Children's Home run by Sanitas Cura Ltd in Liverpool

Inspection report for children’s home: 2835212 1 Registered provider: Sanitas Cura 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 registered with Ofsted in June 2025 and is privately operated. It provides care for one child who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager post is currently vacant.

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Information about this children’s home

This is the home’s first full inspection since registration.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

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inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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inadequate

There are serious and widespread failures that the care and experiences of children and young people are poor.

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

Ofsted carried out a monitoring visit on 27 August 2025 due to safeguarding concerns. During this visit, inspectors identified serious and widespread concerns. A notice to suspend the home’s registration was issued to prevent children from being admitted. This suspension was lifted on 3 November 2025. Inspection report for children’s home: 2835212 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Since registration, two children have lived at the home. One child returned to their own home with their family after the home was suspended due to concerns about staff’s ability to ensure the child’s safety.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The child currently living at the home has been living there for two months. Their transition into the home was not well planned, with limited clarity about the confirmed move-in date. This created unnecessary anxiety for the child, who had already been prepared for the move. During the early weeks of the placement, managers issued notice to end the child’s placement on two occasions, stating they were unable to manage behaviours that had already been clearly identified in the referral information. This demonstrates weak transition planning and a lack of sufficient preparation to meet the child’s assessed needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The home does not provide a consistently warm and homely environment. Visible padlocks and other restrictive features detract from a nurturing atmosphere.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Healthcare plans identify the child’s needs and the actions required to support their health and wellbeing. However, day-to-day care records show that these strategies are not consistently implemented in practice. Staff do not always follow the guidance set out in the plans, resulting in gaps, delays and inconsistencies in meeting the child’s health needs. This lack of alignment between the written plans and daily care undermines the effectiveness of the support provided and increases the risk that important health needs may be overlooked.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

There is a lack of clarity among staff and managers regarding the scope and purpose of the child’s deprivation of liberty (DoL) order. Although the order is permissive in nature, staff are applying restrictions in a blanket and overly cautious manner. This results in unnecessarily high levels of supervision and limits the child’s opportunities to develop independence. Staff know the child well, but the misunderstanding of the DoL framework undermines the child’s overall experience and does not maintain an appropriate balance between safeguarding the child and upholding their fundamental rights.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The child’s plans contain outdated, non-child-centred language that places blame on the child. This requirement was raised at a previous monitoring visit and remains unaddressed, indicating a lack of progress in improving the quality of written records.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Despite the concerns identified at this inspection, the child engages positively with staff in key-work sessions and enjoys a range of activities, including football, meals out and visits to museums. Although the child does not have an education placement, staff support the child with educational activities during the day. Inspection report for children’s home: 2835212 3

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: inadequate

Risk management arrangements at the home are ineffective. Risk assessments contain contradictory information, leaving staff unsure about the correct actions to take to ensure that children are safeguarded effectively. For example, the child is assessed as high risk in one document and low risk in another, and guidance on phone use varies significantly between plans. These inconsistencies undermine staff confidence, lead to unsafe decision-making and do not support proactive risk reduction.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: inadequate

Missing-from-care plans are unclear and do not reflect the child’s actual routines or the actions staff should take if the child goes missing. This does not demonstrate strong safeguarding practice.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: inadequate

Room checks are not consistently completed in line with children’s plans, and risk assessments do not clearly outline the actions staff must take to reduce risk-taking behaviours such as self-harm. As a result, safeguarding measures are not applied as intended and the level of risk to children is not reduced effectively.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: inadequate

Health and safety checks are completed. However, there were delays in ensuring that the child and newly appointed staff were shown fire evacuation routes and emergency procedures. During the inspection, staff were unable to provide clear information about the home’s fire safety protocols, highlighting weak management oversight of essential safety processes and creating potential risk in the event of an emergency.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: inadequate

Physical intervention records lack sufficient detail. Some records show evidence of de- escalation, but others lack essential information about the type of intervention used, its duration and the rationale for its application. Debriefs with the child following incidents are inconsistent and management oversight does not identify patterns, trends or areas for improvement. On several occasions, the police have been called to manage children’s behaviour, demonstrating there are gaps in the home’s behaviour support strategies and a lack of effective, proactive approaches.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: inadequate

There has been one allegation made since the last visit to the home, which was appropriately reported to the local authority designated officer. However, there is no evidence that follow-up training, reflective practice or targeted work was completed with the staff member involved. This limits opportunities for learning and improvement and does not strengthen safeguarding practice.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: inadequate

Safer recruitment processes are not consistently followed to ensure that only suitably checked adults care for the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Inspection report for children’s home: 2835212 4 Leadership and management arrangements have been unstable. A new responsible individual took up post in November and a new manager formally started working at the home during the week of this inspection. Despite these changes, leaders and managers have not made progress in addressing previously set requirements. This lack of improvement demonstrates weak oversight and limits the home’s capacity to drive sustained development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Management oversight is weak. There is limited evidence that managers have reviewed incidents, care plans or staff practice in a meaningful way. As a result, patterns of concern have gone unnoticed and opportunities for learning have been missed. Consequently, the previous requirement raised in leadership and management (Regulation 13) remain unmet.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The home has lacked a consistent and clearly defined management structure, resulting in poor delegation, inconsistent supervision and limited opportunities for team meetings. Staff have not received regular supervision or team meetings, which restricts opportunities for professional development, reflective practice and effective oversight of care. As a result, previous requirements relating to the employment of staff (Regulation 33) remain unmet, demonstrating a continued shortfall in leadership and managerial accountability.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Rotas are unclear and incomplete, with missing staff names and no record of rota changes. This prevents accurate identification of who is responsible for the child’s care at any given time. The visitors’ book is also incomplete, with missing arrival and departure times, compromising oversight of who is present in the home and weakens essential safeguarding arrangements.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The training matrix does not demonstrate that staff have received the required training to meet the child’s needs safely. One staff member involved in an investigation had been identified as requiring further training, but this was neither completed nor recorded. This raises concerns about the effectiveness of training oversight.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

During the inspection, concerns were raised that some documents were being amended while inspectors were present. Managers also struggled to locate key records. These issues raise questions about the accuracy, integrity and organisation of the home’s recording systems. A previous requirement under Regulation 36 remains unmet.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The interim manager has begun to assess the team’s development needs, but their short time in post means they are still building an understanding of the home’s challenges. Inspection report for children’s home: 2835212 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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that risk assessments identify actions staff are expected to take to reduce known risks. 15 March 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—

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helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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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) h)) 15 March 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2835212 6 In particular, the registered person must ensure that there is clear oversight of all incidents, including any shortfalls in actions taken by staff to manage and prevent risk effectively, and that there are clear systems in place to evaluate and monitor the quality of care.

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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

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have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that children’s moves into the home are well planned. 15 March 2026

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The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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

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help each child to develop socially aware behaviour;

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encourage each child to take responsibility for the child's behaviour, in accordance with the child's age and understanding;

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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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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; 15 March 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2835212 7 strive to gain each child's respect and trust. (Regulation 11 (1)(a) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi)(viii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff avoid writing records that blame children for their behaviour. Instead, records should highlight a child's vulnerabilities in a respectful way that shows staff understand their needs. The registered person must prepare and implement a policy ("the behaviour management policy") which sets out—

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how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children’s home; and

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the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must keep the behaviour management policy under review and, where appropriate, revise it.

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details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure. (Regulation 35 (1)(a)(b) (2) (3)(ii)(v))

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In particular, the registered person must ensure that records of restraint detail de-escalation strategies used, the type of restraint carried out and the duration of any restraint. 15 March 2026

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The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished as to— 15 March 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2835212 8 meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(i))

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In particular, the registered person must ensure that the home environment is child centred and homely.

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any limitation placed on a child’s privacy or access to any area of the home’s premises—

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allows children as much freedom as is possible when balanced against the need to protect them and keep them safe. (Regulation 21 (a)(b)(c)(iv))

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The registered person must ensure that staff and managers understand the permissive nature of DoL orders in place. 15 March 2026

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The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(c)

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In particular, the registered person must ensure that the manager and staff receive supervision. 15 March 2026

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*The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or

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if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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the individual is of integrity and good character;

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the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform;

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the individual is mentally and physically fit for the purposes of the work that the individual is to perform; and

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full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. 15 March 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2835212 9 Regulation 32 (1)(a)(3)(a)(b)(c)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that references are verified, gaps in employment are explored fully and that safer recruitment checks are not carried out by family members already working in the company. Schedule 4 sets out the other information that the registered person must keep in relation to a children’s home.

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maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4;

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ensure that the records are kept up to date;

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and retain the records for at least 15 years from the date of the last entry. (Regulation 37 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that records relating to the child’s admission to the home contain the details of the child’s placing authority.

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Requirement Due date

Additionally, the registered person must ensure that a copy of the staff duty roster of persons working at the home is clear and legible and contains a record of the person’s full name and the number of actual hours worked. 15 March 2026

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The registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which—

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include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child. (Regulation 36 (1)(a))

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In particular, a copy of the child’s local authority health assessment must be held on the child’s records.

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In particular, the registered person must ensure that recording is accurate and up to date. 15 March 2026

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The registered person must prepare and implement a policy which—

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sets out the procedure to be followed in the event of an allegation of abuse or neglect. 15 March 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2835212 10 The procedure to be followed in the event of an allegation of abuse or neglect must, in particular—

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Requirement Due date

provide for the prompt referral of an allegation about current or ongoing abuse or neglect in relation to a child to the placing authority and, if different, the local authority in whose area the home is located;

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provide for the prompt referral of an allegation about past abuse or neglect in relation to a child to the placing authority and, if different, the local authority in whose area the alleged abuse or neglect occurred;

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provide for records to be kept of an allegation of abuse or neglect, and the action taken in response;

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describe the measures which may be necessary to protect children following an allegation of abuse or neglect; and

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describe how and to whom staff are to report, without delay, any concern about abuse or neglect of a child. (Regulation 34 (1)(b) (2)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must make sure that full and accurate records are kept in relation to any allegation and any follow-up action in response to any investigation that may have taken place

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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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: 2835212 11

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 64 Mill Lane, West Derby, Liverpool, Merseyside L12 7JB

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Inspectors

Sarah Billett, Regulatory Inspection Manager Michelle Edge, Senior His Majesty’s Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2835212 12 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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