Children's Home run by Holistic Care Service Nationwide Limited in Sefton

Inspection report for children's home: 2739583 1 Registered provider: Holistic Care Service Nationwide Limited

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is operated by a private company and is registered to provide care for one child who may experience social and/or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, one child was living in the home. The child spoke to the inspector.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in April 2024. The registered provider has recently appointed a new responsible individual. Ofsted are currently considering the proposed responsible individual’s suitability.

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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 requires improvement to be good

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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

Date of last inspection: 15 October 2024

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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: 2739583 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/10/2024 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2739583 3

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improvement to be good

The child has lived in this home for 18 months. The child has made some progress, however, there are some shortfalls in the safeguarding arrangements which has means that, on some occasions, the child has been at risk of harm.

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improvement to be good

Staff work with the child to build their independence skills. The child is learning to cook, budget and use public transport. Staff and the manager are supporting the child to plan for their future which is in line with the placing authority’s care plan. However, the home does not have an up-to date care plan for the child.

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improvement to be good

The child’s health needs are supported. Staff encourage the child to have a balanced diet and provide education regarding nutrition. Staff work alongside specialist services to promote positive emotional health and well-being. When the child is upset, staff provide nurture and reassurance. However, on one occasion, staff did not complete regular welfare checks after the child had expressed low mood.

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improvement to be good

Staff support the child to spend time with their family and friends in a safe and managed way. The child enjoyed a holiday abroad to visit their family members. The child’s friends visit the home, which gives them typical childhood experiences. The child has access to a range of leisure activities, and they are encouraged to develop new interests. Staff have recently taken the child to London to see their favourite band as a reward for consistently attending education.

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improvement to be good

Education is valued in the home. Staff transport the child a considerable distance to allow them to attend a suitable school provision that meets their needs. The manager has sourced a work experience placement which the child completes in school holidays. This aligns to the child’s future career aspirations and allows them to gain valuable insight into the world of work. This supports the child to build their skills, self-esteem and confidence.

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improvement to be good

The home is clean and well maintained and is a safe environment for the child. The child has influence over their bedroom and shared spaces and is supported to choose decor and furnishings. This gives the child a sense of ownership in their home.

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improvement to be good

Staff understand the child’s needs and vulnerabilities. However, they do not always act to prevent the risk of harm to the child. Despite self-harm being a prevalent risk, harmful items are not always removed from the child following incidents. Furthermore, staff do not always look in the child’s bedroom for items that could be potentially harmful. Inspection report for children's home: 2739583 4 Risk assessments are comprehensive in some areas, however, they are not always updated when new risks emerge. This means that staff do not always have clear guidance on how to support the child effectively.

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improvement to be good

Positive behaviour is encouraged using praise, rewards and incentives. Staff have formed close and nurturing relationships with the child. They use effective strategies in line with their training to diffuse situations when the child is upset or frustrated. This ensures that incidents and missing-from-home episodes are infrequent.

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improvement to be good

Staff understand their safeguarding responsibilities. They know how to escalate concerns including to external safeguarding partners. However, full safe recruitment checks are not completed for all staff including senior managers. Additionally, insufficient consideration is given to the risks associated with senior managers or staff who are related to each other working at the home and how this may impact on the provision of safe care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager is experienced in residential childcare and has responsibility for another home in the organisation. The manager has oversight of the home and evaluates incidents. However, on some occasions she has failed to recognise shortfalls in staff practice or take timely action to address these with the staff involved.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager has tools and resources to monitor the quality of care. Visits from the independent person do not provide an appropriate level of scrutiny. Visits are usually announced and feedback from the child and external stakeholders is not routinely gathered. The quality of care review has not been completed by the manager or sent to the regulator in the timescales specified in regulation. Furthermore, the statement of purpose is not fully reflective of the staff working at the home. These shortfalls reduce the regulator’s oversight of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff say they feel supported by the manager and deputy manager. They are given the opportunity to reflect and identify how they can improve their practice following some incidents. Staff are provided with a range of training to help them to meet the child’s needs effectively. New staff members complete an induction period before being enrolled to achieve a relevant qualification.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff and the manager have formed positive working relationships with some family members and professionals. Information is usually shared in a timely manner with other agencies. Inspection report for children's home: 2739583 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;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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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

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

In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff remove harmful items from children when there are suspicions they may harm themselves. Regular welfare checks are completed for children when necessary.

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Requirement Due date

Additionally, risk assessment documents must be updated in a timely manner after changes in the child’s circumstances or when new risks emerge.

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Requirement Due date

Furthermore, the registered person must ensure that there are processes to manage any conflicts of interests that may arise due to staffing arrangements. This includes when there are staff working in the home who are related to each other or if senior leaders should work in the home. 20 March 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 2739583 6 The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a) (3)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that a full employment history and references are obtained for all staff and senior leaders who work with children. 20 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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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; 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

The registered person must ensure that she has full oversight of the home. Incidents in the home must be evaluated fully and any learning from these is taken into consideration when making improvements to the care afforded to children. 20 March 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 2739583 7 Additionally, the registered person must ensure that they use a range of tools effectively to monitor care afforded to children.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children’s home at least once each month.

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Requirement Due date

When the independent person is carrying out a visit, the registered person must help the independent person—

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Requirement Due date

if they consent, to interview in private such of the children, their parents, relatives and persons working at the home as the independent person requires.

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Requirement Due date

A visit by the independent person to the home may be unannounced.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must provide a copy of the independent person’s report to— HMCI.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that independent monitoring of the home is robust. This includes ensuring that children are seen and spoken to and that external feedback is gathered on enough occasions to allow the independent person to make an informed judgement on the quality of care provided. Furthermore, reports must be received in a timely manner. 20 March 2026

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must compile in relation to the children’s home a statement ("the statement of purpose") which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1.

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Requirement Due date

notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must— 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) (4)(a)) 1 April 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 2739583 8 In particular, the registered person must ensure that the report completed at least every 6 months and is provided to the regulator within 28 days of being completed.

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that up-to-date care plans are received from the placing authority in a timely manner. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 10, paragraph 2.1)

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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: 2739583 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Holistic Care Service Nationwide Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 4 Rose Hill, Southport PR9 0SN

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Inspector

Eve Ostridge, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2739583 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 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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