Children's Home run by Sherlock Healthcare Services Ltd in Solihull

Assurance inspection report for children's home: 2630680 1 Registered provider: Sherlock Healthcare Services Ltd

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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 operated by a private organisation. The home provides care for up to seven children who have social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

Three children were living at the home at the time of this inspection. Two children spoke with the inspector.

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Information about this children’s home

An experienced manager leads the team and has applied to register with Ofsted.

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Inspection date: 26 November 2025

Judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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Inspection date: 26 November 2025

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Information about this inspection

At this inspection, the inspector evaluated:

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Information about this inspection

 the care of children  the safety of children  the effectiveness of leaders and managers. The inspector has 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 children's home: 2630680 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

Children make notable progress in key areas, including emotional regulation, daily routines, independence skills, engagement in education and building positive relationships with staff. Staff provide a nurturing, child-centred environment where children feel listened to, respected and supported to achieve their goals. Children experience warm and positive interactions with staff and managers. They say they feel happy and safe living in the home and can identify the progress they have made since moving in.

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Findings from the inspection

The manager, along with senior leaders, has begun implementing systems to strengthen oversight across all areas of the home. This includes introducing a range of internal auditing and review processes, as well as overhauling the electronic recording system. Leaders have also appointed an improvement partner and a quality and development manager. These are positive early steps. However, managers have not been sufficiently curious or rigorous in reviewing incidents to identify and address practice shortfalls promptly. These gaps in oversight increase the potential for children to be left vulnerable to harm.

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Findings from the inspection

The manager’s monitoring and review systems are mostly effective. Internal audits appropriately identify strengths and areas for improvement in the quality of care provided to children. The independent visitor consistently seeks children’s views, which are used to inform practice. However, the registered person does not ensure that the independent visitor is supported to gather feedback from parents and stakeholders. This limits the use of external views to inform service development and improve the quality of care for children.

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Findings from the inspection

Actions to safeguard children when they are missing from the home are not sufficiently robust. Managers do not ensure that procedures clearly outline staff roles and responsibilities or reflect the specific risks to individual children. Risk management plans relating to episodes of children going missing, independent time and exploitation lack clarity and consistency, and do not provide staff with the guidance needed to safeguard children effectively. Although new risk plans have been developed, these are not yet fully embedded in practice.

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Findings from the inspection

Managers have not always ensured that Ofsted is informed of serious incidents in a timely manner. Delays in notifications weaken external safeguarding oversight and may increase the risk of harm to children.

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Findings from the inspection

Leaders and managers understand the areas that require improvement and have begun to take action. However, many of the new measures remain in their early stages and have not yet been embedded. Assurance inspection report for children's home: 2630680 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

30/06/2025 Full Requires improvement to be good 14/05/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good 09/10/2023 Full Good 07/02/2023 Full Good Assurance inspection report for children's home: 2630680 4

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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

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

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff are provided with up-to-date, relevant and role-specific guidance to enable them to recognise risks effectively and take appropriate action to keep children safe.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must specify the procedures to be followed and the roles and responsibilities of staff when a child is missing from home or away from the home without permission. This specifically relates to risk management plans, to provide clear guidance for staff to follow to ensure children are safe when they are missing or away from home without permission. 25 January 2026

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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— 25 January 2026 Assurance inspection report for children's home: 2630680 5 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

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)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that:

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Requirement Due date

when incidents are reviewed, shortfalls in practice are identified and addressed promptly and that clear, timebound action plans are implemented to address them;

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Requirement Due date

the independent visitor is supported to gain the views of parents and stakeholders, to ensure that external feedback is used to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care review report is sent to Ofsted within 28 days of the date the review is completed.

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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))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that all serious and significant incidents are notified to Ofsted within the required timescales, in accordance with regulation. Failure to do so limits external oversight and undermines the safeguarding of children. 25 January 2026 Assurance inspection report for children's home: 2630680 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Sherlock Healthcare Services Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Suite LP38724, 20-22 Wenlock Road, London N1 7GU

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Hilton Mutariswa

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Inspector

Nateisha Cardoza-Evans, Social Care Inspector Assurance inspection report for children's home: 2630680 7 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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Inspector

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