Children's Home run by Global Access Care Limited in West Northamptonshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2718082 1 Registered provider: Global Access Care Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned and managed by a private provider. It provides care for up to two children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in April 2023.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, one child was living at the home.

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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 inadequate

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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: 3 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: 2718082 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/09/2024 Full Good 18/10/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2718082 3

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improvement to be good

Since the last inspection three children have moved into the home, and three children have moved out. Children do not always move in or out of the home in a planned and supportive way.

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improvement to be good

Staff are not sufficiently trained to manage some of the complex behaviours the children display. Police have helped to manage such behaviours on occasions. At times, children have been arrested and have spent long periods in custody, which has a detrimental impact on their welfare.

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improvement to be good

Key-work discussions and daily recordings are not written effectively for children. They lack empathy and are not written in a therapeutic way. Words such as ‘placement’ are used instead of ‘home’.

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improvement to be good

Children can earn financial incentives for completing certain independent tasks. However, this is not discussed with them adequately, so lacks purpose. There is little evidence of staff talking to children about their worries or supporting them to make changes and improvements in their own well-being.

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improvement to be good

Home conditions are clean and tidy, but there are no visible signs of children living at the home. There have been no attempts to personalise the living areas or children’s bedrooms. There is a practice of unnecessarily locking doors around the home, restricting children’s access to areas to play and relax.

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improvement to be good

The child currently living at the home has been away from education for a year. The manager and staff have identified this as a priority. They are working hard to encourage this child back into education. As a result, this child has been attending school daily since the new term started.

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improvement to be good

Children’s health needs are well supported. Staff ensure that children attend all of their health appointments. The manager advocates for additional services when these are required. Children are offered activities in line with their interests, such as bowling and going to the fun fair.

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improvement to be good

One parent told the inspector that staff have been supportive recently towards her when she was having a tough time. Inspection report for children’s home: 2718082 4

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improvement to be good

The manager investigates allegations. However, records of these investigations are brief and contain little information about the incident. There is no evidence of opportunities for staff reflection and lessons learned. Furthermore, leaders and managers were unable to demonstrate that they had responded effectively to safeguarding concerns raised by a child.

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improvement to be good

Children have risk assessment documents that identify known risks. However, some of the more serious concerns are grouped together under a heading titled ‘Behaviours’, leaving room for staff to not fully understand the significance of the risk. This was evident when talking to a member of staff about risks to children, as they were unable to recall them without prompts. This area of practice requires improvement to ensure children are as safe as possible.

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers do not follow safe recruitment practice. They do not always evaluate gaps in employment history, and they fail to verify references. Therefore, the leadership team cannot be assured of the suitability of staff employed at the home.

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improvement to be good

Children do not regularly go missing from home. They have clear missing-from-care plans, which staff find easy to follow. On the occasions when children have gone missing from the home, staff have followed their plans and worked closely with family members and police colleagues to find them as swiftly as possible. However, when children return home, they are not always offered the opportunity to speak to somebody independent about their experience.

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improvement to be good

The use of physical intervention is a last resort. Incidents of such have been proportionate. Managers ensure that staff and children can talk about what has happened after each incident.

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improvement to be good

Staff understand the risks posed to children online. They educate children about staying safe online. Appropriate safeguards are in place to support online safety for children who have devices and access the internet.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The current management auditing system is not effective. It provides no analysis or opportunity to identify shortfalls in practice or the quality of children’s records. The language used is not always child centred, which is not helpful to any child who wishes to read their records now or in the future. When serious incidents occur, the lack of management oversight leads to a failure in addressing shortfalls in practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff do not always record safeguarding incidents in a timely manner. For example, a week’s delay was seen between incidents happening and them being recorded. Managers have failed to address this practice, therefore allowing it to continue. Inspection report for children’s home: 2718082 5 Staff do not receive professional supervision in line with the company policy. Team meetings take place on a regular basis and are well attended. However, staff have been allowed to make inappropriate suggestions to dealing with incidents which have been unaddressed by the manager and left to another member of staff to highlight the dangers of such poor practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager has no effective way of monitoring the effectiveness of staff training. The current monitoring system only accounts for five members of staff out of a team of 12 . The home’s statement of purpose does not reflect the staff currently employed, which is misleading to anyone who reads it.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager has a good relationship with staff and the child currently living at the home. This was evident from observations made. Two members of staff told the inspector how they feel supported by managers and that lines of communication are good. Inspection report for children’s home: 2718082 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

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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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

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

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Requirement Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; 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. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(c)(f)(g)(i)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This requirement is restated. 8 March 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2718082 7 In particular, ensure that all records are up to date, free from repetition and clear to the reader. Plans that record strategies to manage risk or behaviour must include current risks and be free from jargon and understood by all staff involved in the child’s care.

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Requirement Due date

Ensure that systems are in place to monitor the quality of care at the home so that continuous improvements can be made, and that improve the oversight of the manager and the responsible individual.

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Requirement Due date

Ensure that records for monitoring staff’s practice encourage learning through reflection and that staff are encouraged to work together to learn from one another through their experiences of working with children at the home.

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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;

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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; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies;

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Requirement Due date

that the effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii)(e)) 8 March 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2718082 8 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

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)(iii)) 8 March 2026

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must compile in relation to the children’s home a statement ("the statement of purpose") which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1.

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Requirement Due date

keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and

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Requirement Due date

notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16 (1) (3)(a)(b)) 26 October 2025

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Requirement Due date

children can access all appropriate areas of the children’s home’s premises; and

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Requirement Due date

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 intended to safeguard each child accommodated in the home;

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Requirement Due date

is kept under review and, if necessary, revised; and 26 October 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2718082 9 allows children as much freedom as is possible when balanced against the need to protect them and keep them safe. (Regulation 21 (b)(c)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home;

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Requirement Due date

if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

the individual is of integrity and good character;

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may permit an individual to start work at the home despite the fact that the requirement in paragraph (3)(d) has not been met if—

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Requirement Due date

the registered person has taken all reasonable steps to obtain full information about each of the matters in Schedule 2 in respect of the individual, but the enquiries in relation to any of the matters in paragraphs 3 to 6 of Schedule 2 are incomplete;

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information in respect of the individual has been obtained in relation to the matters in paragraphs 1 and 2 of Schedule 2;

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Requirement Due date

the registered person considers that the circumstances are exceptional; and

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Requirement Due date

the registered person ensures that the individual is appropriately supervised while carrying out the individual’s duties, pending receipt of any outstanding information on the matters in paragraphs 3 to 6 of Schedule 2, which is then considered satisfactory by the registered person.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must take reasonable steps to ensure that any individual who is working at the home and who does not fall within paragraph (2)(a) and (b) is appropriately supervised while carrying out the individual’s duties. 26 October 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2718082 10 (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a) (3)(a)(d) (7)(a)(b)(c)(d) (8))

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Requirement Due date

ensure that each employee completes an appropriate induction.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development;

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; and

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Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (1)(a) (4)(a)(b)(c)) 26 October 2025

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff take account of information provided by return home interviews, following an incident of a child going missing from care, when assessing risks and putting arrangements in place to protect each child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30)  The registered person should ensure that staff encourage children to take a proactive role in looking after their day-to-day health and well-being, paying particular attention to tending to their own personal hygiene. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 44, paragraph 7.10)  The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising

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Recommendations

way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4) Inspection report for children’s home: 2718082 11

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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: 2718082 12

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Global Access Care Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Corby Business Centre, Einsmann Way, Corby NN17 5ZB

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Inspector

Angela Ross, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2718082 13 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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