Children's Home run by Emerald Training and Medical Staffing LTD in Greenwich

Inspection report for children’s home: 2835923 1 Registered provider: Emerald Training and Medical Staffing 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 privately owned home provides care for up to three children with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home and the manager registered with Ofsted in June. The manager is suitably qualified. The responsible individual left in July 2025, and a new person has been recruited. Ofsted are in the process of assessing their suitability.

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Information about this children’s home

During this inspection, one child moved out of the home and another child moved in. One child was spoken with.

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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: not previously inspected

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2835923 2

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improvement to be good

Children have varied experiences in the home. Shortfalls in the home’s leadership and safeguarding practice have led to the overall judgement of requires improvement to be good.

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improvement to be good

Children have not always had well-planned admissions into the home. While one child settled successfully, two other children moved into the home a day apart without a robust assessment of their needs. Leaders and managers did not consider how each child’s needs may affect the other child. This led to the sudden disruption of one child’s placement and the decision to end the other child’s placement two months later. Leaders and managers understand that children should have a well-planned and positive experience of moving on from the home. They have reflected on and learned from this episode and taken action to minimise the risk of this happening again.

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improvement to be good

Children are supported to attend education. Staff ensure that arrangements are in place for children to travel safely to and from their schools.

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improvement to be good

Children’s health needs are met. They are registered with local health providers and supported to attend routine appointments. The registered manager is proactive in ensuring that health appointments are arranged when needed.

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improvement to be good

Children are supported to maintain important relationships. The registered manager and staff facilitate the practical arrangements for children to spend time with their families and advocate for the arrangements to be in children’s best interests.

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improvement to be good

Children’s complaints are investigated. However, they are not provided with a written response that explains what was found and the outcome of their complaint. This means that children are not given reassurance that their concerns are explored and that action has been taken to address them.

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improvement to be good

The home is a warm, welcoming, clean, and tidy environment. Children’s bedrooms are spacious and well furnished.

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improvement to be good

Incidents are not always well managed. There are occasions when staff have lacked the experience and skills to de-escalate situations and have contacted the police to manage situations in the home. One incident led directly to a child’s placement abruptly ending. Case recordings sometimes lack the details of actions taken by staff, which makes it difficult to identify any practice issues. Manager oversight is in place but sometimes provides insufficient analysis and actions for staff. Inspection report for children’s home: 2835923 3 Children’s main risks are assessed. Risk assessments give clear guidance for staff on strategies for managing situations where children may be at risk. However, they lack information about the triggers for behaviours, and as a result, staff are not provided with a shared understanding of how to de-escalate situations. Staff do not always follow children’s risk assessments. For example, on one occasion, a staff member did not

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improvement to be good

undertake the level of welfare checks set out in the child’s risk assessment, and as a result, the emergency services were called to the home. Furthermore, risk assessments are not always updated following incidents.

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improvement to be good

Staff engage children in regular key-work sessions. These are individualised and focus on the pressing aspects in children’s lives. Children’s records reflect that children can be open with staff about their feelings and are provided with sensitive support for their emotional needs.

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improvement to be good

Staff follow the home’s protocol when children go missing from the home. They actively look for them and report to the relevant agencies and welcome children home when they return. However, the records for missing episodes are variable, with some lacking detail about actions taken by staff. Furthermore, independent return home interviews are not always requested after children return home.

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

Leadership and management of the home are unstable. The responsible individual left within three months of the home opening. The director’s involvement in the day-to-day running of the home is unclear. This has resulted in allegations being made against her by children and staff and undermines the registered manager’s role. This overreaching approach has led to difficulties within the staff team and impacted on the running of the home.

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

Staff have regular supervision with the registered manager and report feeling well supported by her. Supervisions are comprehensive and where appropriate they address shortfalls in staff practice. However, two staff members involved in an incident requiring an internal investigation did not receive supervision until over a month later. Furthermore, when supervision did take place, there was no discussion about the incident, or investigation. This reduced management oversight of practice and opportunities to follow through with the recommendations of the investigation.

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

Internal investigations following allegations against staff are not always aligned with the home’s own policy. One individual who was subject to an investigation was not kept informed during the process or provided with support. The report was not made available until over two months after the incident, which meant the registered manager was unable to implement its recommendations in a timely manner.

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

Staffing levels are not always safe. Leaders and managers have failed to assess safe staffing levels as outlined in the home’s lone working policy and have not considered all the potential risks to children and staff. There were repeated occasions when one child Inspection report for children’s home: 2835923 4 was living in the home with just one staff member working. This presented potential risks to the child and staff that were not considered. Furthermore, the deputy manager has worked shifts as a support worker, which blurs her roles and responsibilities and reduces management capacity.

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

Leaders and managers do not regularly monitor the quality of children’s care in the home. As a result, there are limited opportunities to learn from children’s experiences and drive improvements in the home.

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

The staff team is made up of permanent employees, and agency workers are not used. This provides consistency and continuity for children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2835923 5

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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

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

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

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;

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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, leaders and managers must ensure that children’s risks are fully assessed before they move into the home; that children’s risk assessments identify the triggers for behaviours that place children at risk and are reviewed following incidents; that staff follow children’s risk assessments; that safeguarding 7 November 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2835923 6 incidents are recorded in full; and that manager’s oversight of safeguarding incidents includes clear guidance for staff.

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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

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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

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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

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; 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)(d)(g)(i)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that employees work within the roles they are recruited to; that there are clear boundaries between the different roles in the home; that staff have the skills and experience to support the assessed needs of children in the home; and that decisions about the number of staff on each shift are informed by assessment of children’s needs and risks. 7 November 2025

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children— 7 November 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2835923 7 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)

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy which—

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Requirement Due date

is intended to safeguard children accommodated in the children’s home from abuse or neglect; and

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sets out the procedure to be followed in the event of an allegation of abuse or neglect.

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Requirement Due date

The procedure to be followed in the event of an allegation of abuse or neglect must, in particular—

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provide for records to be kept of an allegation of abuse or neglect, and the action taken in response. (Regulation 34 (1)(a)(b) (2)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that they review and follow the home’s procedures in the event of an allegation and that they obtain reports from internal investigations in a timely manner. 14 November 2025

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that when a child returns to the home after being missing from care or away from the home without permission, the responsible local authority provides an opportunity for the child to have an independent return Inspection report for children’s home: 2835923 8 home interview. Leaders and managers should take account of information provided by such interviews 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)

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Information about this inspection

The inspector has 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: 2835923 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Emerald Training and Medical Staffing Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 36 Ampleforth Road, London SE2 9BL

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Inspector

Jo Mitchell, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2835923 10 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 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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