Children's Home run by Able Health Care Ltd in Suffolk

Inspection report for children's home: SC408714 1 SC408714 Registered provider: Able Health Care 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

This privately run home provides care for up to 7 children with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children's home

At the time of the inspection, 4 children were living at the home.

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Information about this children's home

The manager registered with Ofsted in May 2026.

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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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good

The children's home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Date of last inspection: 21 October 2025

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: SC408714 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/10/2025 Full Good 15/01/2025 Full Good 06/03/2024 Full Good 31/10/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: SC408714 3

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Summary of findings

Children benefit from positive trusting relationships with a dedicated staff team. The staff show curiosity and a strong commitment to the children's individual needs. This helps the children to feel valued and listened to. The children enjoy a wide range of activities inside and outside the home. Children attend education provisions that are tailored to their needs, and the staff encourage structure and daily routine. Leaders and managers know children well and are strong advocates for them. Children experience warm, consistent care at a supportive home. This helps them to feel safe and build emotional resilience.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, 3 children have moved into the home, and 3 children have moved on from the home. These moves were carefully planned and well managed. At the time of the inspection, 4 children were living at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive individualised care that reflects their interests and preferences. Children's bedrooms are personalised to their taste, which helps them to develop a sense of ownership and comfort. The home is decorated with photographs of staff and children displayed throughout. This creates a nurturing, family atmosphere that supports children's sense of belonging and emotional wellbeing.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported with good-quality, individualised care that improves their wellbeing and future opportunities. Children provided positive feedback about staff and said that they enjoy spending time with them. Caring relationships between staff and children provide children with a strong and secure foundation, which has contributed to the children's progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are engaging with education. Staff support children's education targets and maintain children's learning experiences at the home. Staff are working hard to help one child to engage in education. In this instance, staff have maintained positive routines, supported home tutoring and encouraged learning opportunities in day-to-day activities to assist these plans. Staff also provide additional support for another child when they are unable to use school transport, by transporting the child to school.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff give lots of thought to opportunities for children based on their hobbies and interests. Children enjoy a wide range of activities, including music, cadets and trips out into the community. Staff create enjoyable activities at the home to meet children's sensory and creative needs. For example, they have a designated wall space where they can freely be creative. Inspection report for children's home: SC408714 4 Professionals provided positive feedback about the care and support that children receive. They highlight strong partnership working and note that children have made progress from their starting points due to the consistently nurturing care provided by the staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand children's health needs and support them to access routine health appointments. Children are also supported to maintain good personal hygiene, which has improved for some children. Staff provide emotional support to children and help them to talk about their feelings. As a result, children are developing greater confidence and are better able to manage their emotions. Staff also encourage children to take part in activities that support their health and wellbeing.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children's transitions to and from the home are well planned. Staff supported reunification of one child through a carefully planned transition. This helped the child to prepare for the move and experience a positive ending.

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

Staff demonstrate a good understanding of children's needs, including their strengths and vulnerabilities. Risk assessments are detailed, regularly reviewed and include clear support strategies. These contribute to children's consistent care.

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

When children struggle with their emotional wellbeing, staff take effective action to keep them safe. This sometimes includes physical intervention. This is only used when staff have exhausted all other options to help children manage their safety. Incidents are reviewed and staff and children have conversations afterwards that support reflection and learning. This helps children to feel reassured and strengthens staff confidence. Managers maintain safer recruitment processes for staff. Agency staff checks have recently improved and ensure that agency staff have had appropriate suitability checks before working at the home . Significant incidents are generally well managed. Staff demonstrate a clear understanding of children's individual risks and take appropriate action to safeguard them when incidents occur. Staff follow children's plans and respond in a calm and proportionate manner to keep children and others safe. Overall, significant incidents

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

appear to be reducing. This demonstrates that staff responses and risk management strategies are helping to keep children safe.

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

Behaviour is managed fairly and consistently through natural and restorative approaches. Consequences are clearly linked to actions and positive choices are reinforced. This balanced and nurturing practice helps children to learn from their behaviour, make safer decisions and experience positive routines within a supportive home. Children have reward charts and their achievements and positive choices are celebrated. This approach helps children to build confidence and reinforces positive behaviour. Inspection report for children's home: SC408714 5 Leaders and managers respond swiftly to concerns about staff practice. Immediate safeguarding actions are taken when necessary. Managers ensure that children's safety remains as a priority throughout any investigation. Learning from incidents is used effectively to strengthen practice. However, leaders and managers have not consistently consulted with the local authority designated officer when allegations have been made.

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

On one occasion, leaders did not seek external consultation after concluding that an allegation no longer required further consideration. As a result, the matter did not receive independent oversight to determine whether any further safeguarding action was necessary. Failure to consult the appropriate external agency reduces opportunities for independent scrutiny and oversight of safeguarding practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is led by a qualified and experienced manager. The manager knows the children well and has a good understanding of their individual needs and risks. The manager is ambitious for children and provides clear direction to staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have access to mandatory training as well as training that reflects the individual needs of the children. Leaders and managers emphasise staff development and support staff to complete their diplomas. Staff spoke positively about the opportunities for progression within the organisation and expressed a desire to remain working for the company. This investment in staff development helps to build a skilled and knowledgeable workforce.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive supervision sessions in line with the organisation's policies. These sessions include reflective discussions about practice and provide opportunities for staff to share any worries. These sessions also ensure that staff receive regular feedback on their performance. Safeguarding scenarios are used during supervision to test staff understanding and identify any areas for further development. This helps to ensure that staff remain confident in their role and can safeguard children effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff benefit from regular team meetings and consultations with the therapist. These sessions provide staff with therapeutic insight into the children's needs and suggest ways for the staff to improve their practice with the children. Significant incidents are also reflected on during team meetings. This ensures that staff remain up to date with understanding risks for children and any actions they need to take. Helpful learning takes place during meetings, where staff are asked scenario-based questions to check their understanding of procedures. As a result, staff develop a shared understanding of children's needs and risks, helping to ensure that practice across the team remains consistent.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Management oversight of the home is effective. Key areas of practice are regularly reviewed by the manager. The manager maintains good oversight of the home through regular handovers with staff, reviewing incidents, key-work sessions and children's meetings. Actions are clearly recorded and monitored to ensure they are completed. Any practice issues identified are addressed with staff through supervision or team meetings, Inspection report for children's home: SC408714 6 as appropriate. This helps to ensure that practice is monitored and improved as necessary.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Feedback from external professionals is consistently positive. Professionals said that communication is good and staff know the children well and have formed positive relationships with them. Professionals also said that incidents are well managed, and raised no concerns for the safety of the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff access a range of training to help them to understand children's needs and how to best support these. New staff benefit from a detailed induction. Overall, the team is well trained to meet children's complex needs. This helps staff to respond to children's complex needs. Inspection report for children's home: SC408714 7

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that the relevant officer or teams within the local authority are informed promptly of all allegations that come to an employer's attention or that are made directly to the police. For further information, including about the role of a local authority designated officer, see 'Working together to safeguard children'. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 44, paragraph 9.18)

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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: SC408714 8

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Able Health Care Ltd

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: c/o Argyle House, 3rd Floor Northside, Joel Street, Northwood Hills HA6 1NW

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Inspectors

Emilja Myers, Social Care Inspector Tam Musvaire, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC408714 9 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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