during which supportive discussions Inspection report for children’s home: 2808009 4 take place. However, supervision does not always take place in line with the home’s policies. This is a missed opportunity to ensure that any new staff receive regular support and observation of their practice. Inspection report for children’s home: 2808009 5

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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 registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; and

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Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that staff receive regular practice-related supervision, including during their probation period. 27 June 2025

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry.

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Requirement Due date

if the child dies before attaining the age of 18, for 15 years from the date of the child’s death;

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Requirement Due date

in cases not falling within sub-paragraph (a), for 75 years from the child’s date of birth;

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Requirement Due date

securely in the children’s home during the period when the child to whom the case records relate is accommodated there; and

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Requirement Due date

in a secure place after the child has ceased to be 27 June 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2808009 6 accommodated in the home. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(b)(c)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that all children’s records are up to date, signed by the author and reviewed regularly to evidence progress and compliance.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that they have consent from those with parental responsibility and the placing authority for the use of any monitoring equipment. This should be regularly reviewed to ensure that this is a necessary and proportionate measure to keep children safe. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.16)  The registered person should ensure they maintain good employment practice. Recruitment documentation should be signed, dated and reviewed to ensure it meets safe recruitment guidance. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)

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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: 2808009 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Brinscall Care (NW) Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Mailboxes Etc, Peel House, 30 The Downs, Altrincham WA14 2PX

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Inspector

James Meeks, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2808009 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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