Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Herefordshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2599399 1 Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home provides care for up to two children with social, emotional and mental health difficulties. At the time of the inspection, one child was living in the home and was spoken to during the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager left their post in April 2024. A new manager has been in post since January 2025 and has applied to be registered.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2599399 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/08/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good 18/09/2023 Full Good 07/03/2023 Full Good 29/11/2022 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: 2599399 3

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improvement to be good

One child was living at the home at the time of the inspection. Four children have moved from the home since the last full inspection. During this time, the home was closed for a two-month period. Children’s experiences have been somewhat mixed. The child currently living in the home is positive about their experiences and is making progress in some areas. However, shortfalls in relation to the help and protection of children and the leadership and management of the home have affected children’s overall experiences.

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improvement to be good

Children benefit from living in a well-maintained home. Children’s bedrooms are homely, and staff support children to keep them clean and tidy. Communal areas are well- equipped, and children contribute ideas for items to be purchased. For example, one child wanted to turn an unused space into a games room, and a pool table was purchased for them to enjoy. This helps children feel at ease in their surroundings and listened to.

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improvement to be good

The child living at the home at the time of the inspection said that they are happy in their new home. They have developed positive relationships with staff, which helps them feel safe and settled. Managers and staff take time to engage in meaningful activities, such as playing chess and football, which the child enjoys. This individual attention helps the child feel valued and listened to, promoting their emotional well-being and sense of belonging.

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improvement to be good

Moves into and out of the home are not always as well-planned as they could be. While basic arrangements are in place, there is limited consideration to prepare children emotionally for these significant changes. One child was abruptly discharged from the home while they were spending time with family. This was a decision that reflected the child’s own views and wishes. However, a more thoughtful ending to their time and the relationships they had made at the home would have made this a more positive experience for the child and allowed more effective planning to take place.

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improvement to be good

Children are actively involved in choosing the hobbies and events they take part in, and they feel that they have their preferences listened to. Staff respond positively when they make requests. Children also have opportunities to engage in community sports and activities that promote their social development and confidence.

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improvement to be good

The child is making good progress in their education, with improvements noted in attendance since living at the home. Staff work closely with education providers to support children’s learning, address any barriers to this and help children achieve their future aspirations. Children are encouraged to take part in cultural events and celebrations. This helps them develop a better understanding of their wider environment. Inspection report for children’s home: 2599399 4 One child has had the opportunity to invite friends to the home, which helps them maintain important relationships and contributes positively to their emotional well-being.

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improvement to be good

Children know how to make a complaint and feel confident to speak up. However, records show that not all aspects of complaints are consistently explored or followed up in detail. This limits the manager’s ability to fully understand children’s experiences and ensure appropriate outcomes. While some action has been taken, these shortfalls mean that opportunities to drive improvement and learning are not always being taken.

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improvement to be good

Staff have not always taken appropriate actions in response to potential risks to children. On one occasion, staff did not effectively monitor children spending time together in line with their plans. On another, staff were delayed in seeking additional support when they were unable to manage children’s behaviour, which could have put them at risk.

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improvement to be good

There have been some incidents of children being missing from home. Staff follow children and make extensive searches of the local area. However, staff lack the skills needed to pre-empt children’s behaviours and enforce clear boundaries. For example, children who are known to go missing with one another were supported to go to the park together in the evening, without proper consideration of risks, and they used this as an opportunity to run off, away from staff. On some occasions, managers have not taken action to fully understand the risks children may face when away from the home.

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improvement to be good

Room searches are undertaken daily as part of an agreed safety plan with the child’s placing local authority. While these searches are intended to safeguard the child, they are not consistently recorded as a formal room search and are often described as a ‘tidy’. This means there is a lack of clear and accurate documentation, which affects transparency and oversight to ensure these room searches are necessary and appropriate. When items that the child should not have had were identified, staff acted appropriately to remove these, and this safeguarded the child. However, there is a lack of professional curiosity about how the child obtained these items and what their intentions may have been. This presents as a missed opportunity to better understand risks.

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improvement to be good

Staff are safely recruited, and appropriate checks are undertaken before they begin working with children. Once appointed, there is a thorough onboarding process that includes staff completing an array of training. This supports staff to feel confident in their role and promotes the quality of care provided to children.

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

The home has experienced changes in management since the last inspection. Staff express optimism about the new manager and direction of the home. Senior leaders made a positive choice to close the home for over two months to make improvements, Inspection report for children’s home: 2599399 5 and more recently, they have made the decision to limit the number of children they care for at the same time. This demonstrates their commitment to ensuring they are delivering a good quality of care to children and prioritising safety and well-being over occupancy pressures.

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

Internal auditing processes are in place to monitor the quality of care. These audits have been strengthened by the involvement of other managers and senior leaders. However, they are not yet fully effective in identifying shortfalls and ensuring that learning is identified and embedded to support sustained improvements to children’s care.

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

Staff receive regular supervision, which provides opportunities to reflect on their practice and discuss the needs of children as well as address performance concerns as necessary. Leaders address practice issues, including additional training for staff as necessary. However, annual appraisals have not been completed. This is a missed opportunity to formally review staff performance, set developmental goals and support their professional growth to help improve the care that they provide to children.

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

Nearly all staff hold the required qualification for their role. This supports them to have the knowledge and skills to care for children. In addition, some staff have worked at the home for a long time, providing consistency and experience. However, some children have expressed barriers with some members of staff, which have affected the quality of communication and the children’s ability to build relationships. Plans are in place to overcome these challenges and promote more effective communication.

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

There have been two incidents where leaders and managers have failed to notify the regulator promptly that a serious incident has occurred. This compromises the regulator’s ability to monitor safeguarding practices. Inspection report for children’s home: 2599399 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

that staff assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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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;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that complaints are fully explored, that staff take actions to reduce risks to children who may go missing, and that staff take effective action to understand children’s risks.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at last inspection and is restated. 11 June 2025

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that— 11 June 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2599399 7 any limitation placed on a child’s privacy or access to any area of the home’s premises—

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Requirement Due date

is kept under review and, if necessary, revised; and

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Requirement Due date

allows children as much freedom as is possible when balanced against the need to protect them and keep them safe. (Regulation 21 (c)(iii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that room searches are always recorded and that managers have effective oversight of them.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child —

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(d)(i)(e)) 11 June 2025

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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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)(c)) 11 June 2025

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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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

plan for, and help, each child to prepare to leave the home or to move into adult care in a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with the child’s placing authority. (Regulation 14 (1)(b) (2)(iii)) 11 June 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2599399 8

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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: 2599399 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 5th Floor, Metropolitan House, 3 Darkes Lane, Potters Bar, Hertfordshire EN6 1AG

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Inspector

Chrisoula Contoyianni, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2599399 10 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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