Children's Home run by Elstree Home Care Ltd in Leicestershire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2849520 1 Registered provider: Elstree Home Care Ltd

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is privately owned. It is registered to provide care for two children who may have social, emotional and behavioural needs.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in July 2025.

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Information about this children’s home

There was one child being cared for in the home at the time of the inspection. They shared their views as part of the inspection.

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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 requires improvement to be good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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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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good

Date of last inspection: 22 September 2025

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: At the last full inspection on 22 and 23 September 2025, the home was judged ‘inadequate’. Compliance notices were issued in respect of regulation 12, the protection of children standard, and regulation 13, the leadership and management standard. Both compliance notices were found to be met at the monitoring visit that took place on 6 November 2025. Inspection report for children’s home: 2849520 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

22/09/2025 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: 2849520 3

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improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, the child has made some progress. However, due to the concerns in leadership and management, the overall judgement is ‘requires improvement to be good’.

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improvement to be good

Staff have created a relaxed atmosphere in the household, which has supported the child to view the house as their home. This has encouraged the child to personalise the home with photos that are important to them. The child enjoys spending time with staff, for example listening to music or preparing different meals to try. Previously, the child had a limited diet. Although the child’s diet has improved, it is unclear what staff are doing to support the child to understand the importance of nutrition and healthy eating.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not promote good sleep patterns. This results in the child eating during the early hours of the morning. Staff also do not encourage a daily routine for the child. As the child is not attending education, this leads to a lack of structure or regular learning activities. An online tutor has been arranged; however, this tutoring is yet to begin.

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improvement to be good

Staff ensure that the child feels listened to. When decisions are made that the child does not agree with, the child understands the reason for this.

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improvement to be good

Staff support the child to see their friends and family. The child’s family and social worker say that the child has made progress since moving to the home. For example, the child is taking more pride in their appearance.

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improvement to be good

The language that staff use in written records can sometimes read as blaming toward the child for their behaviour. Staff do not routinely keep a record of what is discussed with the child. When they do, this lacks detail. This results in there being a lack of information regarding the child’s experiences of living at the home.

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improvement to be good

When the child moved to the home, staff worked collaboratively with the child’s family. The family felt supported by the staff. However, there continues to be no written record of the period for the child meeting staff or moving into the home.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not always respond appropriately when concerns are raised regarding the child’s immediate emotional wellbeing or safety. On one occasion, staff failed to show the appropriate professional curiosity. This was following concerns being brought to their attention regarding the child potentially having an item that they could use to Inspection report for children’s home: 2849520 4 harm themselves. When staff did talk to the child, they failed to make note of the discussion.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not update the child’s risk assessments following serious incidents. This results in there being no clear record of known risks or how staff should respond to them. As a result, staff do not consider if there are patterns to the risks.

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improvement to be good

Staff have failed to recognise the risks of the child having several electronic cigarette devices in their bedroom, one of which had its internal wires exposed. Staff had not shown curiosity about where such items come from. The manager removed the devices during the inspection. Although this is a shortfall, the manager has sought support from the fire service to help the child to learn about fire safety.

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improvement to be good

The manager has ensured that health advice is sought regarding the child’s medication needs. There is also a clear plan in place for medication when the child stays away from the home. Therefore, the requirement under regulation 23 is met.

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improvement to be good

However, on occasion, staff have incorrectly recorded the reason for a child not taking their medication. The manager has discussed this with the staff team to prevent this from happening again. However, medication record sheets do not reflect this. This results in there being a lack of documentation to evidence the reason for the error and what occurred. Further improvement is required regarding how errors in the recording of medication are resolved, and a requirement has been made for this under regulation 13, and includes the need for managers to specify their rationale for decision-making.

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improvement to be good

When children leave the home without permission, staff respond quickly. They look for the child and liaise with those close to the child as well as external agencies. This leads to effective collaborative working if the child’s whereabouts are unknown. However, staff do not consistently advocate for the child to have an interview by an independent person on their return home. There has been little exploration into where the child spends time in the community. This means that exploitation risks are not adequately assessed by staff.

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improvement to be good

Staff only physically hold the child as a last resort. When this has taken place, the child has been spoken to afterwards. The child understands the reason why they have been held, and they know how to raise any concerns. Staff’s written records of physical holds have improved. However, they do not state what steps they take to initially de-escalate the situation.

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good

The manager does not assess conflicts of interest between staff and leaders. Consequently, there are no clear processes in place to mitigate power imbalances. As a result, leaders and managers do not explore how conflicts of interest could impact on staff’s ability to raise practice concerns. Inspection report for children’s home: 2849520 5 The manager has completed one-to-one supervision with longstanding staff. However, 2 new members of staff have not received such discussions in the first 2 months of their role. As a result, new staff members are unaware of how to whistleblow if concerns are in relation to the management team. Team meetings take place regularly to reflect on practice. Staff find these meetings beneficial to share information.

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good

When staff members sleep at the home, managers have not always considered the impact on the children. For example, one staff member was sleeping at the home while not on shift to care for the child. Leaders and managers had allowed this to suit the needs of the staff rather than the child. The implications of this practice had not been considered by the manager.

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good

Although the child’s family applaud the manager for their approach to the child’s health needs, the manager does not ensure that all staff complete training in relation to the specific needs of the child. As a result, some staff are not confident to approach certain topics that need to be discussed with the child. This results in an over-reliance on the manager to set boundaries for the child. However, the child is developing an understanding of why consequences sometimes need to be in place in response to their behaviour. Therefore, the requirement under regulation 11 is met. A recommendation has been set in relation to consistent expectations and boundaries being set by staff.

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good

The home’s workforce development plan does not currently include all required information. This includes the timescales for staff to achieve their induction, the frequency of staff supervisions, how poor performance by staff will be managed and the staffing structure of the home.

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good

The manager has ensured that staff are safely recruited. Therefore, the requirement under regulation 32 has been met.

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good

The manager and responsible individual are focused on wishing to support children to have positive outcomes. They recognise that further development is required to improve the oversight of the home in line with regulations. Inspection report for children’s home: 2849520 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

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of 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

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)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered manager should implement effective systems to monitor the quality of care being provided to children, this should include any rationale for decision-making. The registered manager should also ensure that decisions made are for the benefit of children rather than staff. This also relates to ensuring that staff gain appropriate training in relation to specific needs for the child. Any conflicts of interest between staff should also be assessed by the registered manager.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was set at the last inspection and is restated. 5 February Inspection report for children’s home: 2849520 7 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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(v)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, staff should ensure that children’s risk assessments are regularly updated and that factual accuracy is checked by the manager. It also relates to staff ensuring appropriate professional curiosity to mitigate risks when concerns have been raised for a child’s welfare.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was set at the last inspection and is restated. 5 February

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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.

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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

achieve the health and well-being outcomes that are recorded in the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 10 (1)(c) (2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, discussions with children about health and nutrition should take place and be recorded in children’s files. 5 February Inspection report for children’s home: 2849520 8 This requirement was set at the last inspection and is restated.

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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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

that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this relates to the manager ensuring that children receive effective and meaningful transitions when moving to the home and when leaving the home.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was set at the last inspection and is restated. 5 February

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(v))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this relates to the written records of physical restraints including the details of any methods used or steps taken by staff to try and avoid the measure.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was set at the last inspection and is restated. 5 February

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy (“the missing child policy”) setting out—

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Requirement Due date

the procedures to be followed, and the roles and responsibilities of persons working at the home, in relation to a child who is, or has been, so absent. 5 February Inspection report for children’s home: 2849520 9 (Regulation 34 (4)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered manager should ensure staff advocate for children to receive independent return home interviews following a child’s return to the home.

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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. Staff should record information on individual children in a non- stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. 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)  The registered person should ensure that staff provide appropriate boundaries to children in relation to their behaviour. This includes supporting children to build positive routines, such as eating and sleeping at appropriate times. Staff should seek to meet the child’s basic needs in the way that a good parent would. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15,

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Recommendations

paragraph 3.7)  The registered person should have a workforce plan which can fulfil the workforce -related requirements of regulation 16, schedule 1 (paragraphs 19 and 20). (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)  The registered person should have systems in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional, which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2) Inspection report for children’s home: 2849520 10

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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: 2849520 11

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Elstree Home Care Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Suite 1 And 2, Unit 1a First Floor Sandown Road Industrial Estate, Sandown Road, Watford, Hertfordshire WD24 7UB

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Inspectors

Ellen Monk, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2849520 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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