Children's Home run by Able Health Care Ltd in Suffolk

Inspection report for children’s home: SC408714 1 SC408714 Registered provider: Able Health Care Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately run home provides care for up to seven children with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, four children were living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager started in July 2025 and 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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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

Date of last inspection: 15 January 2025

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC408714 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/01/2025 Full Good 06/03/2024 Full Good 31/10/2022 Full Good 01/02/2022 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: SC408714 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, two children have moved out and one child has moved into the home. All four of the children living there spoke with the inspector during the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers carefully plan children’s moves into the home. Before the new child moved in, staff visited them, and the child also visited the home. Managers thoughtfully considered the needs of the children already living at the home. The existing children had dinner with the new child, developing early relationships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have warm and nurturing relationships with children. Children experience stability in this home. Most of the children have lived in the home for more than a year. Children experience positive endings. One child was supported to return to the care of their parents, and the other child moved to supported accommodation. This was in line with the local authority care plans for the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff prioritise plans for adulthood. They support children to learn independence skills, such as maintaining personal hygiene, laundry, cooking and budgeting. This helps children to prepare for their future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children freely express themselves. Staff engage children in meaningful conversations about their uniqueness and individuality. In addition, staff support children to explore their identity. Staff offer appropriate challenge to discriminatory views and encourage understanding. As a result, children feel safe and empowered to be themselves, making the home an inclusive space.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff prioritise children’s education and encourage the children to regularly attend school. Leaders and managers also work jointly with other professionals to ensure children have bespoke learning packages. Staff also support children in the home with home learning activities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand children’s health needs and support children to attend routine health appointments. When staff have concerns about children’s health, they engage health professionals. For example, staff have advocated for one child to have their neurodiverse needs assessed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to spend time with important people in their lives and facilitate family time for the children. In addition, staff maintain regular communication with children’s families. Staff also encourage children to spend time with their friends in the community. This helps children to maintain important connections.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide children with a wide range of activities. Children have trips to London, theme parks and the seaside and take part in leisure activities such as swimming and Inspection report for children’s home: SC408714 4 golf. Staff capture these memorable events and achievements through ‘magic moments’ books. This helps children keep special memories for the future.

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

Staff use a therapeutically informed approach to understand children’s behaviour. Staff understand children’s vulnerabilities, risks and strengths. As a result, staff offer children individualised care. Staff interact warmly with the children. In turn, the children report good relationships with staff.

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

Staff support children to calm down when feeling upset, using strategies such as distraction, calm voices and negotiation. Staff rarely use physical interventions, and all incidents of restraint have a clear rationale for their use. Following incidents, managers quickly speak to the children and staff members involved. In addition, staff spend quality time with children to explore their feelings and repair relationships.

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

Children are supported to keep themselves safe. Staff have conversations with children about online safety and other important issues, such as healthy relationships and transitioning to adulthood. In addition, staff provide children with clear and consistent boundaries. As a result, th he frequency of incidents is reducing.

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

When there are concerns about staff practice, managers respond quickly. They share information with relevant professionals, such as the local authority designated officer and social workers. Managers promptly complete investigations and address practice concerns with staff. However, there was one incident when staff did not share a safeguarding concern immediately with managers; this limited their ability to respond quickly.

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

Children rarely leave the home without adult permission. When they do, staff follow missing-from-home protocols. Staff immediately look for children in the local area, notify the police and try to establish contact, asking them to return home. However, there is no system to request return home interviews. This is a missed opportunity to learn from incidents and improve children’s safety.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Since the last inspection, there have been several leadership changes. The new manager has made improvements. They have taken action to address practice concerns and are ambitious for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers work effectively with parents and professionals to ensure children’s needs are met. The registered manager meets regularly with professionals to discuss the support for children. Managers also advocate on children’s behalf; for example, the manager has challenged education professionals to provide a bespoke learning package for one child. Inspection report for children’s home: SC408714 5 The home has a learning culture. Managers and staff learn from incidents. For example, following an incident, a child shared with management how they want staff to use ‘touch’. This helps staff to understand this child better and how to respond to them when upset. In addition, managers monitor progress for each child every month. This helps to improve staff practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children benefit from being cared for by long-standing staff. Staff report positive morale, good teamwork and feeling well supported by management. Consequently, the home has a stable workforce. In addition, staff have regular team meetings that are focused on their well-being and children’s needs. Managers provide coaching and additional training during these meetings. However, staff have not been regularly supervised in line with the home’s policy; therefore, opportunities for staff support have been lost.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff access a wide range of training that enables them to meet children’s needs. In addition, staff and management consult a therapist, who provides guidance to staff about caring for children. Most of the staff members have a relevant level 3 qualification; however, one staff member has passed the required time frame. The registered manager identified this and agreed a plan with the staff member. Inspection report for children’s home: SC408714 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 registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform.

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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained—

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Requirement Due date

the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) ("the Level 3 Diploma"); or

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Requirement Due date

a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma.

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls 2 years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home; or

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who was working in a care role in a home on 1st April 2014, 1st April 2016. (Regulation 32 (1) (3)(b) (4)(a)(b) (5)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that staff obtain a relevant qualification within the specified time frames. 30 April 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: SC408714 7

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff report any allegation of abuse immediately to a senior manager within the home. Any allegation of harm or abuse must be addressed in line with the home’s child protection policy. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 44, paragraph 9.17)  The registered person should have a system in place to request return home interviews from the responsible authority. The responsible local authority must provide opportunity for the child to have an independent return home interview. Homes 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)  The registered person should keep a record of supervision for staff, including the manager. The record should provide evidence that supervision is being delivered in

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Recommendations

line with regulation 33 (4)(b). (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.3)

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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: SC408714 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Able Health Care Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: c/o Argyle House, 3rd Floor Northside, Joel Street, Northwood Hills HA6 1NW

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Inspector

Priscilla Koroka, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC408714 9 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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