Children's Home run by City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council in Bradford

SC033628 Unique reference number 21 June 2010 Inspection date Nicola McEvinney Inspector Key Type of Inspection

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25 February 2010 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 8 Inspection Report: SC033628

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Brief description of the service

This children's home is based in a purpose built unit accessed by an unmade road, close to a town centre, within easy reach of community facilities. The unit provides four overnight places for short breaks care and also day and teatime sessions. All the children have learning disabilities and/or physical disabilities and/or complex health needs.

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Brief description of the service

The building is single storey. Accommodation is provided in four single bedrooms, which have overhead hoists and other specialist equipment. There is also a lounge area with TV and audio equipment and a dining area near to a small domestic style kitchen. There is a well-equipped multi-sensory room located near to the dining area. Bathrooms and toilets are located near to children's bedrooms and are suitably equipped.

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Brief description of the service

There is an extensive outside area surrounded by a perimeter fence. This area is divided into a playground area with play equipment, a safe play surface, a fenced area that has some play equipment, seating and a grassed area. The play area has grassed shaded areas and a track where young people can use wheeled vehicles or wheelchairs.

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Summary

The purpose of this unannounced inspection was to check on the progress of the recommendations made at the last inspection and to ensure compliance with the national minimum standards.

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Summary

This is a good home with a well-established staff team who have a good understanding about the needs of children and young people with disabilities and are committed to provide rewarding experiences for the young people they care for. There are good care and behaviour management plans in place to ensure a consistent approach to the care of the children and young people.

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Summary

The home is well maintained, pleasantly decorated and furnished, creating a homely environment for the children and young people. There is an extensive outside area where children and young people can play.

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Summary

One minor shortfall was identified at this inspection. Although there is clear guidance for staff about what action to take when monitoring the water temperature, there is no evidence that this guidance is followed when the water is too hot. 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 home has addressed the recommendations made at the last inspection. Posters are on display advising children and young people how they can make a complaint. These are in a child friendly format which is accessible to children and young people with learning disabilities.

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Improvements since the last inspection

The use of sanctions is the subject of on-going debate within the staff team. Although no sanctions are recorded, it is recognised that it may be appropriate to impose sanctions to some more able young people. Behaviour management plans give clear guidance on effective approaches to manage children and young people's behaviours. 4 of 8 Inspection Report: SC033628

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is good. Children and young people are encouraged to eat healthy and nutritious meals. For those children and young people who have a limited diet, staff work with parents and access the services of the dietician to address this. Children and young people's care plans give clear guidance about support they require with eating; what utensils are required and where they like to be seated to ensure mealtimes are stress free. Culturally appropriate diets are provided and great care is taken to ensure food allergies are taken into account when devising menus.

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Helping children to be healthy

Parents or carers oversee the health needs of their children, however, there are clear details of the health needs of the children and young people. These plans include any details of allergies and staff have received training in how to use an EpiPen for those children and young people who may have an allergic reaction. Epileptic protocols are in place for those children and young people who have epilepsy. These protocols give clear guidance to the staff on what action they are to take in the event of a young person having a seizure. All staff have had training on the administration of Buccal Midazolam and Rectal Diazepam. Some children and young people are gastrostomy fed and staff have had relevant training in the management of this.

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Helping children to be healthy

Medication records are in good order. Each medication sheet has a photograph of the individual to ensure medication is not given to the wrong individual. Any omissions in the administration of medication are clearly recorded. Staff are given clear guidance about monitoring young people to check that omissions have had no ill effects. All but two staff have received first aid training ensuring a first aider is on duty at all times.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is good. Children and young people's files are kept securely to ensure confidentiality. A number of children and young people require help and support with their personal care. The home has a personal care policy and staff are vigilant in ensuring that children and young people's dignity is respected.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Two complaints have been received by young people expressing their dissatisfaction regarding the group of young people they were with. This has been extensively discussed at team meetings and staff have altered the way they work to ensure that the children and young people are supervised at all times, particularly during the handover session. This has been reviewed and young people are happy with the new arrangements.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

All staff have attended safeguarding training and have a good awareness of issues that can put children and young people at risk. The home works closely with other professionals on safeguarding issues effecting children and young people who attend the home. These plans are discussed at the weekly team meeting to ensure that all the staff are familiar in managing the children and young people.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Staff are vigilant in supervising children and young people and their behaviour is discussed at team meetings to ensure that any propensity to intimidate other children and young people is closely monitored. 5 of 8 Inspection Report: SC033628 Children and young people are closely supervised and do not leave the home without a member of staff. Procedures are in place to advise staff on what action to take if a young person gets lost while they are on an outing.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Staff have developed good behaviour management plans, they work closely with schools and adopt the same approach as the school to ensure consistency. These plans identify triggers to behaviours and strategies are in place to manage the children and young people. No sanctions are recorded, staff endeavour to praise children and young people when they are behaving well and divert their attention when children and young people begin to present challenging behaviour. A number of restraints are recorded, these are recorded in good detail. Restraints used are gentle holds to divert children or young people away from situations.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Risk assessments are in place for each young person, the premises and activities, these identify the risk and detail the strategies to use to minimise the risk. All health and safety checks are carried out as required. However, the guidance for water temperature checks instructs staff to take action if temperatures exceed 45 degrees. This temperature has been exceeded on a number of occasions and there is no evidence that the procedure has been adhered to. Fire records are in good order with drills held regularly, including at night, to ensure that the waking night staff also know what action to take in the event of a fire breaking out.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Although there have not been any new appointments made to this home the recruitment files of all new staff employed to the residential services were seen at the human resources department. The local authority has robust systems in place to ensure only suitable people are employed in the home. The identity of all visitors to the home is checked and they are requested to sign in.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is good. The home accesses a number of services to help meet the needs of the children and young people. For example, a physiotherapist supports young people following a fractured limb; the dietician works with parents to advise on diets; an agency works with some individuals to enhance young people's social life. The behavioural support team supports parents and carers and advises on managing children and young people's behaviours. The child and adolescent mental health service supports families with behavioural issues; this team is also available to support and advise the staff team if requested to do so. Some young people have a communication book with clear detail of how the young person communicates. On arrival staff work through this to ensure the young person knows what is going to happen during their stay.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Parents and carers oversee the education of their children. However, the home holds a copy of the individual education plan to ensure they know the targets children and young people are working towards and are able to support them to reach the targets. Key workers endeavour to attend children and young people's educational review to ensure they are aware of educational issues.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The home is well equipped and has an extensive outside area where the children and young people can participate in a range of activities. For example, go-carts, bicycles, ball games as well as swings and a slide. The home has recently acquired guinea pigs, rabbits and chickens for the children and young people to enjoy. This also helps children and young people who may have animal phobias become more comfortable around animals. Children and young people 6 of 8 Inspection Report: SC033628 also access a number of recreational facilities, for example, the swimming baths, and the local rugby league fun day. Some young people are involved in an empowerment group. Some young people have been taken youth hostelling and to an educational provision where they have stayed overnight. This has been very successful.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is good. There are good care plans in place clearly outlining the needs of the children and young people. These plans outline how the child or young person communicates, what constitutes their family and favourite items as well as how they are to be managed when they get anxious or upset. Daily and night time routines are also produced giving clear guidance to the staff team on how each child or young person should be looked after. This ensures a consistent approach to their care.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Child care reviews are held as appropriate, occasionally these are joint reviews with their educational review. This ensures that all relevant information is shared. Staff also review the behaviour management plans on a weekly basis to ensure that they continue to be effective.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The home endeavours to match the group of young people who attend the home for each session to ensure compatibility. A number of young people who attend on the same night are all moving to adult services, the home works with parents and adult services to ensure suitable future placements are identified.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

When young people arrive at the home staff sit down with them and explain who will be looking after them and what the plans are for their stay. There is good interaction between the staff and children and young people. Each child and young person also has a photo album with pictures of them enjoying activities and events; these mark their progress during their time at the home.

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Achieving economic wellbeing

The provision is good. Some more able young people are encouraged to make light snacks or their pack-up, this helps them to develop their independence skills. The home is approaching a voluntary organisation to try and get young people who have left the home to return on a voluntary basis to undertake some light duties such as gardening; these young people will be good role models for the young people staying.

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Achieving economic wellbeing

The home is well maintained and comfortable creating a homely environment for the children and young people. There is a good gardening project and there are lots of fruit and vegetables growing; this is very good for the children and young people to be involved with.

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Organisation

The organisation is good. The Statement of Purpose has been amended, it is an informative document that explains to parents what they can expect when their child comes to the home for a short break. A young person's guide is also in place, this is a child friendly document that staff or parents can go through with the child. 7 of 8 Inspection Report: SC033628 The promotion of equality and diversity is good. Each child or young person has an individual care plan that clearly identifies their needs. Staff work hard to ensure each child or young person has activities appropriate to their abilities and are accommodated with other individuals with similar abilities. The staff team reflect the ethnicity of the families they work with and there is a good gender balance.

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Organisation

There are good staffing levels, usually a one to one staffing ratio, ensuring young people are well supervised and looked after. Agency staff are used to supplement the rota. However, these individuals have worked at the home for some considerable time and are familiar with the children and young people. There are weekly staff meetings held and all staff, including the agency staff, attend these meetings ensuring that there is a consistent approach to the care of the young people. Shifts are well organised with tasks allocated ensuring everybody knows their role.

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Organisation

All but one member of staff have achieved National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) at level 3 or equivalent or are registered on this qualification. Some staff have achieved NVQ at level 4. There are good training opportunities for the staff team. As well as a range of medical intervention training specifically to meet the health needs of the children and young people staff have also attended training specifically for young people with disabilities. For example, specialist autism training, training about sex and relationships and training about children and loss. This ensures that young people are cared for by a competent staff team who have a good understanding of the needs of young people with disabilities.

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Organisation

There are good monitoring systems in place, this is an efficiently run home. Children and young people's files contain all the relevant information and are easy to follow.

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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

To improve the quality and standards of care further the registered person should take account of the following recommendation(s): • ensure appropriate action is taken following health and safety checks, particularly in relation to hot water checks. (NMS 26.1) 8 of 8 Inspection Report: SC033628

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