Children's Home run by Therapeutic Care Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2762097 1 Registered provider: Therapeutic Care 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

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

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Information about this children’s home

One child was living at the home at the time of the inspection and spoke with the inspectors.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in December 2023.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2762097 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/07/2025 Full Good 23/07/2024 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2762097 3

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Summary of findings

The child is making progress from their starting point. Staff encourage the child to engage in education and promote family relationships.

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Summary of findings

Staff do not consistently seek or explore information about who the child spends their free time with. This lack of professional curiosity means potential risks may not be fully understood.

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improvement to be good

The child present during the last inspection continues to live in the home. They have trusting relationships with staff who understand their needs.

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improvement to be good

The child enjoys good overall health and is supported to attend routine appointments. Staff sought therapeutic advice to support their understanding of the child’s presentation. However, staff did not seek medical advice to explore whether there was an underlying health-related issue. This means that opportunities to ensure that the child’s health needs are fully assessed and addressed have been missed.

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improvement to be good

Education is supported, and staff are ambitious for the child and want them to do well. The child has access to a bespoke timetable to meet their individual needs of tutoring and music-based learning. This has enabled the child to engage and achieve recognised qualifications.

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improvement to be good

Staff support the child to spend time with their loved ones even though they live a distance away. Staff maintain regular communication with the child’s family, ensuring they remain involved in the child’s life.

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improvement to be good

The child’s hobbies are promoted and encouraged, and they have a wide variety of musical and gaming equipment to support their interests. The child lives in a warm and homely environment, and photos of the child and staff are proudly placed around the home.

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improvement to be good

The manager and staff demonstrate some understanding of the child’s needs and vulnerabilities. However, staff do not consistently show sufficient professional curiosity regarding the child’s time in the community. Staff rely on self-reported information from the child about who they spend time with. As a result, staff do not always understand Inspection report for children’s home: 2762097 4 who the child’s friends are. This limits their ability to identify and respond to emerging risks.

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improvement to be good

When the child raises concerns about staff practice, these are addressed promptly. Managers refer to the relevant professionals, including the local authority designated officer. The provider ensures that they follow the procedures, and allegations are investigated in a timely manner.

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improvement to be good

Staff have developed positive relationships with the child and use this knowledge and understanding of their needs to de-escalate situations. This helps the child to regulate their emotions. Subsequently, there have only been 2 occasions when the child has been held to keep them safe.

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improvement to be good

Safer recruitment practices are in place. However, records do not consistently evidence that all required checks have been documented, and specific dates of applicants’ employment histories are not consistently recorded. This limits the manager’s ability to explore gaps in employment and fully assess applicants’ suitability.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The home is managed by a permanent and experienced manager and is supported by a committed team of staff who state that they feel well supported by the leadership team in their roles.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager has systems in place to allow them to monitor the quality of care in the home. However, there have been missed opportunities to gather relevant information, which has limited staff’s ability to complete informed risk assessments and implement effective risk management strategies. These systems have not consistently identified shortfalls in staff practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff receive regular supervision sessions and yearly appraisals. This includes sharing feedback from children. Team meetings are held regularly, which provide a further forum for staff to reflect on practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager ensures that staff have access to a wide range of training that is aligned to the child’s needs. New staff complete an induction before being enrolled to complete a relevant qualification and are making appropriate progress towards completing these within the expected timescale.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The independent person visits the home every month. However, visits are often announced. This reduces the opportunity to observe day-to-day practice as it typically occurs. Inspection report for children’s home: 2762097 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 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

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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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

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

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies; 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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that when children spend unsupervised time in the community, staff have information about where children may go and who they are with. 23 July 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2762097 6 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

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. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(e)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that they maintain effective oversight of children’s safety by identifying and responding to safeguarding concerns, taking reasonable steps to obtain relevant information and using this information to inform effective risk assessment and risk management. 23 July 2026

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Requirement Due date

The health and well-being standard is that—

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Requirement Due date

the health and well-being needs of children are met;

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Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being; and

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Requirement Due date

children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles.

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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 child’s health and well-being needs and the options that are available in relation to the child’s health and well-being, in a way that is appropriate to the child’s age and understanding. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(ii)) 23 July 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2762097 7 In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff take appropriate action to secure additional health advice and review in response to the child’s identified or emerging health needs.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or

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Requirement Due date

if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home,

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Requirement Due date

if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

the individual is of integrity and good character;

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Requirement Due date

the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform;

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Requirement Due date

the individual is mentally and physically fit for the purposes of the work that the individual is to perform; and

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a)(b) (3)(a)(b)(c)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that all staff working in the home have an up-to-date Disclosure and Barring Service check.

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Requirement Due date

Additionally, the registered person must ensure that applicants provide a full employment history with clear, specific dates so that any gaps can be appropriately explored. 23 July 2026

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that visits by the independent person to the home are a mixture of announced and unannounced. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 65, paragraph 15.5) Inspection report for children’s home: 2762097 8

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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: 2762097 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Therapeutic Care Limited

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Children’s home details

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

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Inspectors

Shauna Morley, Social Care Inspector Melanie Cotterill, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2762097 10 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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