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

Unique reference number SC034495 Inspection date 09/02/2011 Inspector Simon Morley Type of inspection Random

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Date of last inspection 21/04/2010 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 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 17years.

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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 and young people, 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 25 families and their children.

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Brief description of the service

All bedrooms are upstairs along with newly refurbished bathroom, shower room and toilets. Downstairs there is a computer room, cinema, sensory room, and pamper room with an additional refurbished toilet and shower room. 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 is an overview of what the inspector found during the inspection.

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Summary

This was an unannounced inspection to check both the quality of safeguarding arrangements and physical environment of the home.

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Summary

Outcomes for children and young people are good; they benefit from professional, caring staff who provide a high quality of care and support to meet individual needs. The home is a safe, secure, happy place to stay; children and young people look forward to the independence it offers and to socialise with their friends. There is a strong commitment to working with children, young people, their parents and other agencies to ensure children and young people's welfare is well promoted. One minor shortfall was noted in the monitoring of measures of discipline used with children and young people. This has not effected the positive outcomes children and young people experience.

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Summary

The refurbishment to the home undertaken since the last inspection has greatly improved the layout, design and facilities for the benefit of the children and young people who stay there.

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Summary

One recommendation is raised as a result of this inspection, namely that the registered provider is required to ensure that monthly visits to the home demonstrate that any measures of discipline are monitored and checked for their appropriateness.

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Improvements since the last inspection

No improvements were required at the last inspection as the registered provider already had definite plans for improving the physical environment of the home. These have been implemented making significant improvements to the facilities and layout of the home for the benefit of children and young people who stay there.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The good quality of care practice, dedication and commitment of staff ensure that children and young people are kept free from harm. The management style, that values thorough consultation with children, young people and their families helps ensure that the children and young people's welfare is effectively protected and their needs are well met.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Staff are trained in safeguarding with good outcomes for children and young people ensured by sound communication with other agencies, for example, social workers, schools, and specialist health professionals. This also results in an effective, integrated multi-agency approach to safeguarding children and young people. Staff are aware of which children or young people are on child protection plans and contribute thoroughly to securing their safety and welfare. Any concerns about these or others are communicated well with professionals involved in the multi-agency care that is provided. This is enhanced by a commitment to involving parents and carers in the care of the children and young people when they are at the home and also through regular home visits and outreach support. As parents have commented: 'staff are very caring and kind', 'this service is a lifeline' and 'the service gives my child the opportunity for independence'.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Staff have a good understanding of children and young people's needs, know the different ways they communicate and helping them take part and enjoy a range of meaningful activities. Staff provide care professionally and with a high degree of empathy and sensitivity. This helps children and young people enjoy their time at the home, feel safe, facilitates their development and reduces the likelihood of challenging behaviour. Staff also work hard to ensure there are consistent, firm but fair boundaries which communicate expectations of acceptable behaviour to children and young people. This is reflected in comments from stakeholders, for example, 'staff are professional and knowledgeable, there is always a warm, welcoming atmosphere'. Suitable staffing levels enables close supervision of children and prompt intervention if necessary should any incidents occur. This helps keep children free from bullying and protects them from going missing.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The overall approach to helping children and young people develop is based on staff understanding their individual needs and their diversity and caring for them accordingly. This helps avoid the use of institutional interventions such as sanctions and physical intervention which are both used very rarely in the home to manage behaviour. However staff are trained in and will, if necessary but only as a last resort, use physical intervention to protect the safety of children and young people. Visits undertaken by the registered provider to monitor the quality of care do not evidence well that the use of any such measures of discipline are checked for their appropriateness. As such incidents are rare this is not judged to impact on the quality of care children and young people receive.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Record keeping is of good quality, in particular risk assessments and placement plans detailing the support children and young people require are well kept. This helps ensure staff have a thorough knowledge and understanding of the children or young people, their individual needs and how best to care for them and promote their welfare.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Many of the children and young people need help with their intimate personal care. There is respectful, sensitive practice with regards to helping them with this; children and young people benefit from having their dignity and privacy respected. This has much improved with the new facilities in the home. There is a complaints process and evidence that effective action is taken to resolve children's, young people's and their families' concerns as they arise. The ongoing complaint about personal care needs has now been resolved with provision of better bathing facilities. There is good practice involving the use of an advocate who visits monthly to undertake consultation with children and young people and feedback their views. This is responded to well by staff and has improved the care children and young people receive.

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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 for the children and young people living there. Staff have a good understanding of their duties and carry these out well to ensure a safe and secure environment for children and young people. There are good procedures for the recruitment of staff including making necessary background checks so that only staff who are safe and suitable get to work in the home.

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Achieving economic wellbeing

Generally the needs of children and young people staying at the home result from their learning disabilities. Some of the children and young people also have severe physical disabilities as well. The home is not registered to specifically accommodate children and young people with physical disabilities. It was not built or designed with these needs in mind. However since the last inspection the registered provider has made substantial change to the layout of the home and the facilities it offers.

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Achieving economic wellbeing

As a result of the changes, the facilities, aids and adaptations and layout of the home have vastly improved. The needs of all children and young people using the home are now met well. Children and young people now have free access to all parts of the home and garden; there is wheelchair access to the garden and doors have been widened to improve access to all rooms. The location of the passenger lift and entrance to the home now promote privacy and dignity. There is a new private entrance to the home and the passenger lift area has been partitioned from the rest of the building. The toilets, shower rooms and bathroom used by the children and young people have been fully refurbished with special equipment to meet all their needs.

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Achieving economic wellbeing

It is of credit to the manager and staff team that the refurbishment process caused minimal disruption to children, young people and their families who benefit from using the home. This was a well planned process with thorough consultation with families, some of whom were provided with additional outreach support. Parents, children and young people have commented about how much better the home is now: 'the refurbishment is great'; and 'they have done much to make the home fit for purpose'.

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Achieving economic wellbeing

All children and young people have their own rooms. Bedrooms for children and young people living at the home on a long-term basis are homely and personalised reflecting their individuality. Throughout the home, décor and furnishings are of a good standard, designed to meet children and young people's needs, helping to create a homely atmosphere. There is a good range of facilities including a lounge, dining room, 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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Achieving economic wellbeing

Children and young people benefit from the quality of support staff give to enable them to develop and become more independent. There are well managed processes for supporting children and young people with transition plans as they approach adulthood and require adult services.

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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 the registered provider's monthly visits to the home include a check of the disciplinary measures and use of restraint. (NMS 32.2)

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