Children's Home run by Midlands Care Services in Staffordshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2725985 1 Registered provider: Midlands Care Services

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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 home is owned by a private company and provides care for up to four children, who have a range of complex needs.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager left in December 2024. Since then, two managers have been appointed, but both have left the home. At the time of this inspection, there was no manager in post, and the responsible individual led the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

There were four children living in the home when the inspection took place, one of those children was not staying at the home at the time. Three children were spoken with during the inspection and shared their views.

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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: 22 October 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: 2725985 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

22/10/2024 Full Good 06/02/2024 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2725985 3

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improvement to be good

Instability of leadership and staffing in this home has affected children’s experiences. A high turnover of staff has resulted in inconsistency in the quality of care that children receive. There have been shortfalls in communication with children, their families and professionals because of the frequent changes. Changes in the manager position have affected the efficacy of oversight and means that issues have not always been addressed in a timely way. The responsible individual has a very good understanding of the areas for development and leaders are working through a clear action plan to address the concerns.

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improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, one child has moved on from the home, and two children have moved in. The child who moved on made excellent progress and was able to move on in line with their wishes and feelings and plans for their care. Children’s moves are well planned. Managers talk to relevant people to ensure they understand children’s needs and carefully consider how they can meet them before children move into the home.

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improvement to be good

High staff turnover has affected the stability of the home and the quality of relationships between staff and children. One child said that they find the changes difficult and do not always feel well supported because many staff are new. Despite the changes, children describe trusting relationships with some staff.

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improvement to be good

Children live in a home that is warm and welcoming. Staff decorate the home for special occasions and support children to personalise their bedrooms. They put photos of children and examples of children’s artwork on display around the home. This helps to create a sense of belonging for children and supports them to feel valued.

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improvement to be good

Staff support children to stay in touch with people who are important to them. Children’s relationships with people outside of the home are promoted and supported well. However, families describe inconsistency in the quality of communication with staff. A child’s parent said that a scheduled phone call had been missed, and they did not feel staff always keep them well informed about their child’s care. Poor communication weakens partnership working and reduces the effectiveness of support provided to children.

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improvement to be good

Staff and managers promote education. They advocate for children to ensure they have what they need. A child who had experienced a long period without education is now attending school. Another child was able to transfer their course when they moved on from the home, ensuring that they received continuity and their progress was not lost. For some children there has been less progress, however, staff are proactive at supporting them to explore options. While children make good progress in education a teacher described inconsistent communication with staff, impeding their ability to put in place support when a child is struggling. This was addressed by the responsible Inspection report for children’s home: 2725985 4 individual during the inspection and there is a plan to improve communication through regular phone calls and clear information sharing.

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improvement to be good

Communication between staff is not always effective. On one occasion, a new member of staff was not informed of important information relating to a child’s care. This resulted in the child experiencing emotional distress. Although staff apologised and sought to repair the situation, the incident affected the child’s trust in the relationships they had formed.

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improvement to be good

Children enjoy activities that enhance their experiences of living at the home. One child regularly attends football matches, and another child has enjoyed going to music concerts. Children enjoy holidays with staff. All children are offered activities in line with their interests. Activities help to develop their sense of self and enjoyment.

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improvement to be good

Staff poor practice has affected children’s experiences at the home, while leaders and managers have taken action to address concerns, staff have not always demonstrated that they have the right skills to support children effectively.

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improvement to be good

Staff are trained in de-escalation, and physical intervention is used rarely. However, there have been incidents where staff have struggled to manage children’s behaviours effectively. During an incident, agency staff members used physical intervention, which the manager said was not necessary. Managers took effective action in response to the concerns. Staff always speak to children after incidents of restraint, this helps to ensure that their views are captured, and any concerns can be identified and addressed. Children all say that they feel safe living in the home.

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improvement to be good

Risks relating to exploitation and children who go missing are managed well. Staff understand their roles and responsibilities in relation to children at risk in the community and are proactive at searching for children and sharing information with other professionals, to ensure effective safeguarding. Professionals commend staff for how well they have managed high levels of risk. Children’s risks of being exploited, and of going missing from care, have reduced over time.

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improvement to be good

Staff have struggled to promote positive relationships between children. Incidents have occurred that have resulted in police being called to the home in response to children’s concerns. While incidents have reduced, staff have not been effective in supporting children to build and maintain positive and healthy relationships with each other.

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improvement to be good

Staff benefit from the support and guidance of a therapeutic clinician. The clinician provides regular workshops to staff and works closely with them to reflect on practice and support them to understand how to deliver therapeutic care. However, changes in staffing have impacted on the efficacy of this and therapeutic practice is not yet embedded. Inspection report for children’s home: 2725985 5 Staff have not always ensured that children’s health needs are met. There was a delay in one child attending routine appointments. Staff did not ensure that actions from a health assessment took place. This resulted in a delay in a child obtaining blood tests that they needed. These have now taken place. For another child, staff did not work collaboratively with the child’s family to support them to attend appointments. Delays in children accessing appointments have potential to impact on their health and wellbeing.

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

There has been significant instability in the leadership and management of the home that has impacted on consistency of oversight. There has been three different managers in twelve months and there is not currently a manager in post. The responsible individual is overseeing the home with the support of the deputy manager and a quality assurance manager, who is recently appointed. They know the home, staff and children well, they understand the shortfalls and are working hard to address them. The responsible individual is highly committed and is dedicated to improving the home and outcomes for children.

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

Managers have not always taken effective action when children raise concerns. A child shared with professionals that they did not feel listened to as nothing had been done about their complaints. The responsible individual has ensured that effective action was taken once concerns were escalated to her, however, delays in responding to children’s concerns affect their trust and experiences.

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

The responsible individual has a good understanding of the areas for development for the home. The appointment of a quality assurance manager has significantly strengthened the leadership arrangements at the home. The quality assurance manager completed a comprehensive audit, which identified shortfalls in the standards of care. A clear action plan was created, and leaders are starting to work through it.

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

Staff say that they feel supported by senior leaders but describe struggling with the changes in manager. There has been a high turnover of staff at this home. As a result, children have not always experienced continuity of care from staff who know them well.

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

Staff benefit from a wide range of training and say that they find it helpful. A quality assurance audit identified where staff were falling behind on their relevant qualification. There is a clear plan to support staff to complete, including the offer of additional support sessions to help them to complete.

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

Staff have not always received formal supervision in line with the expectations of the organisation. There have been delays in some staff receiving appraisals. This is a shortfall that has been identified and recently the frequency of supervision has increased. The quality of supervision meetings is inconsistent. The responsible individual is aware that this is an area that needs to improve. Inspection report for children’s home: 2725985 6 Staff create written records of children’s experiences in the home. However, the quality of written records is inconsistent. This is a recording issue and has not impacted on children’s care. Leaders are aware that recording is an area of development for the staff team. Inspection report for children’s home: 2725985 7

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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, 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 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

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

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and 27 January 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2725985 8 use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)(ii) and (h)

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that there is a manager in post who provides consistent leadership and ensures that care is delivered in line with the ethos of the home.

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Requirement Due date

This also relates to ensuring that there are sufficient, consistent staff to provide children with continuity of care.

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Requirement Due date

This also relates to ensuring that children’s complaints are responded to in a timely way.

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Requirement Due date

This also relates to ensuring that staff are suitably skilled and experienced to de-escalate incidents effectively.

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This also relates to ensuring that effective communication is maintained between staff, professionals and children’s families.

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Requirement Due date

This also relates to ensuring that staff supervision meetings are of consistent quality and provide staff with support to develop in their roles. The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on— mutual respect and trust;

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an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and 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 and practise skills to resolve conflicts positively and without harm to anyone;

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Requirement Due date

strive to gain each child’s respect and trust; 27 January 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2725985 9 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

de-escalate confrontations with or between children, or potentially violent behaviour by children; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child is encouraged to build and maintain positive relationships with others

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 11(1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(iv)(viii)(ix)(xi) and (b)

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff have the skills to manage children’s interactions with each other and support them to build positive relationships.

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Requirement Due date

This also relates to the registered person ensuring that staff build positive trusting relationships with children. The health and well-being standard is that— the health and well-being needs of children are met;

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children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being; and

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children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles.

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In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that staff help each child to—

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Requirement Due date

achieve the health and well-being outcomes that are recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

understand the child’s health and well-being needs and the options that are available in relation to the child’s health and well-being, in a way that is appropriate to the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

take part in activities, and attend any appointments, for the purpose of meeting the child’s health and well-being needs; and

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Requirement Due date

understand and develop skills to promote the child’s well-being. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)) 27 January 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2725985 10 In particular, the registered person must ensure that actions from children’s health assessments take place in a timely way.

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Requirement Due date

This also relates to staff supporting children to attend appointments that they need.

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Recommendations

 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. 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)

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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: 2725985 11

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Midlands Care Services

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Office 1, Izabella House, 24-26 Regent Place, Birmingham, West Midlands B1 3NJ

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Inspector

Laura Norcop, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2725985 12 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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Inspector

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