Children's Home run by Mainstay Care and Support Limited in Warrington

Assurance inspection report for the children’s home: 2813433 1 Registered provider: Mainstay Care and Support Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned by a private provider. It provides care for one child who may have social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

There was one child 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 inspectors spoke with one child about their experiences of living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted on 30 September 2025.

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Inspection date: 5 November 2025

Judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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Inspection date: 5 November 2025

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Information about this inspection

At this inspection, the inspectors evaluated:

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Information about this inspection

 the care of children  the safety of children  the effectiveness of leaders and managers. Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children, using the social care common inspection framework. This assurance 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’. Assurance inspection report for the children’s home: 2813433 2

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Findings from the inspection

We did not identify any serious or widespread concerns in relation to the care or protection of children at this assurance inspection.

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Findings from the inspection

There have been several changes to the senior leadership team and managers at the home since the last inspection. The home is now overseen by a newly appointed registered manager and responsible individual, who have a wealth of experience in residential childcare. They are focused on making the necessary improvements to ensure that the child is receiving consistent, nurturing care from staff.

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Findings from the inspection

Managers and staff support the child to take part in activities that are important to them. Staff take the child some distance to the clubs they attended before moving to the home. This ensures that the child can continue to build their confidence and pursue their talents.

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Findings from the inspection

The child is encouraged to take the lead in making the house their home. Their artwork is proudly on display, and their pet rabbit runs around the home. The child has plans to redecorate their bedroom and is developing a sense of belonging to the home.

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Findings from the inspection

Staff sufficiency is a challenge for leaders and managers. The changes in the management of the home mean that staff vacancies have not been addressed in a timely way. Additionally, the child requires additional staff supervision to support their safety and well-being. This means that agency staff are often used to undertake shifts. Although managers try to ensure that the same agency staff are used, the child is sometimes cared for by people they do not know, and who do not fully understand their needs. This means that the care of the child is not always predictable and familiar and limits their ability to feel emotionally safe.

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Findings from the inspection

The registered manager is a strong advocate for the child. She ensures that staff work closely with professionals from other services, and challenge external professionals when the child is not provided with the care they need. This ensures that there is a strong multi-agency approach to reducing the risks for the child.

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Findings from the inspection

Leaders and managers provide staff with opportunities to attend training specific to the child’s needs. The registered manager is diligent in identifying the relevant external professionals who can share their expertise to improve the skills of staff. This is embraced by staff, who are motivated to develop their practice.

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Findings from the inspection

The child is beginning to make positive relationships with the staff. They enjoy spending time with staff, seeking them out to talk about things that are important to them. The child is beginning to trust staff and view them as sources of comfort and reassurance. However, conversations with the child about their risks are not always well planned and lack curiosity on the part of staff. This reduces the opportunity to increase the child’s skills in keeping themselves safe. This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. Assurance inspection report for the children’s home: 2813433 3 Staff know how to keep the child safe. The child has a health condition, meaning they experience health-related incidents. When incidents occur, staff respond quickly and follow the risk management plan created collaboratively with health professionals. However, leaders and managers do not always ensure that there is

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Findings from the inspection

clear guidance for staff to follow relating to other known risks. Although this has not resulted in a safeguarding concern, it is a missed opportunity to ensure that staff approaches to safeguarding are consistent. This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated.

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Findings from the inspection

Team meetings and supervision sessions are held regularly by managers. Staff are provided with a space to reflect on how the child’s previous experiences may impact on their behaviours. However, not all staff have a clear understanding of how to maintain professional boundaries with the child. This is an issue the registered manager is aware of and is taking action to address.

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Findings from the inspection

Feedback from the child’s social worker is extremely positive. They say that staff ‘go above and beyond’ in their care for the child. Incidents where the child becomes highly distressed are frequent, and staff respond with compassion and sensitivity. The child is learning that they are cared for by a team that is resilient and non- judgemental.

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Findings from the inspection

Leaders and managers do not always ensure that children’s information is recorded with clarity by staff. Records lack organisation and some information is missing from incident records. This limits the accessibility of managers and external scrutiny to ensure that staff practice is consistent and effective.

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Findings from the inspection

The shortfalls in the sufficiency in staff have reduced the effectiveness of the oversight by managers. The trainee manager and deputy manager have both worked shifts at the home, which has reduced the support for the registered manager. As a result, managers do not always evaluate incidents effectively to identify areas of improvement in staff practice. This is a missed opportunity for managers to identify areas where additional coaching and development for staff are needed. This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. Assurance inspection report for the children’s home: 2813433 4

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/05/2025 Full Requires improvement to be good Assurance inspection report for the children’s home: 2813433 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.

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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

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that children’s risk plans contain all the necessary information staff require to identify and minimise the risks for children.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that staff hold regular conversations with children to ensure that they understand 2 January 2025 Assurance inspection report for the children’s home: 2813433 6 the risks to them and gain the necessary skills to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated.

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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 promotes their welfare.

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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 work as a team where appropriate;

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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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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)(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(h))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that there are sufficient staff in the home so that the child is cared for by people who are familiar to them and understand their needs.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that there are robust systems of monitoring in the home to ensure that shortfalls in staff practice are identified and addressed at the earliest opportunity.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 2 January 2025 Assurance inspection report for the children’s home: 2813433 7 The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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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

meet each child’s behavioural and emotional needs, as set out in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop socially aware behaviour;

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Requirement Due date

communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand, in a way that is appropriate according to the child’s age and understanding, personal, sexual and social relationships, and how those relationships can be supportive or harmful;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop the understanding and skills to recognise or withdraw from a damaging, exploitative or harmful relationship;

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Requirement Due date

strive to gain each child’s respect and trust;

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Requirement Due date

understand how children’s previous experiences and present emotions can be communicated through behaviour and have the competence and skills to interpret these and develop positive relationships with children;

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Requirement Due date

are provided with supervision and support to enable them to understand and manage their own feelings and responses to the behaviour and emotions of children, and to help children to do the same. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(v)(vi)(vii)(ix)(x)) 2 January 2025 Assurance inspection report for the children’s home: 2813433 8 In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff understand how the child’s previous experiences impact their needs. Specifically, that staff have a competent understanding of professional boundaries and these are explained to the child in way they understand.

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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 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 maintain records for children that are accurate and contain the necessary detail. 2 January 2025 Assurance inspection report for the children’s home: 2813433 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Mainstay Care and Support Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Kenwright Accountants Ltd, Champions Business Park, Arrowe Brook Road, Wirral CH49 0AB

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Inspectors

Sarah Gilbert, Social Care Regulatory Inspector Dawn Walker, Regulatory Inspection Manager Assurance inspection report for the children’s home: 2813433 10 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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