Children's Home run by Kingston upon Hull City Council in Kingston upon Hull

SC034495 Unique reference number 21 April 2010 Inspection date Simon Morley Inspector Key Type of Inspection

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9 September 2009 Date of last inspection .

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This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated.

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You can obtain copies of The Children Act 2004, Every Child Matters and The National Minimum Standards for Children's Services from: The Stationery Office (TSO) PO Box 29, St Cripins, Duke Street, Norwich, NR3 1GN. Tel: 0870 600 5522. Online ordering: www.tso.co.uk/bookshop

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About this inspection

The purpose of this inspection is to assure children and young people, parents, the public, local authorities and government of the quality and standard of the service provided. The inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000. This report details the main strengths and any areas for improvement identified during the inspection. The judgements included in the report are made in relation to the outcome for children set out in the Children Act 2004 and relevant National Minimum Standards for the establishment.

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The inspection judgements and what they mean

this aspect of the provision is of exceptionally high quality Outstanding: this aspect of the provision is strong Good: this aspect of the provision is sound Satisfactory: this aspect of the provision is not good enough Inadequate: 3 of 9 Inspection Report: SC034495

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Brief description of the service

The local authority children's services department own and manage the home. It provides respite and longer term care for children and young people with learning disabilities. It is registered to care for and accommodate up to eight children and young people at any one time, of either sex, between the ages of eight and 17.

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Brief description of the service

A separate part of the building is used to provide youth club facilities twice a week for similar children, some of whom also have respite care at the home. In addition, the service provides some outreach work in children’s own homes.

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Brief description of the service

Other parts of the building are used as offices by an occupational therapy team, and as a family resource contact centre.

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Brief description of the service

The home contains a flat to provide ongoing care for a resident with longer term care needs, and overall the home provides a service for around 20 families and their children.

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Brief description of the service

The home has an upstairs and downstairs lounge. All bedrooms are upstairs, as well as the bathroom and shower rooms. Downstairs there is a computer room, cinema, sensory room, lounge, pamper room, quiet room, dining room and kitchen. There is an enclosed garden with play equipment and an adjacent car park. Local amenities are close by and the home is accessible by public transport.

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Summary

This was an unannounced key inspection including all the outcome areas and assessing the improvements made since the last inspection.

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Summary

There is a new manager in post and practice has developed and improved in a number of areas. Staff morale and motivation are high and children benefit from a professional, friendly and caring staff team.

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Summary

There is good effective management and all but one outcome area are judged to be good. Plans have been developed for extensive building works to improve the design and layout of the building for the benefit of children who use it. The overall quality rating is now good.

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Summary

The improvements identified as needed at the last inspection have been made and as a result of this inspection no further improvements are required of the registered provider. The overall quality rating is good. This is an overview of what the inspector found during the inspection.

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Improvements since the last inspection

The good practice recommendations and statutory actions from the last inspection have been complied with.

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Improvements since the last inspection

There is a better approach to risk management, helping keep children safe, and all the required safety certificates are up-to-date and available in the home. There are still some issues regarding 4 of 9 Inspection Report: SC034495 the design and physical layout of the home but there are extensive plans now in place to make the necessary improvements.

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is good. There are good arrangements to protect and promote the health of children living at the home. Children's health needs are well met and their welfare is effectively protected by the home's policies, procedures and practice.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children are encouraged to eat healthy home-cooked meals. Staff promote healthy eating and also support children to plan and choose the menus. There is effective communication with children, their families and health professionals, ensuring that the food provided meets children's needs. In addition, there is a range of different themes to some of the menus, supporting children to experience a diverse range of different cultures from around the world. The home now has full-time cooks which means care staff are able to spend more time directly meeting children's care needs.

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Helping children to be healthy

Parents of children who stay for short breaks retain overall responsibility for their child's health care as part of the care arrangements. Staff work well in partnership with families using the service to ensure that children receive good continuous health care. There are well kept records of children's health needs and required support. This helps staff work effectively with parents and health workers to ensure young people's health is promoted and protected. Children staying at the home on a longer term basis also have regular health checks and reviews of their health needs. There are well established links with a range of specialist health professionals ensuring children receive the specialist health care to meet their needs. Staff are trained in a variety of specific health care subjects, for example, physiotherapy, epilepsy and gastro-feeding, to support children. There are well kept plans which staff are familiar with in the event of an

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Helping children to be healthy

emergency, for example, what to do if a child has a prolonged epileptic seizure. Staff are also trained in first aid to provide help if there are any accidents.

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Helping children to be healthy

There are effective medication procedures to help ensure children get their medication at the right times. These procedures are monitored by senior staff and reviewed as part of the quality monitoring in the home to ensure this important aspect of children's care is properly completed.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is good. The policies, procedures and care practice ensure that children are kept free from harm and their welfare is effectively protected. There have been improvements since the last inspection to risk management, helping ensure children's safety.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Staff are trained in child protection and know how to recognise signs and symptoms of abuse. There is good communication with other agencies involved in children's care, for example, schools, and also with children's social workers. Staff are familiar with the procedures for referring any allegations or suspicions of harm and there is regular communication within the home between staff and senior managers about children's welfare and safety. High staffing levels and effective care practice also ensure that children are well protected from going missing and are free from bullying. As a result, children's safety is promoted well. 5 of 9 Inspection Report: SC034495 Staff interact and respond well to children. There is a good ethos and practice with regard to behaviour management. Staff know how to communicate with the children in their care and engage them in meaningful activities. Children receive praise for good behaviour and staff use

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

an appropriate approach to de-escalation to help calm children down if they become challenging. If necessary, approved physical interventions are used to protect the safety of individuals. There have been no examples of this since before the last inspection. As with other aspects of children's care and needs, there is regular communication with families and schools about behaviour. This helps ensure children benefit from a consistent approach regarding the support with their behavioural needs. Staff receive regular training about behaviour management, and their positive approach to care helps ensure that children develop good social behaviour.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children's privacy is respected, and there is good practice with regards to helping them with personal care. Information is handled confidentially and meetings are held in private. Immediate action is taken to try and resolve children's concerns as they arise. There is also regular use of advocacy to help children communicate their views and any complaints to staff. There have been no complaints since the last inspection and the last complaint was suitably resolved.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The home is well maintained and provides good physical safety and security. All the necessary safety certificates and records are up to date and available for inspection, which meets one of the recommendations from the last inspection. There has also been an improvement to risk management, particularly in relation to having robust safety procedures in the event of a fire. Risks that individual children pose, as well as those from the building and activities, are all being reviewed and updated ensuring the necessary safety measures are in place. This complies with other improvements required from the last inspection.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

There are good procedures ensuring the careful recruitment of staff including necessary checks to make sure only those who are safe and suitable get to work in the home.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is good. There is good individual support for children, their education is promoted and interests and hobbies are encouraged and developed.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Each child has a good placement plan identifying how individual needs will be supported. Staff provide very good care and are knowledgeable about each young person's individual needs and how best to support them. Staff understand the importance of communication with the children in their care and how it affects behaviour and helps promote positive outcomes for their health, safety and well-being. There are good links with other helping agencies providing further specialist support about different ways of communication, managing behaviour and promoting health.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Education is promoted and children have very good attendance at school. Positive outcomes are supported by communication and meetings with schools and parents to help ensure continuity of care between school, parents and care staff.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Staff effectively support and encourage children to enjoy and be involved in a wide range of leisure activities indoors and out in the community. There is a good range of resources at the home: toys, books, games, Digital Versatile Discs (DVDs), a computer room, and a play area in 6 of 9 Inspection Report: SC034495 the garden. There are regular trips out, social events and support to use local leisure facilities. Children enjoy their time at the home and like coming to stay.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is good. There are good arrangements for helping children contribute to decisions made about their lives and the running of the home.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Admissions are planned well and are sensitive to the needs of children starting to use the home for short breaks. Dates that children stay are planned in advance and bedrooms personalised for children before they arrive. Careful thought is given to which groups of children use the home at the same time so that risks are minimised, their needs are met well and their experiences are positive.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

There have been improvements to the way children's care needs are assessed. Staff are making more home visits to families and obtaining more detailed information about children's needs. Children benefit from this when they stay at the home as staff are more familiar with how best to look after them. Each child has a good individual plan of care detailing the support they will get from staff to ensure their health, welfare and safety are promoted and protected. Children's views about their care are responded to well and included in their care plans, which are regularly reviewed to reflect their achievements and development.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

There is good support for children who live at the home on a long-term basis to maintain contact with their relatives. Staff also use communication diaries that accompany individual children, to exchange information with children's families and schools. This is something that some parents think could improve so they are more informed about how their children experience short breaks at the home and can communicate more regularly with staff. This has already been addressed by the manager who has taken steps to improve it.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

There is a good approach to including children in what is going on and ensuring they have good opportunities for participating in decisions about their care, the running of the home and social events. Children benefit from the support of an independent advocate who visits them regularly. Children's views are passed on to the home by the advocate and are responded to well by staff. This helps ensure children have a good say in their care and daily life in the home. Staff also interact positively with children treating them with respect, promoting individuality, independence and choice. This has helped develop good relationships between staff and children. Staff are very caring, thoughtful and enthusiastic in making time spent at the home a very positive experience for children. This is reflected in comments made by parents and social workers: ‘staff are professional and friendly', 'pleased with how well children are looked after',

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Helping children make a positive contribution

'children love staying there', and 'staff are devoted'.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

There is a better approach to regular consultation with parents and stakeholders obtaining their views about the quality of the service. This is a new development but already the manager has responded to initial feedback to make the service better. There are plans to continue this by engaging more with parents and encouraging more of their involvement in the home.

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Achieving economic wellbeing

The provision is satisfactory. 7 of 9 Inspection Report: SC034495 Generally the main needs of children staying at the home result from their learning disabilities, although, some of the children also have severe physical disabilities. The home is not registered to specifically accommodate children with physical disabilities and has not been built or designed with these needs in mind.

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Achieving economic wellbeing

Current aids and adaptations generally meet the needs of children using the home. Children do not have free access to all parts of the home and garden. There are physical restrictions within the home regarding access to the passenger lift, garden, kitchen and dining room. These restrictions are not agreed in children's placement plans and unnecessarily restrict all children using the home. This has not improved since the last inspection. The location of the passenger lift and entrance to the home through a main reception area compromises children's freedom, privacy and dignity. However, plans are now in place for major building work to take place and make the improvements needed, which will address these shortfalls. There is a specially adapted flat designed to meet one child's needs. The shower room and bathrooms used by children have been adapted with special equipment to help meet most of their needs.

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Achieving economic wellbeing

All children have their own rooms. Bedrooms for children living at the home on a long-term basis are homely and personalised reflecting their individuality. Bedrooms for children having short breaks have been made more homely. The home is well maintained with a good range of facilities including two lounges, a sensory room, cinema, computer room and pamper/quiet room. There is a large secure garden with children's play equipment in it.

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Organisation

The organisation is good. There are good management arrangements to help make sure the home is run in the best interests of the children living there.

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Organisation

There is detailed information about the home available to children, their relatives and social workers. This has been reviewed and kept up to date. Staff will also help explain any of this information to children when they come to visit to support their preparation for using the home for short breaks.

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Organisation

There are clear deputising arrangements in the manager's absence and effective supervision of staff. Staff are keen and eager to maintain and improve the good outcomes for children who use the service. Children are benefiting from a staff team with good morale and motivation. There are very good staffing levels to help make sure children get all the support they need. Staffing levels are increased according to the needs of children and the risks they present or risks from planned activities. This demonstrates good flexible practice for supporting children and keeping them safe. Staff have, or are working towards, the required care qualification that demonstrates their competence to do this job. There is good support from the manager, and staff are well trained so children benefit from good quality care.

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Organisation

The promotion of equality and diversity is good. There is effective care practice that promotes social inclusion and participation. Individual needs are met well especially with regard to age, gender and disability. Children are involved in a variety of cultural events throughout the year to help improve their understanding of the world around them. Care records are well kept and reflect children's needs, progress and individuality. 8 of 9 Inspection Report: SC034495 There is good monitoring of care practice to help make sure staff are doing their jobs well and children benefit from good outcomes. There have been improvements in the quality of consultation with children and stakeholders and this information is being used to improve standards of care, for example, better communication with families and social workers. The new manager has a clear plan for improving the service, both for the short and long-term

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions, which must be taken so that the registered person meets the Care Standards Act 2000, The Childrens Homes Regulations 2001 and the National Minimum Standards. The Registered Provider must comply with the given timescales.

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Recommendations

There are no recommendations. 9 of 9 Inspection Report: SC034495

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