Children's home run by Cambian Childcare Limited

Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2770974 1 Registered provider: Cambian Childcare 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 privately owned. It provides care for up to 5 children with mental health difficulties and who may not be able to live in the community without continued support.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, 2 children were living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

There has been no registered manager since 12 March 2025. A manager is in post and has applied to be registered with Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

There is a separately registered school on site. The inspector only inspected the social care provision.

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Information about this children’s home

Judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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Information about this children’s home

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 Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2770974 2 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: 2770974 3

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Findings from the inspection

We identified the following serious and/or widespread concerns in relation to the care or protection of children at this assurance inspection:

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Findings from the inspection

 Failure from leaders and managers to provide appropriate oversight to restraints and whether the threshold for restraint has been met.  Failure by leaders and managers to follow up complaints from children in a timely and appropriate way.  Staff have not taken all possible action in response to serious self-harm.  Staff are not skilled at engaging with children after they have refused initial help.

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Findings from the inspection

At the full inspection on 7 and 8 April 2025, the service was graded as requires improvement to be good. The purpose of this assurance visit was to assess whether the requirements set at the full inspection had been met.

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Findings from the inspection

At the time of the inspection, 2 children were living at the home. Both have complex needs and risks. Children’s plans do not include all current risks and do not provide enough guidance for staff to take, particularly when children refuse staff’s initial responses. For example, one child swallowed button batteries. Staff offered to take the child to hospital, but the child refused. Staff took no further immediate action, such as calling health professionals, to ensure the child’s safety. This lack of guidance, and lack of understanding from staff, puts children at risk of harm.

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Findings from the inspection

One child has been restrained on several occasions. The records for these restraints raise questions about whether the threshold for restraint was met. The manager has evaluated restraints; however, he has not identified the issues arising about the reasons for the restraints. On one occasion, the child was restrained to move them up a flight of stairs. The child complained that they had bruises on their ankles and arms. The manager did not demonstrate professional curiosity about the reason for the restraint and whether the bruises could have come from this hold.

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Findings from the inspection

The failure to provide appropriate oversight of restraints means that poor practice has gone unchallenged. Staff have not been given opportunities to reflect on their decisions and improve their judgements and responses to children.

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Findings from the inspection

One child made a further complaint about a restraint and made an allegation against a member of staff. The manager responded to the child; however, he has not recognised that an allegation has been made which requires multi-agency input. As a result, safeguarding partners and the social worker were not made aware. This limits the level of appropriate action that can be taken to ensure that safe practice is taking place from staff. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2770974 4 One child is at risk of child sexual exploitation. Staff advised that the child’s phone should be checked daily; however, the child often refuses. There has been no further guidance to staff on how to mitigate any risks associated with this or what they should do to engage the child better.

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Findings from the inspection

Records show that staff do not use the therapeutic model when responding to children. This has not been identified by the manager. The opportunities where this could be discussed with staff, such as team meetings and supervision sessions, have not been used. This means that staff have not been made aware that there are improvements that they need to make.

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Findings from the inspection

One child attends school on a part-time basis. They attend school daily; however, it is not clear what learning opportunities are provided around this timetable. Staff explained that the other child is often in their bed all day, scrolling on their phone. There are not clear instructions in place for staff to understand what children should be doing during day and how staff should encourage children to take part in meaningful, educational activities.

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Findings from the inspection

Children do not have clear routines. Records demonstrate that children are often in bed until late in the morning. It is not clear what staff do to motivate children. Records also show that children can be awake and downstairs late in the evening. On occasion, staff have engaged with children until early in the morning. The reasons for this are unclear. This means that staff are not encouraging children to have healthy sleeping and waking routines.

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Findings from the inspection

Some incidents of serious self-harm have taken place. These include a child inserting small items into wounds. These incidents have not been reported to Ofsted. This limits the oversight that Ofsted has of the service.

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Findings from the inspection

Since the last inspection, 3 managers have been in place. The home has been without a registered manager for over 26 weeks. The current manager started in July 2025 as the interim manager. He is now the permanent manager and has recently submitted his application to register with Ofsted.

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Findings from the inspection

One child was spoken to. They say they enjoy being in the home and that they feel cared for. They articulated that there are staff who are ‘amazing’. Thoughtful relationships were observed between the child and staff, particularly with the manager, who understands how to interact with the child in a way they can respond to positively.

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Findings from the inspection

The number of incidents taking place is beginning to reduce. This demonstrates some progress that children are making, and they feel more able to seek staff support. This has also contributed to a decrease in calling emergency services for help. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2770974 5

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/04/2025 Full Requires improvement to be good 28/10/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good 30/07/2024 Full Inadequate Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2770974 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 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

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

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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)(f)(g)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must provide effective oversight and monitoring of safeguarding practice, including a review of the rationale for restraint taking place. They must respond to children’s complaints effectively, including those made about restraint, and involve safeguarding partners where required. 16 January 2026 Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2770974 7 Leaders and managers must ensure that effective debriefs are undertaken with staff and children following safeguarding and other incidents.

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Requirement Due date

Leaders and managers must ensure they provide effective day-to-day oversight of staff practice and take timely action to address poor staff practice.

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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

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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(v)(vi)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure staff are skilled, aware and take all the necessary action in response to self-harm and other safeguarding incidents.

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Requirement Due date

Ensure that accurate records are in place that clearly describe the action taken and rationale for using restraint or other interventions.

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Requirement Due date

Ensure that staff understand their role and responsibility in relation to safeguarding and engage with children, and 16 January 2026 Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2770974 8 ensure that all necessary action is taken to provide safe and effective care for children.

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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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

help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(v)(x))

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Requirement Due date

Ensure that staff clearly understand the plans to encourage children’s school attendance and that detailed records demonstrate how staff are fulfilling the plans using the therapeutic model of care.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement is restated. 31 January 2026

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Requirement Due date

The health and well-being standard is that—

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Requirement Due date

children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles. (Regulation 10 (1)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that children have clear routines and rhythms in place and that staff are aware of and understand the plans. Ensure that detailed records are in place to demonstrate how staff are putting the plans into practice using the prescribed model of care.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement is restated. 31 January 2026 Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2770974 9 The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation;

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child —

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Requirement Due date

or concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or

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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)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e)) 1 January 2026

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Requirement Due date

*These requirements are subject to a compliance notice. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2770974 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cambian Childcare LTD

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 4th Floor Parkview, 82 Oxford Road, Uxbridge, England UB8 1UX

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Inspectors

Hannah Phillips, Social Care Inspector Sarah Orriss, Social Care Inspector Assurance inspection report for children’s home: 2770974 11 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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