Children's Home run by Northridge Care Group Limited in Lancashire

Assurance inspection report for children's home: 2699790 1 Registered provider: Northridge Care Group Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children's home

The home is owned and managed by a private provider. It is registered to provide care for one child who may experience social and emotional difficulties and/or special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

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Information about this children's home

The home does not have a registered manager.

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Information about this children's home

At the time of this inspection, one child was living at the home and was spoken to by the inspector.

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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 inspector evaluated:

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Information about this inspection

 the care of children  the safety of children  the effectiveness of leaders and managers. The inspector has 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 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: 2699790 2

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Findings from the inspection

We did not identify any serious or widespread concerns in relation to the care or protection of children at this assurance inspection.

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Findings from the inspection

Since the last inspection, there have been significant changes in the leadership and management of the home. There is a new responsible individual in post and the registered manager has left their position. An interim manager is in place. Leaders and managers now have increased oversight of the home and are aware of the strengths and areas for development. The responsible individual completes monthly monitoring of the home to identify themes, patterns and development needs for staff. There are clear plans in place to improve the service with timely reviews of action plans taking place.

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Findings from the inspection

Risks for the child are known and understood by core staff. Practice is supported by detailed risk assessments that include guidance for staff to follow. Ongoing staffing shortages mean that staff from other homes are supporting care for this child. The manager has not ensured that these staff are always familiar with the child's individual plans and how to care for them. Leaders and managers have taken recent action to address this shortfall. Since this has been addressed, there have been no incidents of staff working in the home without reviewing the child's individual plans.

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Findings from the inspection

Staff use a range of de-escalation strategies and distraction methods to manage the child's behaviour. On two occasions, staff actions have escalated behavioural incidents and increased the child's emotions. Leaders and managers have taken effective action to address these shortfalls using reflective sessions and additional supervision for staff. On a small number of occasions, staff have physically held the child to prevent them from harming themselves or others.

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Findings from the inspection

There has been one occasion of the child going missing from the home. Staff immediately followed the child's safety plan and were proactive in trying to locate the child. Records include details of actions taken by staff to locate and return the child safely.

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Findings from the inspection

Staff respond promptly to incidents of self-harm and take immediate action to remove any items the child could use to harm themselves. Both the child and staff receive support from the in ‑ house therapist and behaviour analyst to ensure that strategies for managing the child's emotional well ‑ being remain effective. Direct work completed by staff further helps the child develop positive coping mechanisms to manage overwhelming emotions. However, insufficient core staffing in the home is affecting the child's consistency of care, sense of stability, and overall emotional well ‑ being. The child has expressed that the number of different people coming into the home is making it harder for them to maintain positive relationships. Leaders and managers must ensure a stable and consistent staff team is in place to support the child's well ‑ being. Recruitment is ongoing to address this shortfall. Assurance inspection report for children's home: 2699790 3

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Findings from the inspection

There has been one error in the administration of medication. Staff have completed refresher training in medication and managers complete competency checks to ensure that staff are safely administering the child's medication. There have been no further medication administration errors.

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Findings from the inspection

The child knows how to make a complaint. When complaints have been made, records demonstrate the actions taken by managers to resolve issues and evidences a clear rationale for decision making. The child is provided with a timely response to their complaint. This ensures that the child's voice is heard and acted on by leaders and managers.

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Findings from the inspection

Leaders and managers are committed to making improvements in the service. There has been a range of training attended by staff since the last inspection, including bespoke training tailored to the individual needs of the child. Staff attend regular team meetings to discuss their care of the child. Any shortfalls in staff practice are addressed in one-to-one supervision.

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Findings from the inspection

There is a lack of consistency in the quality of record keeping. Leaders and managers have not ensured that the review of quality of care has been completed and provided to Ofsted in line with statutory requirements. This limits external scrutiny of the home by the regulator.

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Findings from the inspection

The previous requirement issued under Regulation 8 has not been considered during this inspection. For this reason, it is restated.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

26/08/2025 Full Requires improvement to be good 30/04/2024 Full Good 24/04/2023 Full Good Assurance inspection report for children's home: 2699790 4

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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

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child; 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.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that all incidents are effectively evaluated, taking into consideration any possible learning outcomes that can be implemented into children's risk management plans, or to support the development of staff. The registered person must also ensure that there are clear systems in place in the home to support and develop management oversight. 05 April 2026

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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. 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; and

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Requirement Due date

help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of 05 April 2026 Assurance inspection report for children's home: 2699790 5 exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that children's education plans are continually promoted to ensure that their engagement in effective and appropriate education is consistent.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children ("a quality of care review") at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children's home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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Requirement Due date

After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review ("the quality of care review report").

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Requirement Due date

supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c) (3) (4)(a)) 05 April 2026 Assurance inspection report for children's home: 2699790 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,' page 62, paragraph 14.4) Assurance inspection report for children's home: 2699790 7

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Northridge Care Group Limited

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: Richard House, 9 Winckley Square, Preston, Lancashire PR1 3HP

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Inspector

Leanne Carr, Social Care Inspector Assurance inspection report for children's home: 2699790 8 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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