Children's Home run by Surrey County Council in Surrey

Unique reference number SC370703 Inspection date 17/03/2011 Inspector Liz Daniels Type of inspection Random

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Date of last inspection 19/08/2010 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 home was registered in May 2008 and is a large detached purpose-built service, which offers short breaks to a maximum of 22 children and young people, aged between five and 18 years. The service is currently registered to accommodate 20 children and young people in four flats.

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Brief description of the service

The service is designed for young people with a learning disability and specifically for those on the autistic spectrum, who attend a specialist school located on the same campus. The accommodation is on two floors, accessible by both stairs and a lift and divided into four separate flats, each offering services to children within a specific age range. Each flat has a living room, kitchen/diner, bathroom and toilet facilities and the required number of individual bedrooms. Communal facilities include a laundry, small garden and transport. The service can access a range of facilities within the local specialist school including: outdoor play areas; a hydrotherapy pool; sensory rooms; soft play areas; and an art room. Staff are provided with facilities which include office space, sleeping-in accommodation, separate toilets and a locker room.

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Brief description of the service

During the inspection, 10 young people were staying in three of the flats; the fourth flat provided an additional space where the young people could spend time with staff if anxious or if they preferred to be away from other young people. The inspection provided the opportunity to meet the young people as well as the manager and care staff on duty.

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Summary

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

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Summary

This unannounced interim inspection was the second visit to the setting for the year April 2010 to March 2011. The service was judged as good at the key inspection, undertaken in August 2010. The aim of this inspection was to inspect those standards that ensure young people are safe and to inspect the progress made in implementing the actions and recommendations previously made.

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Summary

Good arrangements continue to keep young people safe. Staff recognise that many young people are vulnerable and they are diligent in ensuring they are protected. Meeting each young person's needs is an integral part of their care and staff are keen to enable them to achieve their full potential.

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Summary

However, some staff have not had fire training to ensure they are aware of safe measures to prevent the outbreak of fire. In addition, some staff have not had ongoing training in child protection and some have not been updated annually in behaviour management techniques, as required by the setting. This raises the risk that staff may not be able to fully support young people.

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Improvements since the last inspection

Since the last inspection, staff have met two of the three actions issued. Records of sanctions and physical interventions now include all the required information and all staff have now been included in at least one fire drill over the last year. The third action required that all staff receive appropriate training, supervision and appraisal. The supervision for new staff which was found at the last inspection to be less frequent than it should be, could not be considered as no new staff have been recruited. However, as not all staff have received the training the setting requires, this action has been re-issued.

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Improvements since the last inspection

Five recommendations were also issued at the last inspection, of which four have been met. As a result, medication and treatment are well administered and good records are kept. In particular, staff are now more thorough in their monitoring of controlled drugs. This enables any discrepancy between the records and the stock held to be easily tracked and resolved. In addition, concerns raised by young people are being recorded, enabling their management to be audited against the setting's complaints policy. Similarly, young people are being encouraged to personalise their bedrooms when they stay if suitable for them. This will be helped by the redecoration of the setting, planned for later this month, as each room will be a different colour and furnished accordingly. The setting was also asked to confirm that the manager and the visitor undertaking the Regulation 33 visits review the logs detailing behaviour management. Both now sign the logs to confirm they have

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Improvements since the last inspection

However, one recommendation has been re-issued. Although good progress is being made, there are still long periods when the doors into each unit are locked. This is to protect individuals who may be at risk of harm if they access the whole building or garden. The staff are working hard to ensure they review their practice and use locked doors only when really necessary; however, this does curtail the freedom of those other young people accommodated in the unit who do not need the same restrictions.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Staff respect young people's privacy and maintain their confidentiality when handling information about them. The importance of maintaining young people's privacy is included in staff induction; this enables them to assist young people with their personal care, while protecting their privacy and dignity. Good-sized bedrooms and bathrooms provide space for personal care and a mixed staff team enables sensitivity to gender issues. Staff follow clear guidelines to ensure a correct balance between allowing a young person to spend some time alone while making sure they are safe if unsupervised.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Staff believe it is important to support young people in raising their concerns. They are alert to signs that they may be unhappy and explore their anxiety through a variety of communication methods. There is a well publicised complaints procedure for those involved with the service; this enables the manager to respond to informal concerns while serious complaints are formally investigated and coordinated through the local authority. Since the last inspection four complaints have been well managed to reach a satisfactory outcome. These include concerns young people have raised; their management has been well recorded. In addition, the staff have received 10 positive letters of appreciation. Complaints and compliments are included in the unit's quality assurance.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The home's procedures are aimed at promoting young people's welfare and protecting them from abuse. Sound recruitment procedures require that all staff have an enhanced Criminal Records Bureau disclosure before employment, to protect young people. Many of the staff have basic training in child protection whereby they know the action to take in response to any concerns; they keep good records of any marks or bruises and discuss any queries with the relevant professionals. In addition, the local safeguarding procedures are available for staff to reference in the event of any safeguarding allegations.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The ethos within the setting is that bullying is unacceptable, Overall, the cognitive disabilities of most of the young people accommodated mean that they do not fully understand bullying as a concept. However, staff are careful when planning the groups accommodated; they are aware of the dynamics of each group, as well as which triggers can lead to behaviour that causes distress or conflict between young people. Good staffing ratios, close supervision and excellent support ensure that incidents are kept to a minimum. Staff are also very alert to those young people who are at risk of leaving the unit without permission. Again, excellent supervision minimises the risk whereby there has been no incidence of absence.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Similarly, staff guide young people as to what is socially acceptable behaviour, discouraging them when their behaviour is inappropriate. They are consistent in their approach, underpinning their practice with care plans and risk assessments that outline the expectations and management for each young person. They use distraction and de-escalation techniques in the event of any tensions that develop; these positive strategies have resulted in no sanctions and one physical intervention recorded since the last inspection. Staff are trained in behaviour management techniques, although not all have had the annual refresher training the setting requires. In addition, there continue to be long periods when the doors to each unit are closed, to ensure individuals are kept safe within a smaller area which is familiar for them; staff can access or leave the unit concerned, but not the young people. These arrangements are undertaken to protect individuals but could risk

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

compromising the freedom of other young people accommodated in the unit at the same time.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Staff undertake risk assessments for the premises and for activities young people are involved in. Individual risk assessments are also completed on young people; these balance their behaviour, their susceptibility to falls or accidents and their potential vulnerability while they stay at the setting. Positive steps are taken to protect against the risk of fire and other hazards. All the required checks of fire equipment continue. Staff also now undertake regular fire drills, and night drills are scheduled to ensure staff test the fire plan throughout the 24-hour period; good records are kept which are well monitored. However, not all staff have had fire training which presents the risk that they may not be fully aware of measures to take to prevent fire and therefore protect young people.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The setting has a controlled entry system. Visitors and contractors are well vetted by being required to show evidence of identification and to sign the visitors' book; they are then supervised while on site. Equally, robust recruitment processes protect young people; all the necessary information is received prior to employment and the required checks are made. Staff recruitment is coordinated centrally through the local authority but the manager also keeps sufficient information at the setting to confirm the required checks are made.

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Statutory Requirements

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

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Std. Action Due date

26 make arrangements for staff to receive suitable training in fire prevention (Regulation 32(1)(d)) 30/04/2011

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Std. Action Due date

31 ensure all staff receive appropriate training, supervision and appraisal. (Regulation 27(4)) 27/05/2011

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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 provision of child protection training for all staff, that it is included in induction programmes for new staff and is ongoing for the staff group (NMS 17.8)  ensure all staff are trained in behaviour management techniques and in particular that they have the annual refresher training the setting requires (NMS 22.8)  ensure that physical restrictions within the unit are used only in relation to a young person where the restriction has been agreed within their placement plan and only where necessary to satisfactorily safeguard and promote that young person's welfare. Such restrictions for one young person do not impose similar restrictions on other young people. (NMS 23.5)

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