Zara Healthcare Ltd

Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Zara Healthcare Ltd 1 Zara Healthcare Ltd Registered provider: Zara Healthcare Ltd

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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provider

This service is owned and managed by a private provider. It offers accommodation for up to 8 children in 3 group-living homes that are solely for the use of looked- after children and care leavers.

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provider

At the time of the inspection, the service was providing support for 2 children aged 16 to 17 years.

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provider

The service manager and nominated individual have been registered with Ofsted since the organisation registered in April 2025.

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provider

Inspection dates: The inspection was announced on 20 July 2026 and started that day. The inspector was on site between 22 and 24 July 2026.

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Outcome

Inconsistent quality of service delivery adversely affects some children’s experiences, and this may limit their progress. Leaders and managers must make improvements.

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Summary of findings

Children said that they feel supported by staff and safe in their homes.

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Summary of findings

The properties are in quiet neighbourhoods. Maintenance and repairs of properties are responded to promptly. However, some properties require further renovation work.

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Summary of findings

Admissions have been reviewed and have been given more consideration. However, records do not reflect the assessment and matching processes used to determine children’s suitability.

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Summary of findings

Staff demonstrate a good understanding of children’s individual needs. Managers are visible and accessible. They maintain positive relationships with children and professionals. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Zara Healthcare Ltd 2 Safeguarding arrangements are generally effective. Management systems and audits are not yet fully embedded, and there are gaps in safer recruitment and training records.

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Summary of findings

Leaders’ interpretation of the regulations relating to notifiable incidents and the quality of support is not sufficiently robust. This reduces Ofsted’s oversight of the service.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children living in the supported accommodation feel safe in their homes and in their local communities. The homes are located in safe residential areas, enabling children to access education, local amenities and places of worship. This supports children’s independence, inclusion and engagement in their communities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Leaders are ambitious for children. Senior leaders describe a clear vision for making a positive difference to children and have positioned their head office in the local community to strengthen engagement and accessibility.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Leaders maintain a visible presence across the service. Leaders carry out occasional support worker shifts, which children and staff benefit from. This helps leaders to maintain oversight of children’s experiences and staff practice.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Professionals report that children’s needs are consistently prioritised and communication from the service is effective. The service promotes children’s relationships, and staff make efforts to help children maintain family links when appropriate. Professionals receive regular updates regarding children’s welfare and development.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Children have positive relationships with support staff and know how to raise concerns. Regular house meetings provide children with opportunities to share their views, contribute to decision-making and discuss matters affecting their homes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Maintenance concerns are raised and reported by support staff. However, property audits do not consistently identify, monitor or track maintenance and repairs. Although a maintenance log is in place, records do not clearly evidence the progress of identified actions or future refurbishment needs across the service.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Managers and staff are knowledgeable about children’s individual risks, needs and vulnerabilities. They are positive about the children they support. This is evident in the children’s support plans, which demonstrate a commitment to helping children achieve positive outcomes and successfully move towards greater independence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children

Records sampled demonstrate that children regularly participate in focused key-work sessions. These sessions support children to develop practical life skills, increase their independence and make progress towards their individual goals. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Zara Healthcare Ltd 3 Records are routinely reviewed to ensure that they accurately reflect children’s current needs and circumstances.

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How well children are helped and protected

Notifiable incidents are recorded, and professionals are informed. However, management does not understand the requirement to notify Ofsted. Several incidents, including repeated curfew breaches and police attendance, have not been notified to Ofsted. This limits Ofsted’s external scrutiny and oversight of safeguarding practice.

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How well children are helped and protected

Support staff maintain detailed incident reports and provide a clear account of events and any actions taken. However, these records do not consistently demonstrate managerial review, evaluation or formal sign-off. Consequently, opportunities for management oversight, learning and quality assurance are reduced.

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How well children are helped and protected

Children understand the arrangements to help keep them safe, including house rules and curfew expectations. Children know how to raise complaints and are confident about whom to approach should they have concerns.

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How well children are helped and protected

Children feel safe at their homes and appreciate the presence of staff providing them with support and reassurance. Key-work sessions focus on keeping safe, including discussions about community risks and online safety.

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How well children are helped and protected

Measures have been implemented to enhance the safety and security of the accommodation. For example, camera doorbell systems are installed at properties, enabling greater oversight of visitors. Staff demonstrate a good understanding of visitor safety arrangements.

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How well children are helped and protected

Children’s risk assessments are kept up to date. Records demonstrate links between identified risks, support strategies and actions taken by staff. Documentation reflects incidents and provides evidence of how staff respond to emerging risks to help safeguard children.

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How well children are helped and protected

Communication with partner agencies is consistent. Professionals are routinely informed of significant incidents and safeguarding concerns. This communication provides a coordinated approach to meeting children’s needs and protecting their welfare.

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How well children are helped and protected

Staff understand de-escalation and distraction techniques when responding to challenging situations. Staff demonstrate awareness of safeguarding responsibilities and reporting processes, contributing to a consistent approach to managing incidents.

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How well children are helped and protected

Required safer recruitment checks are carried out. However, some gaps were identified, particularly in relation to employment references. When information was Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Zara Healthcare Ltd 4 missing or incomplete, there was no evidence of management oversight or risk assessment.

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How well children are helped and protected

A matrix is in place to monitor staff training. Some staff members have missed training, including the registered service manager. This raises concerns regarding how training is monitored and prioritised.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Since registration, the records do not reflect the assessment and matching processes used to determine children’s suitability to move in. As a result, there is a lack of transparent decision-making.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The provider’s 6-monthly quality of service review is not compliant. Reports do not evaluate the quality of care and support provided, nor do they capture the views of children, staff and partner agencies. As a result, they do not provide leaders with a critical assessment of the service’s strengths and areas for development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Various audit activities are carried out. The provider commissions independent audits; however, these processes are not yet fully effective. Audit findings are not consistently stored, tracked or used to demonstrate how identified shortfalls are addressed and improvements made.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders have gathered feedback from staff and children. However, this information is not routinely analysed to identify themes, trends or areas for development. Furthermore, there is limited evidence about how feedback is routinely shared with children and staff to demonstrate how their views influence service improvement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Staff inductions are carried out; however, staff’s progress through induction is not monitored, reviewed and evaluated. Similarly, annual appraisals are carried out; however, staff feedback on these appraisals is not routinely sought.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders and managers demonstrate a clear commitment to supporting children with a wide range of needs and vulnerabilities. They are ambitious for children and seek to provide individualised support that promotes positive outcomes and greater independence.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Leaders are proactive in developing the staff workforce. Managers have developed a staff recognition scheme to acknowledge and reward positive practice and staff achievements.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Staff receive regular supervision and attend team meetings. Records sampled during the inspection corroborate staff feedback and demonstrate that opportunities are provided for reflection, support and professional discussion.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Daily staff ‘huddle’ meetings take place across the service. These enable leaders and staff to routinely share information, review emerging concerns and ensure that children receive a coordinated response to their needs. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Zara Healthcare Ltd 5 Leaders and managers demonstrate a good understanding of their role as advocates for children. They appropriately challenge local authorities when there are concerns regarding support packages, transition planning or resources required to meet children’s needs. This helps to promote placement stability and ensures that children’s needs remain central to decision-making. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Zara Healthcare Ltd 6

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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 Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023 and the ‘Guide to the Supported Accommodation Regulations, including 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 supported accommodation undertaking that puts children first and prioritises their wellbeing and development.

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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

implement recruitment practices that ensure staff are suitable to work with children and to keep them safe from harm(1);

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Requirement Due date

ensure that arrangements are in place to manage referrals of children to the supported accommodation undertaking and admissions of children to premises used as supported accommodation, including, where relevant, emergency referrals and admissions;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that arrangements are in place for the supervision, training and development of staff. (Regulation 4 (1) (2)(e)(f)(g)) 4 September 2026

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify the CIECSS and any relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation or child criminal exploitation;

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child and the registered person considers that incident to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. 4 September 2026 Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Zara Healthcare Ltd 7 The registered person must ensure that a notification made under this regulation—

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Requirement Due date

any other individuals or organisations who or which have been notified;

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Requirement Due date

any actions taken by the registered person as a result of the matter;

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Requirement Due date

is made or confirmed in writing. (Regulation 27 (3)(a)(b)(f) (4)(a)(i)(iii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain a system for monitoring and improving the quality of support provided by the supported accommodation undertaking by completing a review (“a quality of support review”) at least once every six months, which must take into account—

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Requirement Due date

the views of children, including any feedback and complaints received;

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Requirement Due date

feedback from individual children on the impact the supported accommodation has had on the child’s life, especially regarding how well prepared the child felt for transition into supported accommodation and how well prepared the child feels for transition out of supported accommodation;

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Requirement Due date

feedback from each child’s accommodating authority, staff and any relevant persons;

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Requirement Due date

any relevant research and developments in relation to the way in which the needs of children are best met.

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Requirement Due date

After completing a quality of support review, the registered person must produce a written report setting out the actions the registered person intends to take as a result of that quality of support review.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must provide a copy of the review report to the CIECSS within 28 days beginning with the day on which the report is completed, and make a copy of it available on request to each child’s accommodating authority. 4 September 2026 Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Zara Healthcare Ltd 8 (Regulation 32 (1)(a)(b)(c)(d) (2) (3))

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children 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 Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023. Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Zara Healthcare Ltd 9

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered provider: Zara Healthcare Ltd

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Supported accommodation provider details

Registered service manager: Tendai Chirwa

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Supported accommodation provider details

Email address: tendaichirwa@zarahealthcare.co.uk

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Inspector

Chris Jay, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for supported accommodation provider: Zara Healthcare Ltd 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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