Children's Home run by Total Care Matters Limited in West Northamptonshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 1268530 1 Registered provider: Total Care Matters Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned and provides care for up to three children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in August 2024. The manager has been absent since December 2025. An interim manager is in post. The interim manager and the operations manager supported the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, there was one child living in the home and their views were sought.

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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 inadequate

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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

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: 1268530 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

04/03/2025 Full Good 12/03/2024 Full Good 17/05/2022 Full Good 07/12/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 1268530 3

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improvement to be good

Staff have been slow to establish effective care. A lack of structure, routines and boundaries limits the child’s progress. Although the child has settled into the home and developed valuable relationships with some staff members, staff do not have the skills or confidence to provide consistent care. This means that the child is not making notable progress.

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improvement to be good

The child does not have any education, training or employment in place. Staff have been unable to source suitable training and employment opportunities. As a result, the child is not making any progress in this area and their attainment is declining.

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improvement to be good

The child is registered with local health services, however, does not attend required health appointments. Staff continue to liaise with the professional network and encourage the child to attend appointments to ensure that their health needs are met. Despite this, on one occasion, staff provided the child with an over-the-counter medication, in line with their wishes. However, appropriate checks were not completed, and its safe use was not explored with medical professionals prior to the medication being provided. The required considerations were later given, and the medication was deemed unsuitable and discontinued. This placed the child at risk of harm.

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improvement to be good

Independence planning for the child is not yet embedded. There is no clear, structured plan in place to support the child’s development of key skills. The child’s views are not consistently reflected in care planning, and progress is not regularly reviewed. As a result, support to build age-appropriate independence skills is inconsistent and does not assist the child to prepare for adulthood.

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improvement to be good

The child receives good support to spend time with family and friends, which the child enjoys. However, staff are aware of concerns in some of the child’s relationships but do not provide consistent support or intervention to manage these risks effectively.

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improvement to be good

Assessments of risk have been updated and include the most up to date information. However, these assessments have previously been inconsistent and of poor quality. This means that staff do not respond to known risks consistently. For example, risks related to substance misuse are known by staff, but their response to incidents is variable and does not address the known risks sufficiently.

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improvement to be good

There has been one allegation made about staff conduct. The allegation was not acted on swiftly. This incident was subsequently identified by the operations manager and fully investigated, after a significant delay. This means that any immediate safeguarding Inspection report for children’s home: 1268530 4 actions for the child were not in place. The investigation has been completed and shared with safeguarding partners, including the local authority designated officer and Ofsted appropriately.

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improvement to be good

The child’s areas of progress are recognised and celebrated by staff. However, rewards and consequences are predominantly financial. This does not support the child to understand and take learning from incidents or provide an opportunity for the child and staff to celebrate together. This limits opportunities for the child to build and strengthen relationships with staff.

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improvement to be good

Staff regularly reflect with the child following an incident. Staff understand the child’s emotional needs and target their one-to-one discussions appropriately. The child is spoken to following an incident and their views are sought. However, further work identified in one-to-one discussions is not followed up. Therefore, an opportunity to provide the child with consistent support and guidance is missed.

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improvement to be good

Thorough recruitment processes are in place to ensure that staff working with children are suitable to do so. Leaders and managers have effective systems in place to monitor and review their continued suitability. Staff are from diverse backgrounds and bring different skills and experience to the child’s care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leadership and management is ineffective. Systems and processes in place have not identified shortfalls, or where improvement is needed. Since the last inspection, there have been changes to the management team. The registered manager is currently absent. An interim manager has been in post for two weeks and is being supported by an operations manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers are striving to establish clear expectations for staff. They are focussed on workforce development and the care provided to the child. Managers have identified key areas for improvement, including introducing clear planning for the child and implementing consistent management oversight. This is not yet embedded and therefore does not yet provide effective evaluation of the day-to-day running of the home, or the child’s care and progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Despite the changes and challenges staff say they feel supported by managers. The interim manager has a thorough understanding of the individual needs of both the child and the staff team. Staff benefit from a detailed induction into their role and an ongoing training program to develop and strengthen their skills and knowledge in their job. Staff further benefit from training and support from the organisation’s therapeutic team through regular one-to-one discussions and team meetings. However, specific training linked to the child’s known risks has not been provided. This means that staff do not always have additional guidance to manage the risks safely and consistently.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff have not received regular supervision and have not had appraisals of their practice undertaken in line with the statement of purpose. The interim manager is addressing this Inspection report for children’s home: 1268530 5 shortfall to ensure that staff have regular opportunities to reflect on their practice and strengthen their learning.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers have not sought regular feedback from the child or external stakeholders to support in the evaluation of the quality-of-care provided. This means that valuable opportunities to identify emerging areas for development have been missed. Inspection report for children’s home: 1268530 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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

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

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies;

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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;

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Requirement Due date

that the effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii)(b)(e))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff implement and manage suitable and age-appropriate routines in the home. 6 May 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 1268530 7 The registered person must also ensure that assessments of risk are regularly reviewed, updated and contain all known risks, and that staff follow these plans consistently.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must also ensure that staff respond to substance misuse plans in a consistent way.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must also ensure that health needs and medications for children are understood and monitored by the staff team. Staff must seek external medical guidance prior to the administration of over-the-counter medications.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that staff consistently implement and monitor independence work in line with agreed plans.

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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

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

research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; and 6 May 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 1268530 8 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)(b)(c)(f)(g)(i)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that there is consistent and evaluative management oversight of all incidents and the day-to-day running of the home.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must also ensure that feedback is obtained from children, professionals and family to improve the quality-of-care provided.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must also ensure that staff receive appropriate or additional training to meet children’s individual needs.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must also ensure that the staff team are provided with regular supervision and appraisals of their practice in line with the home’s statement of purpose.

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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: 1268530 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Total Care Matters Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 11 Chantrey Road, West Bridgford, Nottingham NG2 7NR

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Inspectors

Caroline Coop, Social Care Inspector Louisa West, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1268530 10 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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