Children's Home run by Hexagon Care Services Limited in Blackpool

Inspection report for children’s home: 1221357 1 Registered provider: Hexagon Care Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is one of several homes owned by a private provider. It provides care for up to four children who may have social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

There were three children living in the home at the time of this inspection. One child has moved out, and one child has moved into the home since the last inspection. The inspector spoke to two children about their experiences of living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has left the employment of the provider since the last inspection. A new manager has been recruited and is currently overseeing the home. She has applied to register with Ofsted.

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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: 13 January 2025

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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: 1221357 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/01/2025 Full Good 26/07/2023 Full Good 12/10/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 23/11/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 1221357 3

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improvement to be good

The majority of the staff team are newly recruited since the last inspection. Children are beginning to form positive relationships with the new staff caring for them. One child spoke fondly of the staff and has given them funny nicknames. Children are learning that they can talk to the adults around them openly and without judgement. However, shortfalls in the leadership and management have impacted on children’s experiences in the home. This has been identified by senior leaders and the new manager of the home, who are taking steps to address the concerns.

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improvement to be good

Care planning for children is not consistent. Children’s care plans are not always updated with the most recent information. Staff are supporting one child with their independence, which includes shopping and cooking for themselves. However, there is no clear plan in place that identifies the skills the child needs to be supported with. This limits staff’s ability to provide individualised support and ensure that the child can move towards independence successfully.

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improvement to be good

Staff ensure that children spend time with their families. Professionals praise the efforts that staff go to by travelling some distance with children when they are placed far away from their family. This has helped one child in particular to stay connected to the people who are important to them as well as their local community.

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improvement to be good

Children’s progress in education is varied. One child who previously did not attend any form of education is now regularly engaging with a tutor, due to the support provided by staff. However, one child spends significant periods of time in their bedroom when they do not attend school. Staff do not always provide them with an opportunity to engage in informal learning in the home or through activities. This is a missed opportunity to ensure that the child continues to learn outside a formal education setting.

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improvement to be good

The home is generally well maintained and has several communal areas for children to use as they wish. Leaders and managers have introduced a seating area in the kitchen so children can sit together and with staff during mealtimes. This supports children to develop their social skills and build positive relationships with each other.

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improvement to be good

Staff supervision of children is not consistently effective. Leaders and managers do not provide staff with clear guidance in children’s risk plans to ensure that they are prevented from harming each other. This resulted in a safeguarding concern where one child raised an allegation of a sexually inappropriate incident with another child. The manager and deputy manager have identified this shortfall and are taking steps to review children’s risk plans. Inspection report for children’s home: 1221357 4 Children’s records do not always contain the necessary detail. There is confusion between managers and staff as to how they organise records. This weakens the management oversight of incidents to ensure that children are safeguarded effectively.

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improvement to be good

Staff understand the importance of talking with children about their individual vulnerabilities. They discuss topics such as sexual health and online safety so that children learn how to keep themselves safe. However, not all risks identified for individual children have been addressed. For example, staff have not had meaningful discussions about exploitation with the child that this is a known risk for.

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improvement to be good

When children go missing from home, staff go out to look for them, and they contact the relevant professionals. They keep a clear record of the places the children may go so that they know where to search. As a result, the number of missing-from-home episodes has reduced for one child since they moved into the home.

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers ensure that safer recruitment checks are completed for new members of staff. This ensures that the staff caring for the children are safe to do so.

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

A significant number of staff have left the home since the last inspection. The home was without a manager for several weeks, and there were significant challenges with staff sufficiency. There is now a new manager in post, and the majority of the staff team are new to the home. However, the team has now stabilised, and the manager and deputy manager are committed to addressing the shortfalls that have been identified.

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

Leaders and managers have not ensured that all incidents are clearly recorded. Some incidents are missing from children’s files or are poorly recorded, although there is some evidence of the necessary actions being taken. This limits the effectiveness of management oversight to ensure safeguarding practice is robust.

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

Supervision sessions for staff are carried out regularly and consistently. When the home was without a manager, the deputy manager took on the task of completing all staff supervision and the induction of several new staff. Staff are provided with a reflective space to reflect on their learning and areas for development.

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

Leaders and managers ensure that the newly recruited staff have the skills they need to care for children. Many of the staff have previous experience in residential childcare. They work alongside the staff who are less experienced to ensure that there is a balance of skills across the team.

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

Leaders and managers do not have effective monitoring systems in the home. Shortfalls in staff practice are not always identified and addressed, and strategies to manage risks for children are not consistently reviewed. This is a missed opportunity for managers to ensure that children’s risks are managed effectively by staff. Inspection report for children’s home: 1221357 5 Leaders and managers do not ensure that Ofsted is notified of significant incidents. For example, one child started a small fire in the home that led to the floor of the bathroom needing to be replaced. Another child made an allegation of a sexually inappropriate incident with another child. Neither incident was reported to the regulator. This limits the external oversight of safeguarding incidents to ensure that children are safe. Inspection report for children’s home: 1221357 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 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 the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child.

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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. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(e)(h))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that there are robust monitoring systems in the home to ensure that shortfalls in staff practice are addressed at the earliest opportunity, and strategies to reduce risks for children must be evaluated for their effectiveness. 14 November 2025

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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

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; 14 November 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 1221357 7 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

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.

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Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that children’s risk plans contain all the necessary information staff require, including the supervision arrangements for children, to keep them safe.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that staff hold regular conversations with children to ensure that they understand the risks to them and gain the necessary skills to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that the following items, which may be kept in electronic form, are kept in an accessible manner—

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Requirement Due date

children’s case records. (Regulation 38(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that all records relating to children are recorded accurately on each child’s file. This includes significant incidents and the actions taken by managers and staff. 14 November 2025

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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

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(e)) 14 November 2025

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so. 14 November 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 1221357 8 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

support each child’s learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study;

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Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally;

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Requirement Due date

help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible;

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Requirement Due date

help each child who is above compulsory school age to participate in further education, training or employment and to prepare for future care, education or employment;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the child’s relevant plans; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child has access to appropriate equipment, facilities and resources to support the child’s learning. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(viii)(ix)(x)(b))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that staff support children to engage in alternative education when they are not attending formal education.

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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 kept up to date; and 14 November 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 1221357 9 are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that all staff keep accurate records of conversations held with professionals that relate to the care of children.

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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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

ensure the effective induction of each child into the home;

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Requirement Due date

manage and review the placement of each child in the home; and

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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)(a)(b) (2)(b)(i)(ii)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that children’s placement plans are kept up to date with the relevant information to guide staff. Additionally, the registered person must ensure that there is a clear plan in place for children preparing to leave the home to support their independence. 14 November 2025

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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 Inspection report for children’s home: 1221357 10 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: 1221357 11

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Hexagon Care Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Hexagon Care, 1 Tustin Court, Port Way, Ashton-on- Ribble, Preston PR2 2YQ

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Inspector

Sarah Gilbert, Social Care Regulatory Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1221357 12 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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