Children's Home run by Therapeutic Care Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report for children's home: 2744719 1 Registered provider: Therapeutic Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children's home

The home is operated by a private organisation. The home is registered to care for up to 2 children with social and emotional difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children's home

The home was registered with Ofsted in October 2023 and the manager registered in March 2025.

p.1

Information about this children's home

One child was living in the home at the time of this inspection and spoke to the inspectors.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

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

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 2744719 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

08/07/2025 Full Requires improvement to be good 13/08/2024 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2744719 3

p.2

Summary of findings

Transitions for children moving out of the home are well supported. There is clear communication and planning between staff, professionals and family to ensure a positive outcome.

p.3

Summary of findings

The manager and staff show strong multi-agency working and good communication. They have worked closely with external professionals on agreeing and actioning additional safeguarding actions when required.

p.3

Summary of findings

The home is led by an experienced manager, who has a good understanding of the children's needs and vulnerabilities and advocates for the best interests of each child.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff prepare children well for moving on from the home. One child recently moved out, which was a quicker move than anticipated. Staff responded promptly and sensitively to ensure the child was appropriately prepared and supported. The child living at the home has been there for over a year. They are settled and making progress in many aspects of their life, and they have developed positive relationships with staff.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to spend time with family and people who are important to them. Staff will transport the child to visit their friends and family who live a distance away from the home to maintain these relationships. Family is also invited to spend time in the home. This supports the child to stay connected to their family.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff regularly encourage children to express their wishes and feelings through daily conversations and weekly young people's meetings. The child can choose their meals and activities and share their views on the home. This enables the child to participate fully in the daily life of the home.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff demonstrate a clear understanding of the educational barriers that the child may encounter. Staff work proactively alongside external professionals to identify suitable education provision suited to the child's individual needs and abilities. As a result, the child has been able to achieve recognised qualifications and gain college places.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the child's health needs well, and they are supported to attend all routine health appointments. The child is encouraged to speak for themselves during appointments, sharing their concerns with medical professionals. Staff work proactively with health professionals to ensure any timely assessments or treatment are provided. Inspection report for children's home: 2744719 4 Staff are gradually supporting the child to develop their independence skills through a child-centred approach and progressing at the child's pace according to their needs. Staff are also exploring additional structured independence programmes to support the child to develop life skills. The local authority pathway plan needs assessment has not been completed. While this was followed up by the manager, it needed to be actioned sooner.

p.3

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

The child rarely goes missing from home. When the child does go missing, staff take all appropriate actions. This includes notifying the police, carrying out searches of known and likely locations and making repeated attempts to contact the child to establish their whereabouts.

p.4

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

Staff work closely with partner agencies to identify, implement and review additional safeguarding measures in response to emerging concerns. This ensures that any risks are well understood and appropriate measures are in place to keep the child safe.

p.4

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

Staff are supported to manage the child's risks by following clear and detailed risk assessments and positive support plans, which the manager regularly keeps under review. In addition, staff engage the child in conversations about staying safe, as well as how to develop healthy relationships. This ensures that safeguarding practice is responsive and individual to each child's identified needs.

p.4

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

Staff support the child to take age-appropriate risks as part of their development for independence. This has meant that the child has been supported to have increased unsupervised time in the community. Where the risks for the child are deemed low, staff still complete checks to ensure that they are safe.

p.4

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

Allegations are acted upon, and investigations are carried out thoroughly with records demonstrating clear decision-making. The child is advised of the outcome so that they understand what has happened. This means the child feels listened to and supports trusting relationships.

p.4

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

The child enjoys a comfortable and relaxed living environment and is encouraged to personalise their bedroom. However, the home has varying levels of cleanliness and requires a deep clean. The sofa and dining room chairs are showing signs of wear and tear.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home benefits from an experienced manager who is child focused and has high aspirations for the child. The manager knows the child well, and the child refers to the manager as a trusted adult they can talk to. Inspection report for children's home: 2744719 5 There is a stable staff team in place. Many of the staff have worked in the home for several years and work well together. Staff are complimentary about the support they receive from the manager, and staff morale is high.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Professionals speak positively about the effectiveness of multi-agency working with staff and say that there is good communication from the manager and staff team. One professional said, 'They advocate for the child in multi-agency meetings and ensure they voiced their opinions on what is best for the child.'

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are provided with training opportunities to develop their skills, which supports them to care effectively for the child. The in-house therapist also contributes to staff knowledge and development, which helps them to strengthen their understanding of the child's emotional and development needs.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Supervision sessions take place regularly, and staff talk in detail about the child's needs and their care plans. Team meetings cover key areas and ensure staff are well informed on important information. While appraisals take place yearly, there is a lack of feedback from children and professionals regarding staff performance.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager maintains effective oversight across all aspects of the home and practice. This monitoring ensures that the child's needs are met, and staff are supported to deliver safe and nurturing care. Inspection report for children's home: 2744719 6

p.5

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 must comply within the given timescales.

p.6

Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

p.6

Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

Requirement Due date

enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home.

p.6

Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all areas of the home are safely maintained to ensure children have a positive environment. The registered person must ensure the home is regularly cleaned and worn furniture is replaced 29 September 2026

p.6

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure, where reasonable and practical, appraisals contain the views of children and other professionals who have worked with the staff member over the year and children in the home's care. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 61, paragraph 13.5)  The registered person should ensure that where the placing authority has not completed a child's assessment, including pathway plan needs assessment, within the required timescale this is escalated promptly with the placing authority. ('Guide to the Inspection report for children's home: 2744719 7 Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 12, paragraph 2.8)

p.6

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: 2744719 8

p.7

Children's home details

Registered provider: Therapeutic Care Limited

p.8

Children's home details

Registered provider address: Errigal House, Avroe Crescent, Blackpool FY4 2DP

p.8

Inspectors

Sam Baird, Social Care Inspector Shauna Morley, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2744719 9 regulates and inspects 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.

p.8

Inspectors

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

p.9

Inspectors

You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.9

Inspectors

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.9

Inspectors

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.9