Children's Home run by Lifeworks Charity Limited in Devon

SC003792 Unique reference number 31 August 2010 Inspection date Christina Maddison Inspector Random Type of 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 6 Inspection Report: SC003792

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Brief description of the service

The service is a purpose built respite and residential service, situated in a rural area. It is registered to provide eight respite and two long-stay residential places for children and young people aged between five and 18 years old who have learning disabilities and may also have physical disabilities. The long-stay places are in a separate, self-contained area of the building.

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Brief description of the service

The accommodation is provided on two floors and a passenger lift is provided for the children to reach the first floor. All bedrooms are single rooms, and there is plenty of communal space provided. The service benefits from being situated next to a school that many of the children who use the service attend. The children have the use of the school playing fields and hydro-pool. All children are staffed on a one-to-one basis and are encouraged to access a range of fulfilling activities.

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Summary

The purpose of this unannounced interim inspection was to ensure that the national minimum standards in the outcome area of staying safe and the recommendations made at the previous inspection had been met.

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Summary

The manager was present for part of the inspection as were five members of care staff. One child was present throughout the inspection and five children were present for part of the inspection. Due to the children's physical and learning disabilities they were unable to verbally express their views about living at the home but all children were observed by the inspector to be relaxed and happy.

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Summary

The children are looked after by a committed staff team who clearly enjoy working with the children who they look after. There is high individual staffing levels and the safety of the children is clearly a priority in the home.

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Summary

There are two actions raised as a result of this inspection, staff are not always recording the incidents that have led to the need for a physical intervention to keep a child or other person safe. It is also not always clearly recorded when an injury has occurred during the incident. Also the home is required to conduct a fire evacuation practice at night time.

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Summary

There are two recommendations made regarding the way in which complaints are handled. It is not recorded whether complainants are satisfied with the outcome of their complaint. Also the complaints procedure is not available in a format that is accessible to the children staying at the home. The overall quality rating is satisfactory. This is an overview of what the inspector found during the inspection.

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Improvements since the last inspection

There is a continual approach within the home to drive forward improvement and this has been applied in previously raised recommendations. This has meant that parents and children are now being surveyed in order to inform a quality assurance process that is being developed in the home. Also, privacy for children has been improved and some windows and doors have 4 of 6 Inspection Report: SC003792 been fitted with opaque glass. The Statement of Purpose for the home has been updated to show that the regulatory body for the home is now Ofsted.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is satisfactory. The home has clear procedures and processes to safeguard young people that are fully understood by staff. The privacy and dignity of the children is respected by the staff, for example when supporting children to use the bathroom.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The home has a clear complaints procedure and complaints are responded to appropriately and within the timescales of the company complaints procedure. The complaints procedure is not currently available in a format that is accessible to many of the children staying at the home who have a physical and learning disability. Currently it is not being recorded if the complainant is satisfied with the outcome of their complaint to the home.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Due to the high staffing levels bullying is not an issue in the home. However, staff are very aware of potential conflicts between children and ensure that, for example children who find each other difficult to get on with each other are not sitting together on the minibus for trips out.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Procedures are in place should any of the children be missing without authority and staff are knowledgeable about what to do in such an event.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The children's safety in the home is promoted with the use of risk assessments which identify potential risks for each child and the actions that staff should take to ensure the safety of the child. Discussions in relation to potential risks happen between workers and as part of hand-over between shifts to ensure that staff are clear about the actions that they need to take to keep the children safe.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Records show that regular fire drills and equipment checks happen. There have been no night time fire drills for a year. However, staff were clear about what action to take in the event of a fire and every shift has a member of staff designated as a fire warden. This staff member takes the lead role in the event of a fire to ensure the safe evacuation of the building.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Staff are proactive in managing any undesirable behaviour. Every child staying at the home has an individual staff member supporting them at all times during the day. Staff work positively and consistently to avoid situations escalating and resolve challenging situations with high levels of individual care. All staff members are trained in physical intervention. Records show that incidents of physical intervention are not always comprehensively recorded and cross referenced with the appropriate incident report. This means that on two occasions events leading to a physical intervention incident and injuries sustained by children and staff in these incidents were not sufficiently recorded.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Robust procedures are in place to ensure that only suitable persons are employed. Staff confirmed that they had to obtain two references and required checks before starting work at 5 of 6 Inspection Report: SC003792 the home. Staff records were not available for inspection in the home on the day of the inspection and will be inspected during the key inspection.

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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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Due date Action Standard

10 September 2010 record in detail all incidents of physical intervention including events leading up to the intervention, any injury sustained by a child and how such injuries were dealt with (Regulation 17) 17 September 2010 ensure that an fire evacuation practice at the home takes place at night at suitable intervals. (Regulation 32)

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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 that outcomes of complaints are recorded and it is recorded whether the complainant is satisfied with the outcome of the complaint (NMS 16) • ensure that the home's complaints procedure is available in a format that is accessible to the children staying in the home. (NMS 16) 6 of 6 Inspection Report: SC003792

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