Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Manchester

Unique reference number SC064666 Inspection date 26/04/2012 Inspector Louise Redfern Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 02/02/2012 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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Brief description of the service

This children's home is registered to provide care and accommodation for two young people of either gender with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The home is privately owned.

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The inspection judgements and what they mean

Outstanding : a service that significantly exceeds minimum requirements Good : a service that exceeds minimum requirements Adequate : a service that only meets minimum requirements Inadequate : a service that does not meet minimum requirements

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Overall effectiveness

The overall effectiveness is judged to be good .

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Overall effectiveness

This is a good home; young people are safe and feel safe. One young person commented, ‘it’s alright here I feel safe and I treat it as my home’. Young people receive personalised, well-planned care, taking full account of their individual needs. The home strongly promotes positive outcomes for all young people.

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Overall effectiveness

The home works hard to ensure young people receive effective healthcare assessments, treatment and support to reflect their individual needs. The staff team are proactive in securing and maintaining education placements for young people at the home.

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Overall effectiveness

The home is effectively and efficiently managed and well monitored. The staff team are well trained and experienced to meet the diverse needs of young people. Generally, staff receive good levels of support from the management team. One requirement and two recommendations and are raised at this inspection regarding improving levels of support across the whole team and improving reporting systems within the home.

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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 person(s) must comply with the given timescales.

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure that the registered person makes suitable arrangements for the recording, handling, safe keeping, safe administration and disposal of any medicines received into the children's home. (Regulation 21 (1)) 31/05/2012

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):

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Recommendations

 ensure that staff have access to support and advice, and are provided with regular supervision (NMS 19.4)  ensure the Registered Manager has a system in place to notify with 24 hours the persons appropriate authorities of the occurrence of significant events in accordance with Regulation 30. (NMS 24.1)

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Outcomes for children and young people

Outcomes for children and young people are good .

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are making good progress in the home because of individualised and consistent support from the staff team. As a result they are forming and sustaining positive attachments with staff and make good progress in developing emotional resilience. Young people engage in a variety of activities in the community, which develop their social skills and social interaction and help build self-confidence. They are encouraged to share their views during young people’s meetings, planned placements sessions and as part of everyday discussions. These views help to inform the development of the home and the experiences offered to young people.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people maintain appropriate contact with family, friends and other people who are important to them. This is helped by staff providing a welcoming atmosphere within the home and encouraging young people to bring their friends or family to the home. One young person commented, ‘staff talked to my social worker and arranged unsupervised contact for me’.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people’s physical and emotional health is good. They are receiving support from health professionals and staff to understand the importance of making healthy lifestyle choices. Some young people have developed a smoking habit. However, they are currently engaged on a smoking cessation programme to support them to stop smoking. Young people attend school and they are achieving their full potential. This constitutes good progress from their starting point, as they were not attending education prior to placement. Young people are taking more responsibility for their personal hygiene and daily routines. For example, they engage in regular household chores, food shopping and cooking in the home. As a result, they are becoming more competent to take care of themselves in preparation for adult life.

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Quality of care

The staff team are warm and caring towards young people. They implement clearly structured and firm boundaries to encourage young people to achieve to their potential. An example of this is the home’s consistent commitment to education. They actively identify appropriate educational placements for young people and they support their transition into educational placements. As a result, young people build positive and meaningful relationships both in and outside the home. One young person commented, ‘the home is nine out of ten, sometimes I have bad days, but it is up to me now everyone else has done their bit’.

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Quality of care

The Registered Manager ensures that comprehensive placement plans are in place for each individual young person. Staff and young people regularly review these plans to reflect the development of the individual. Comprehensive risk management plans and individual planned placement sessions enable young people to take managed risks and develop their life skills.

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Quality of care

Young people have a clear understanding of the complaints procedure. However, there are low levels of complaints. Young people report that they do not make formal complaints, as they prefer to speak to staff to try to resolve their issues. Young people’s views are routinely sought through young people’s meetings and consultation sessions. Young people are the driving force in planning weekly menus and activities. The management team have regular informal discussions with young people regarding the day-to-day running of the home. For example, young people are part of the recruitment process of new staff, their comments are valued and form part of the assessment process.

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Quality of care

Young people’s individuality is embraced in the home. For example, young people attend local festivals, carnivals and parades. The Registered Manager ensures the staff team is diverse to meet the individual needs of the young people living in the home. Young people enjoy healthy lifestyles; they engage in positive activities such as the local gym and swimming pool. This encourages young people to engage in positive social interaction in the community. Young people have access to a range of health promotion information in the home and access to support from other agencies, such as the looked after nurse and drug and alcohol project workers. However, there are shortfalls in recording the administration of medication and implementing risk assessments to enable young people to safely self medicate different medication. The looked after nurse stated, ‘the home is proactive in meeting the health needs of young people, we work together to support them’.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The service is good at keeping children and young people safe and feeling safe.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people are safe and say they feel safe. The home has extensive polices and procedures in place around safeguarding. The home has a strong focus on safeguarding young people; high levels of supervision ensure that young people are safe. They benefit from positive and firm boundaries in the home. As a result, there are few incidents of young people being physically restrained. There is a clear policy in place to support young people to reflect and learn from their behaviour following any incident of restraint. The Registered Manager and staff team comprehensively address any issues of bullying in the home. As a result young people have a clear understanding of the impact of bulling.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people do occasionally go missing. When they do, staff comprehensively search for young people and actively encourage their quick return home. Staff always follow the procedures in place for reporting individual young people as missing and positively respond to them on their return. Through effective monitoring of the incidents the Registered Manager and staff team develop a clear understanding of the reasons why young people do go missing and take positive action to address patterns of behaviour.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The home is physically safe and appropriately secure to take into account the needs and characteristics of the young people cared for. Staff pay excellent attention to health and safety management. They use comprehensive risk assessments around the home and in the local community. Young people have regular opportunities to participate in fire evacuation drills during the day and night. The company has a history of robust staff recruitment and supervision of visitors to protect young people.

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Leadership and management

The leadership and management of the children's home are good .

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Leadership and management

Young people receive a good level of care from the Registered Manager and staff team. The home is effectively and efficiently managed, the manager communicates high expectations to the whole staff team. Young people's individual needs are met because the Registered Manager is committed to improving practice in the home. For example, Regulation 34 reports have been amended to ensure a more robust approach to monitoring the service.

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Leadership and management

Young people develop relationships with the management team, based on trust and professionalism. The Registered Manager is available to young people. One young person stated, ‘I can speak to the Registered Manager, I get along with him’. Young people have the opportunity to consult and share their experiences with Regulation 33 visitors on a regular basis. The home has demonstrated a good track record of acting upon any recommendations from inspections and actions raised as part of the Regulation 33 visits.

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Leadership and management

The Statement of Purpose and young person’s guide accurately represents the specific service the home provides for young people. The staff team are a group of experienced and culturally diverse professionals committed to improving the outcomes of young people. They are supported to meet the needs of young people through regular team meetings, a comprehensive training plan, appraisals and supervisions. However, a minority of staff do not receive regular formal supervisions in line with the company policy. This currently has no impact on the care received by the young people.

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Leadership and management

Good communication, regular handovers and staff meetings ensure continuity of care. The home employs a sufficient number of staff. Any shortfalls in the rota are covered by overtime or with a small number of company bank staff, known to the young people. This ensures a level of consistent care to meet the needs of the young people. The home demonstrates good quality record keeping. Records contribute to an understanding of young people's lives and show the progress made by the young people. They are up to date and are stored securely. Young people routinely sign placement plans. This encourages and enables young people to be part of their care planning and setting goals.

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Leadership and management

Overall, notifications are well managed and appropriate parties are notified of significant events. On one occasion the policy was not followed and Ofsted was not notified regarding an incident requiring the Police to be called to the home. However all other parties, such as the local authority, were appropriately notified ensuring young people's welfare was not compromised.

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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 to assess the effectiveness of the service and to consider how well it complies with the relevant regulations and meets the national minimum standards.

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About this inspection

The report details the main strengths, any areas for improvement, including any breaches of regulation, and any failure to meet national minimum standards. The judgements included in the report are made against the Inspections of children’s homes – framework for inspection (March 2011) and the evaluation schedule for children's homes.

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