Children's Home run by Pathway Care Solutions Ltd in Cornwall

Inspection report for children’s home: 1277045 1 Registered provider: Pathway Care Solutions Ltd

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This home is owned by a large, national provider. It can provide care for four children who have learning disabilities, emotional or social difficulties. At the time of inspection, two children were living at the home.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

A registered manager of a local home was registered to manage this home until recently. They have cancelled their registration. The acting manager has submitted their application to register.

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

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

p.1

Enforcement action since last inspection:

On 10 July 2024 Ofsted inspected this home and identified serious and widespread concerns in relation to the care and protection of the children. As a result, a compliance notice was issued under regulation 13 and a decision was made to restrict admissions to the home. The restriction was lifted on 18 December 2024 following close monitoring by Ofsted. Inspection report for children’s home: 1277045 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

01/05/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good 21/08/2023 Full Good 21/09/2022 Full Good 12/10/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 1277045 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Significant improvements have been made to the physical home environment over the last year. New furniture, carpets and soft furnishings make the home feel much more like a family home. Photos of the children show that this is their home and attention to detail shows throughout the home. This has benefited both children and staff.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have close relationships with staff. Both children were seen to ask for staff by name and reach out to them for affection. Everyone spoken to spoke with real affection for the children; staff are invested in these children. This supports the children to feel settled and the atmosphere in the home is calmer.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Both children have fantastic attendance at school. Staff have worked hard to improve communication with teachers about the specific needs of one child.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Outside of school children have fun-filled days with regular trips out to parks, beaches and local attractions. Both children have enjoyed holidays this year, which one child recalled to the inspector with excitement.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s progress can be seen by the reduction of restrictions for each child. For example, at times, both children have been able to be supported by one member of staff rather than two. Leaders and managers have also given thought to other physical restrictions, such as window restrictors, and these have been removed where safe to do so.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Memory books are kept up to date and staff help children to capture important memories. They are also used by the children to help them to communicate an activity they want to repeat. Staff make good use of photos to enable children to make choices. They can choose photos of which meals they would like or which activities they would like to try.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children have been supported to develop a positive relationship with each other. They now do some activities together and came together recently to enjoy a film night. However, they both have few friendships with peers outside of the home. Proactive support from staff to develop friendships is lacking.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The team’s understanding of children’s health needs has greatly improved. Input from wider professionals and the in-house clinical team has enabled staff to develop clear plans to support one child’s health needs well. Children’s communication methods are understood by staff, and both children’s speech development has notably progressed.

p.3

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

Inspection report for children’s home: 1277045 4 Staff understand the risks to the children well. Clear plans are in place to support children in various situations. There is a proactive approach from the team to prevent incidents. Staff understand the children and can spot when the children need some time away from each other or need to be distracted with an activity for example. They are aware of the signs when children are become upset or frustrated. Children are supported well to understand potential dangers. Staff help children to understand their emotions. There are lots of resources around the home which help the children to name feelings. Social stories are also used well to help children understand different situations.

p.4

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

The use of physical intervention has significantly reduced since the last inspection. This is because the staff team better understand the children. Staff have greater awareness of children’s needs and how to meet them. Instead, there are occasions when staff guide or distract children to do other things. When physical interventions have been used, they have been proportionate and to keep children safe. Conversations take place with the children and staff involved. Learning from the incidents is shared with the team as a whole.

p.4

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

When concerns have been raised about staff practice, these have been investigated quickly and reported to safeguarding agencies. Safe actions have been put into place while investigations are ongoing. The learning from these incidents is considered and shared with the team.

p.4

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

When a medication error was realised, medical advice was sought quickly. There was no impact on the child and the labelling was updated in line with the child’s age and weight.

p.4

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

Safer recruitment is in place to ensure appropriate individuals are employed. A risk assessment was completed when a historic offence was raised to ensure children’s safety.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home now benefits from having a permanent manager in post, who has submitted their application to register. For a period of time a manager from a nearby home was dual registered for this home. This provided support to the acting manager and the team in the interim. The staff team has been stable for the last six months and is fully staffed for the current children.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have good systems in place to review care. Monitoring incidents and regular reviews are in place and help the manager to see what is working well. Oversight of incidents is generally thorough. Consideration is given to what staff could do differently and whether staff action has been effective.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff say they feel supported and report improvements in the home. Supervision takes place regularly. However, the system in place which is used to monitor completion is not robust in terms of highlighting any missed supervisions to the manager. Inspection report for children’s home: 1277045 5 Language used around the home and in records generally gives adults clear guidance. However, at times the use of words such as ‘bedroom 5’ or ‘dysregulated’ are functional but are not meaningful to children. Some records are written in first person, when the children have not used these words and so are not their accounts of events.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Learning opportunities are undertaken and shared with the team. Children benefit from the clinical input to the home, which takes place regularly. This supports the team to understand and feel more confident to meet the children’s needs. Specific training has been provided to staff to help them know how to meet the children’s needs. The manager has implemented champion roles for the staff. This helps staff to feel valued and distributes responsibilities. Inspection report for children’s home: 1277045 6

p.5

Recommendations

 The registered person should seek to provide opportunities for children to develop themselves in accordance with their wishes. Opportunities to discover and develop friendships should be provided and children should be encouraged to try new activities, where appropriate. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 31, paragraph 6.4)  The registered person should have systems in place so that all staff receive supervision. If the manager is not directly line-managing staff, they should be aware of any gaps in supervision. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)  The registered person should ensure that children’s records are ‘living documents’ and that staff are recording information in a way that is meaningful to children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 58, paragraph

p.6

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: 1277045 7

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Pathway Care Solutions Ltd

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Maybrook House, Third Floor, Queensway, Halesowen, B63 4AH

p.7

Inspector

Nickie Doney, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1277045 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.

p.7

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 . 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.8

Inspector

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

p.8

Inspector

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

p.8