Children's Home run by Assure Care Homes Ltd in Hampshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2666995 1 FOR PUBLIC RELEASE

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Registered provider: Assure Care Homes Ltd

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home provides care for up to four children with social and emotional difficulties. It is owned by a private organisation. At the time of this inspection, there were three children living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in August 2024.

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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

Date of last inspection: 24 September 2024

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2666995 2 FOR PUBLIC RELEASE

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/09/2024 Full Good 15/08/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 17/10/2022 Full Good 12/04/2022 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: 2666995 3 FOR PUBLIC RELEASE

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improvement to be good

Children are supported to make progress. Children have made progress with their independence and with their education. However, the lack of education for one child is a concern. Staff in the home have actively tried to resolve this and are supporting education in the home in the meantime.

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improvement to be good

Responses to children by staff are not always consistent, which has impacted on children’s well-being at times. Feedback from professionals is mixed. One professional said the staff ‘go above and beyond’ and others, while generally positive about the care the children receive, said staff turnover and communication had been an issue, though this was improving more recently. These issues had led to some children not receiving consistent care.

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improvement to be good

Staff in the home have advocated for children in a number of ways, however they have not informed children of their rights to access an independent advocate if required. As a result, children have not had access to an independent advocate when it was needed’

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improvement to be good

Staff have good relationships with children. Children laugh and joke with staff and staff respond warmly. Children are able to identify staff with whom they could share any concerns. Recent changes to the culture of the home have meant that one child now looks forward to staff coming on shift and spending time with them.

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improvement to be good

Two children have developed a positive relationship and recently went on holiday together with staff; they speak fondly about this experience. Children are encouraged and supported to participate in their hobbies. They enjoy the gym, playing football, board games and collecting their weekly magazines from the local shop. One child has been supported to build a personal computer from scratch.

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improvement to be good

Staff ensure that the cultural needs for the children are met. Arrangements have been made for one child who speaks English as an additional language to have an interpreter with them when they attend appointments. Children are supported to practise their faith and engage in cultural celebrations that are important to them.

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improvement to be good

Staff are aware of what good care and support should look like for children. However, when there was a significant safeguarding concern, this was not reported in a timely way to senior leaders. Although this concern is now being managed, senior leaders have not explored with staff why they did not raise concerns more quickly. This is a missed opportunity to improve safeguarding practices for children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2666995 4 FOR PUBLIC RELEASE

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improvement to be good

Senior leaders have been managing several investigations into the conduct of staff. This has impacted on them sharing safeguarding concerns with the wider system. One significant safeguarding concern was not shared with any external agencies for over four weeks. As a result, the child involved in the safeguarding concern did not receive any external support.

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improvement to be good

Staff are aware of children’s needs. Children’s needs are detailed in their plans, and staff can articulate these. However, not all children have their needs met. For one child, this has impacted his day-to-day experience.’

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improvement to be good

Staff are supporting children to manage their behaviour. As a result, there has been a reduction in the frequency and intensity of incidents requiring physical intervention from staff. However, management oversight of some incident reports lacks scrutiny. Avoidable incidents have not been identified or explored by the manager and some staff have not received debriefs after challenging incidents. This is a missed opportunity to improve staff practice and decision-making.

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improvement to be good

Senior leaders are taking steps to recruit suitable staff. There is partnership working between the organisation and local authorities and colleges to identify suitable candidates to work with children. The interview process has been enhanced to ensure that individuals applying to work with children are fully aware of the expectations of the role. Vacancies in the home are now being filled, which should enable better consistency for the children.

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good

Monitoring and reviewing systems are in place but are not always effective. Senior leaders were not aware that children have not had access to resources and support that would have enhanced their experiences or that damage to a child’s bathroom door had not been raised with the maintenance team.

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good

Until recently, there was a lack of cohesion in the staff team which was causing some conflict. This impacted on some staff’s ability to carry out their roles and raise necessary concerns. As a result, care for the children was not consistent.

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good

There has been an influx of new staff, many of whom do not have the experience of working with children with complex needs living in childrens homes. That said, staff report that they have mandatory training, their induction is comprehensive, and this has equipped them in their role. They state supervision sessions are reflec- tive, supportive and meet their needs. Senior leaders have taken steps to stabilise the staff team; however, the staff turnover has impacted upon the consistency of care provided to the children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2666995 5 FOR PUBLIC RELEASE

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good

During the inspection, additional concerns were raised and shared with senior leaders. Senior leaders have proactively responded to these concerns. Staff who have raised concerns have felt supported by leaders and managers.

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good

Senior leaders are supporting the deputy manager to lead the home until the new manager commences their role. Staff are supportive of the deputy manager and are welcoming the positive shift in the culture of the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2666995 6 FOR PUBLIC RELEASE

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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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

protect and promote each child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

treat each child with dignity and respect.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(i)(ii)(iii)) 24 September 2025

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Requirement Due date

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

seek to involve each child’s placing authority effectively in the child’s care, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that concerns for children are shared with the relevant authorities within an appropriate time frame. 24 September 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2666995 7 FOR PUBLIC RELEASE

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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

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

that the effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(vi)(e)) 24 September 2025

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child; and

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(e)(h)) 24 September 2025

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Requirement Due date

The children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

is given appropriate advocacy support. (Regulation 7 (1)(b)(iii)) 24 September 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2666995 8 FOR PUBLIC RELEASE

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that the children’s home is a well-maintained environment and that any damage is quickly rectified. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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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: 2666995 9 FOR PUBLIC RELEASE

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Assure Care Homes Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 4, Northbrook Industrial Estate, Hollybrook Road, Shirley, Southampton, Hampshire SO16 6PB

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Christopher Newman

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Inspector

Louise Webling, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2666995 10 FOR PUBLIC RELEASE

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Inspector

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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