Children's Home run by Alcedo Gold in Lancashire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2778311 1 Registered provider: Alcedo Gold

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A private provider runs this children’s home. The home provides care for up to two children who may be experiencing social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home was registered with Ofsted in April 2024. The registered manager post is vacant. Interim management arrangements are in place.

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Information about this children’s home

One child was living in the home at the time of this inspection and was spoken with by the inspector.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2778311 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/06/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2778311 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child lives in a welcoming, well-furnished, and maintained home. They choose the new decor in their bedroom and supported staff to redecorate. This reflects their self- expression, identity, and interests, and supports the child to take pride in their home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The interim manager and staff know the child well and promote their well-being. Staff follow individualised care plans to support the child’s development and to help them meet their goals and targets. Appropriate plans are in place to allow the child to develop independence skills for the future. One professional said, ‘Staff have listened to [name of child] wishes and feelings and commenced their independence plan early as requested. I am happy that [name of child] continues to remain happy and settled at [name of home] and their needs are being met to a high standard.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection one child has remained living in the home. They are making good progress in all aspects of their life. For example, the child has been out of education for some time. The interim manager worked closely with the child’s education provision to look at barriers to education and develop plans to support the child to overcome these. As a result, the child re-engaged with a blended education package and completed their GCSE exams.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child’s health needs are recognised and understood and are being met by staff. The child is supported to attend routine health appointments, however on two occasions they have declined to attend the dentist. The interim manager and staff are working creatively with the child to overcome the barriers to their attendance.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the importance of supporting the child to see their family and friends. This helps the child to have relationships with the people who are important to them and to maintain a sense of identity and belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff have built warm and nurturing relationships with the child. Positive relationships were observed between the child, staff, and management team. Staff work hard to ensure that the child feels listened to, this supports the child to express their, views, wishes and feelings and to be comfortable in the company of staff.

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

The care provided by the staff team has resulted in the child being safeguarded and their risks and vulnerabilities reducing. The child does not go missing from home, nor have the staff had to physically intervene to hold the child to keep them safe. This is due to the positive and trusting relationships the child has built with the staff.

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

The child’s individualised risk management plans are detailed, up to date and have relevant strategies for staff to follow to reduce and minimise risks. The staff understand Inspection report for children’s home: 2778311 4 the plans and know what action to take if there is a safeguarding concern. This helps the staff to keep the child safe and promote their wellbeing.

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

Staff are trained in a variety of safeguarding practices along with specific training to meet the needs of the child, such as, self-harm, suicidal ideation, missing from care, substance misuse and foetal alcohol syndrome. Due to this, staff are experienced in supporting the child to manage incidents of self-harm. They take immediate action to help the child and provide first aid and consult with relevant professionals to further support the child.

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

Staff talk to the child about their risks and vulnerabilities and look for triggers and new ways to help manage and reduce the risk. The child shared that they like the staff and managers and feel happy living in the home. They also shared that they feel staff keep them safe and this is the best children’s home they have lived in.

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

Staff are consistent in their expectations of the child’s behaviour and incidents are rare. On occasions the child struggles to manage their emotions. The staff manage this with sensitivity and understanding but also re-affirm the boundaries and expectations. This provides the child with a sense of safety.

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

The interim manager has updated and reviewed the review of premises report; however, they have failed to include all known risks in the local area such as open water, railway tracks and the main road. This does not provide staff with sufficient knowledge about the area and how to mitigate the potential risks.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The operations manager and responsible individual are currently managing the home. The manager has the relevant childcare and leadership and management qualification and has suitable experience. Improvements have been made to the quality of care provided to the child and the effectiveness of the management of the home has improved since the last inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff receive regular supervision in line with the home’s statement of purpose. Staff attend regular team meetings. They use this time well to reflect on their practice and the needs of the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff speak highly of the management team. One member of staff said, ‘I feel happy with the management who are always available to support me, and I have been made to feel very welcome and included in the team.’ Another member of staff said, ‘I feel as though the home is well run and it is easier to communicate with management, all in all it is a brilliant place to work.’ Staff feel happy in their roles, listened to and supported by the management team, as such staff morale is improving.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The leadership and management team have gathered limited feedback on the service and care provided to the child, from, the parent, staff and professionals working with the Inspection report for children’s home: 2778311 5 child. This is a missed opportunity for the management team to further develop the service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The interim manager welcomes external scrutiny of the quality of care provided to the child by the independent person who visits monthly. The manager is aware of the homes strengths and weaknesses identified through their own reviewing and monitoring systems. Inspection report for children’s home: 2778311 6

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Recommendations

◼ The registered person should ensure that they seek to develop the home’s effective working relationships and gather feedback from each child’s placing authority and from other relevant persons, such as parents, family members, organisations and establishments that work with children in the local community and the staff working with the children. This will support the provider in the development of the service in the future. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.3) ◼ The registered person should ensure that the home is suitably located so that children are effectively safeguarded and can access services to meet needs identified in their relevant plans. The review should include all risks presented by the home’s location and strategies for managing these. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.

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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: 2778311 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Alcedo House, Unit 14, Slaidburn Industrial Estate, Slaidburn Crescent, Southport PR9 9YF

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Inspector

Julie Elder, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2778311 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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