Children's Home run by Dorset Council in Dorset

Unique reference number SC032163 Inspection date 07/12/2010 Inspector Debbi Flint Type of inspection Random

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Date of last inspection 07/07/2010 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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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 Crispins, 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.

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About this inspection

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 outcomes for children set out in the Children Act 2004 and the relevant National Minimum Standards for the service.

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The inspection judgements and what they mean

Outstanding: this aspect of the provision is of exceptionally high quality Good: this aspect of the provision is strong Satisfactory: this aspect of the provision is sound Inadequate: this aspect of the provision is not good enough

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Brief description of the service

The provision is a purpose built children's home that is run by a local authority. It is situated in a residential area of a seaside town. The site where it is based also accommodates a home for older people and a sheltered housing development. The home is able to accommodate up to 14 children and young people of either sex, aged between four and under 18 years of age who have a learning disability including those who have additional more complex or challenging needs. The majority of children receive respite care but the home is also able to support children requiring longer-term care. In addition the home provides a day care service for up to 10 children during weekends and school holiday periods. The home is arranged into four living units with a fifth area used for day care. Each unit has single bedrooms, bath and toilet facilities and lounge/diners. Two units have a kitchen. One unit has been specially adapted for children with physical disabilities. Other facilities

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Brief description of the service

include a sensory room and an art/craft room. The home is built around a quadrangle which is used as a play area and has additional garden areas around the outside of the building.

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Brief description of the service

At the time of this interim inspection there were not any children present in the home.

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Summary

This is an overview of what the inspector found during the inspection.

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Summary

This statutory inspection was undertaken as an unannounced interim inspection. This was not a key inspection and not all key standards were assessed. The purpose of this inspection was to follow up the recommendations from the last inspection. In addition to this all key standards under the Every Child Matters outcome area of staying safe were assessed.

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Summary

The home is judged to be continuing to provide a good service overall. The Registered Manager leads a well established staff team who are confident in managing this group of children. There are excellent links with other agencies, such as health and education, which enable children to receive a consistent and well co- ordinated service. Staff work closely with children and build positive relationships. There have been no complaints since the last inspection; however the service has received some compliments.

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Summary

There were two recommendations made at this inspection.

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Improvements since the last inspection

At the last inspection five recommendations were made and these were: to ensure that the fire risk assessment is updated and reviewed regularly to reflect any changes in the premises; to maintain accurate records of staff fire training; to review the Statement of Purpose to include recent changes to the types of placements in the home; to carry out supervision of all care staff at the recommended frequency and to ensure that all staff have their performance appraised annually. All recommendations have been met with the exception of the recommendation around annual appraisals for staff. These appraisals have not yet been introduced although the manager does state that there are plans to introduce them in January 2011. This recommendation is therefore repeated.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Staff are aware of the need to protect children's privacy and state that they 'promote privacy through being respectful.' Children living or staying in this home have learning disabilities and often require a high level of supervision and support in order to ensure their safety. They may also require intimate care. Staff are sensitive when giving personal care and try to ensure that the same staff always work with the same child in order to maintain dignity and enable children to express any choice wherever possible. All resident children have their own rooms and children who use the service for short breaks also use the same room whenever possible. The home is very large with substantial gardens which means that there is a lot of space for children to enjoy and use. Staff state that they also ensure that children are able to use their bedrooms for private time if this is requested.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The home has good policies and procedures in place to safeguard the children and staff demonstrate a strong commitment to promoting and ensuring the children's safety and welfare overall. The home has a complaints policy and staff have ensured that this is available in the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) and in Makaton. There have been no complaints since the last inspection although staff do keep a bound log for the purpose of recording any complaints or compliments. Some compliments have been recorded since the last inspection. The home keeps a copy of the Local Safeguarding Children Board's procedures and staff on duty at this inspection demonstrate a good awareness of procedures and a strong enthusiasm for promoting children's safety and well-being. Staff are also aware of issues around bullying and state that they carefully plan each child's stay at the home to ensure that each child is with a group of children with whom he or she is compatible. Staff

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

state that due to the nature of their disabilities children are not generally left alone for any length of time unsupervised unless this has been specifically requested by the child and risk assessed. This means that staff practice generally ensures children's safety and incidents of absence are rare. However, the record of safeguarding training which is kept in the home is not dated and it is therefore not possible to establish whether safeguarding training is up-to-date for all members of staff.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children are encouraged to develop socially acceptable behaviour. Staff state that they are able to assist children to improve their behaviour through the use of very good communication skills. Children living or staying at this home have learning disabilities and staff use a variety of alternative communication systems to ensure that they are able to understand children's needs and choices. All staff are also trained in non violent crisis intervention and de-escalation techniques. This means that staff are proactive in seeking to prevent any challenging behaviour. For example, each child has individual behavioural strategies which all staff apply consistently. Staff also ensure that there are clear routines in place for any child on the autistic spectrum which reduces the anxiety of these children. This means that behavioural incidents are minimised. However, staff ensure that appropriate records of behavioural incidents are kept should any occur.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children are provided with a safe and secure environment. The home has a fire risk assessment which has recently been reviewed and staff ensure that the fire alarm system and all emergency lighting is regularly checked for safety. All staff receive fire safety training and there are regular fire drills. Staff also ensure that there are appropriate risk assessments in place for each individual child and for any activities which he or she may engage in. The organisation has robust recruitment procedures which ensure that all staff are carefully selected and vetted prior to working in the home. Staff are also aware of their responsibilities to monitor and manage visitors to the home to ensure all children are kept safe.

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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):

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Recommendations

 ensure all staff have their performance individually and formally appraised at least annually by their line manager (NMS 28).  ensure that the home keeps records which provide evidence that staff have received training in the prevention of abuse; recognition of abuse; dealing with disclosures and the home's child protection procedures (NMS 17.8).

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