Children's Home run by Eastfield Group in Sefton

Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC064663 1 SC064663

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Registered provider: Mr Jim Buchanan & Mrs Ivy Thompson

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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 operated by a private organisation. It provides care for up to 7 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, 6 children were living at the home.

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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 these inspections, the inspectors evaluated:

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Information about this inspection

 the care of children  the safety of children  the effectiveness of leaders and managers. Inspectors have 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: SC064663 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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Summary of findings

Children are engaging in education. For 2 children who are new to the home, the manager is working with the placing authority and the virtual school to identify a local suitable education provision for them. One child has recently sat their GCSEs and attended their school prom and has plans to enrol in college.

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Summary of findings

Staff complete regular direct-work sessions with children. These sessions are used to discuss significant events, plan for upcoming changes, reflect on incidents and to support children to understand risks such as drug misuse, smoking, vaping and sexual health.

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Summary of findings

Children’s support plans and risk assessments are detailed documents that contain all necessary information for staff to provide consistent care to children. These are routinely updated with any changes. However, when welfare checks are needed to support children’s safety, these are not always captured within support plans or detailed in reports.

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Summary of findings

When children go missing from the home, staff take appropriate action to locate them and work with relevant professionals to support their safe return as quickly as possible. However, the manager does not review effectively staff practice or recording and reporting following significant incidents. As a result, the home does not consistently identify lessons learned or use these opportunities to improve practice.

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Summary of findings

Children benefit from a stable and consistent staff team. Staff know children well and provide continuity of care. Since the last inspection, staff have completed outstanding training to strengthen their knowledge and skills in meeting children’s individual needs.

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Summary of findings

Staff take part in regular supervision sessions. These sessions have been improved to ensure that they reflect on staff practice and are also used as an opportunity to review staff welfare and share information regarding children’s changing needs.

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Summary of findings

The manager completes a compatibility assessment before children move into the home. However, the assessment does not identify effectively children’s risks or evaluate how those risks may affect other children already living in the home. As a result, the provider accepted a child into the home and, within 2 weeks of the child moving in, the provider served notice on the placement after determining that the home could not meet the child’s needs. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC064663 3 There is a new manager in post. Although the manager has introduced some changes to monitoring and oversight arrangements, these have not been effective in identifying shortfalls or driving improvement. In addition, the manager has not completed the quality-of-care review, which reduces opportunities for external scrutiny and evaluation of the home’s performance.

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Summary of findings

The home is a spacious environment for children. However, the manager has not ensured that the environment is maintained to an acceptable standard. Areas of the home show signs of wear and tear, cleanliness falls below expected standards, and some safety issues require urgent attention, particularly in relation to window restrictors in children’s bedrooms. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC064663 4

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/05/2026 Full Good 17/06/2025 Full Good 13/05/2024 Full Good 05/03/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC064663 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 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

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)(h))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that suitable systems are in place for the monitoring and oversight of the home to ensure that shortfalls and areas for improvement are identified.

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Requirement Due date

In addition to this, the registered person must have suitable systems in place for the oversight of significant events to enable them to reflect and identify any lessons learned. 4 September 2026

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home. 4 September 2026 Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC064663 6 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure the effective induction of each child into the home;

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Requirement Due date

manage and review the placement of each child in the home; and

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Requirement Due date

plan for, and help, each child to prepare to leave the home or to move into adult care in a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with the child’s placing authority. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that robust and effective assessments are completed before children move into the home. These assessments must fully consider each child’s needs, risks and vulnerabilities, evaluate the potential impact on children already living in the home, and identify how the home will meet and support the needs of all children safely and effectively.

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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

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(v))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that when it is necessary to complete welfare calls or visual welfare checks to ensure children’s safety, that these are completed in line with agreed plans and are suitably recorded. 4 September 2026

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who— 4 September 2026 Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC064663 7 understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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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

understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

provide to children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably;

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Requirement Due date

provide to children personal items that are appropriate for their age and understanding; and

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(i)(vii)(viii)(c)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered provider must ensure that any maintenance issues are swiftly addressed and that there is a plan to address general wear and tear.

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Requirement Due date

In addition to this, the registered provider must ensure that there is a daily plan to ensure that children’s bedrooms are clean and tidy.

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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; 4 September 2026 Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC064663 8 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. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c) (3) (4)(a)(b) (5)) Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC064663 9

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Inspectors

Katie Tomlinson, Social Care Inspector Kerri Lynch, Social Care Inspector Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC064663 10 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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