Children's Home run by Theracare Homes Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2673338 1 Registered provider: Theracare Homes 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

The home is owned by a private provider. The home provides care for up to 2 children who may experience emotional and/or social difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the first inspection, 2 children were living in the home. Children were taken out of the home during the two-day inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The inspection started on 26 May 2026. Inspectors returned to gather additional evidence (GAE) on 16 June 2026, in line with Ofsted inspections and visits: deferring, pausing and gathering additional evidence policy.

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Information about this children’s home

Both children were spoken to about their experiences of living in the home at the GAE visit.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in April 2024.

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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 or widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded and the care and experiences of children and young people are poor and they are not making progress.

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2673338 2 Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2673338 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

27/08/2025 Full Good 23/04/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good 02/11/2022 Full Inadequate 27/07/2022 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: 2673338 4

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Summary of findings

Children are currently unsafe. Allegations of harm have been raised but have not been investigated or addressed.

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Summary of findings

Children have raised complaints about staff practice. These concerns have not been taken into account.

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Summary of findings

There is a culture of fear within the staff team, and this environment has contributed to children being harmed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children are not receiving safe or consistent care. Their day-to-day experiences differ significantly, and some children are being treated unequally by certain staff. One child reported feeling happy in the home, while another described feeling disliked by some staff and overhearing negative comments about themselves. They also observed another child being overly favoured. This behaviour by certain adults had also been observed and reported by staff. This unequal treatment is emotionally harmful and undermines children’s sense of permanence, stability, and belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children are attending at school and making progress. One child has recently finished their secondary education, and this milestone was celebrated. Another child is doing well, however, school report that the child has been involved in incidents that are out of character and often linked to what is happening at home. Specifically, a child commented that a member of staff, who the child loved, now purposely ignores them and spends significant time with another child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff report inconsistent care, including favouritism and different levels of access to relationships and opportunities. However, staff have felt unable to address these issues or record accurately what is happening for both children. This means that there is no accurate record of children’s experiences and progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children can identify some staff members, who they can speak with about any worries that they may have. Although this happens, concerns about children’s varied experiences are not always acted upon. Children’s experiences are, therefore, not understood, and children do not always understand harmful or safe relationships with a lack of consistent and clear boundaries, which is confusing.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The home is a welcoming environment, which is nicely decorated and furnished to meet the children’s needs. The children’s bedrooms are personalised to their taste and staff support one of the children to keep a pet hamster. However, the children’s bedrooms are Inspection report for children’s home: 2673338 5 unclean and cluttered. Children do not have full access to the home and cannot freely access the washing machine, which may impact on their independence plan.

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

Children are not protected from adults who may be unsafe. One child alleged they had been subject to a physical assault by a member of staff. This incident was witnessed by others who raised a concern about staff practice. This incident was referred to the placing authority social worker and local authority designated officer. However, the information provided was inaccurate

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

The incident record was completed by the staff member who was the subject of the allegation. Key details were missing, and the information shared with professionals was incomplete and did not accurately reflect what had occurred or what was alleged to have occurred, including the child’s complaint. This lack of accurate reporting restricts professionals’ ability to assess risk and make informed decisions to ensure the child’s safety.

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

Children have been deliberately kept away from their home during the initial two-day inspection. Staff were instructed by the deputy manager to remove children from the setting to prevent them from speaking with inspectors. On the second day, one child, despite being severely sunburnt, was taken out early in the morning.

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

The child has since been spoken with and reported feeling unsafe with some staff. This practice prevents children from sharing their experiences, conceals potential concerns, and fails to protect them from harm. It does not keep children safe.

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

Recording is poor. Records are delayed, incomplete and, in some cases, have been altered. Staff do not consistently record concerns shared by children or their own observations, particularly when these relate to senior staff. This is due to fear of repercussions. This prevents important safeguarding information from being identified and acted on.

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

Behaviour support plans are detailed documents, which are updated monthly and reviewed by all staff. They provide a detailed response with consideration to the children’s individual needs and experiences. However, when consequences have been used the duration of the measure has not been applied and the manager does not evaluate each consequence. This can lead to a lack of information about if the consequence has been fair, as well as whether there is a need for further staff development.

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

Decisions to conclude allegations as unsubstantiated lack clear rationale, and staff have returned to working with children without sufficient evidence that risks have been addressed and staff are safe to do so. This places children at risk. Inspection report for children’s home: 2673338 6 Concerns about professional boundaries, including an overly familiar relationship between a staff member and a child, have not been sufficiently explored. This lack of scrutiny places children at risk of potential harm.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Since the last inspection, arrangements are in place for changes to the management structure in the home. The manager has submitted their cancellation to the regulator and plans to apply to become the responsible individual. The deputy manager plans to take on the role of the manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Concerns have been raised through the whistleblowing process in relation to the leadership and management and poor safeguarding practices. Staff report being unable to raise or share any concerns with the manager as they are not acted upon and staff feel targeted or fearful of repercussions. This has resulted in a culture of silence, where poor practice is not challenged.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers have not fully evaluated or considered in detail incidents and concerns relating to poor practice and harm to children. This does not allow learning from practice to allow good practice to thrive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There is evidence that records have been falsified or altered. This was observed during the inspection and confirms concerns raised through the whistleblowing process to the regulator. Leaders have not addressed this, which seriously undermines trust in the accuracy of records and the integrity of the service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers have not worked effectively with professionals, such as social workers. Information has not been shared in detail. Children living far away from home increases their vulnerability. These factors means that overly positive reports, where shared, about childrens experiences and contributes to a closed culture developing.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Overall, leadership fails to ensure safe practice, accurate oversight, or a culture where children and staff can speak openly. As a result, safeguarding is compromised and children are placed at risk.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The workforce development plan does not detail the process and agreed timescales for staff to achieve their induction and indicate the ending of probationary periods. The plan does not include timescales for supervision of new staff and the process for managing poor performance.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager does not have effective systems in place for monitoring the quality of care provided by the home and the impact the care is having on outcomes and improvements for children. The manager does not complete mandatory reporting every 6 months. Inspection report for children’s home: 2673338 7 Inspection report for children’s home: 2673338 8

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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

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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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

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

(Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(b)(c)(d)(e)) 17 July 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 17 July 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2673338 9 promotes their welfare.

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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

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to 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; 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

(Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that records accurately reflect children’s experience. Staff are trained, aware and implement in full whistleblowing processes.

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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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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

the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration; 17 July 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2673338 10 details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so ("the authorised person")—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 35 (2) (3)(a)(iii)(iv)(v)(vii)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that there is clear recording of consequences, in addition staff need to take action where there are safeguarding concerns about children and or staff practise.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year.

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that all staff members have an appraisal each year.

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Requirement Due date

This regulation has been reinstated from the last inspection. 17 July 2026

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Requirement Due date

children can access all appropriate areas of the children’s home’s premises;

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered manager must ensure children are able to freely access the utility room to complete independence tasks, such as laundry 17 July 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2673338 11 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; and

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Requirement Due date

make a copy of the quality of care review report available on request to a placing authority, if the placing authority is not the parent of a child accommodated in the home.

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c) (3) (4)(a)(b) (5)) 17 July 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2673338 12

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home environment meets children’s basic day-to-day needs and physical necessities, including ensuring that children are helped to keep their bedrooms clean and tidy. Staff should seek to meet the child’s basic needs in the way that a good parent would, recognising that many children in residential care have experienced environments where these needs have not been consistently met – doing so is an important aspect of demonstrating that the staff care for the child and value them as an individual.

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Recommendations

(‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.7)

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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: 2673338 13

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Theracare Homes Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit F1-F3 Blenheim Court Carrs Road, Cheadle, Stockport SK8 2JY

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Inspectors

Vicky Byron, Social Care Inspector Nicola Forrester, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2673338 14 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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Inspectors

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