Children's Home run by Talbot House Children’s Charity Limited in Newcastle upon Tyne

Unique reference number SC432843 Inspection date 05/07/2012 Inspector Nicholas Murphy Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Residential special school (>295 days/year)

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Date of last inspection 17/02/2012 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

The home accommodates up to seven children and young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties, and is owned by a registered charity. It is part of Talbot House Special School. The home was registered in February 2012 and this is its first full inspection. An inspection of the school was carried out at the same time as this inspection and the report is available on the Ofsted website.

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The inspection judgements and what they mean

Outstanding : a service of exceptional quality that significantly exceeds minimum requirements Good : a service of high quality 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 inadequate .

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Overall effectiveness

Young people living in the home are doing reasonably well. They are achieving good outcomes in education and health. Young people express satisfaction with the level of care they receive and they have good relationships with staff. As a result they are happy living in the home and feel safe here.

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Overall effectiveness

Staff are child-centred and have high aspirations for the young people. They treat young people with respect and affection and understand the importance of enhancing their self-esteem. Material standards within the home are of extremely high quality. This reflects the level of care and planning which has gone into preparing the home to accommodate young people.

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Overall effectiveness

However, there are a number of significant shortfalls in the home’s operation. Young people do not have detailed placement plans which take account of their individual needs. The assessments of risk in respect of young people, particularly those relating to going missing, are insufficiently comprehensive. In addition, records of incidents when young people go missing are not complete. Also, when young people do go missing the home is not working effectively in partnership with police and local authorities to keep them safe. Policies and procedures in relation to complaints are inadequate. Some procedures governing the administration of medication fall short of requirements. The home’s fire procedures are not being implemented properly. Incidents of physical restraint are not being recorded as required. Some staff recruitment practice is not sufficiently robust. Furthermore, staff do not have sufficient training in some critically important areas.

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Overall effectiveness

Staff are not being provided with regular supervision and support. Sometimes staff work alone and management have not assessed the risks arising in these situations. Staff in supervisory positions do not have sufficient experience for this role. The management systems are weak. Information for young people about the home and how to make a complaint is incomplete. External monitoring of the home does not include consultation with parents. There is no evidence that the manager is carrying out internal monitoring of the home as required to improve the running of 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) promote and make proper provision for the welfare of children, specifically that each child has a detailed placement plan which is tailored to the individual child, focused on clear measurable outcomes, and fully involves the child (Regulation 11(1)(a)) 03/08/2012

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Reg. Requirement Due date

17B (2001) ensure that, within 24 hours of the use of any measure of control, discipline or restraint, a written record is made in a volume kept for the purpose which shall include all required information (Regulation 17B(3)) 03/08/2012

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure that the registered person makes suitable arrangements for the administration of medication, specifically that staff receive training in this area (Regulation 21(1)) 31/08/2012

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) establish a written procedure for considering complaints made by children and ensuring that the procedure is made known to children, their parents, placing authorities and staff (Regulation 24(1) & (2)(e)) 03/08/2012

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure that full and satisfactory information is available in respect of each of the matters specified in Schedule 2 for all people working in the home (Regulation 26(3)(d)) 03/08/2012

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) maintain a record for each child accommodated in the home which includes details of all incidents when a child goes missing from the home (Regulation 28(1) Schedule 3 (10)) 03/08/2012

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) maintain in the children’s home the records specified in Schedule 4, specifically a record in the form of a register showing each child’s address prior to being accommodated in the home (Regulation 29) 03/08/2012

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure that the home takes adequate precautions against the risk of fire, specifically that records show the time of each evacuation drill, that fittings and equipment are tested at 03/08/2012 intervals prescribed in the home’s policy, and that fire doors are not wedged open (Regulation 32(1))

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure that, as appears necessary, the person conducting the visits under this regulation, interviews with their consent and in private, the children's parents and relatives in order to form an opinion of the standard of care provided in the home (Regulation 33(4)(a)) 31/07/2012

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) establish and maintain a system for improving the quality of care provided in the children’s home. (Regulation 34(3)) 03/08/2012

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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 the home takes action to minimise the risk of young people going missing, specifically to put in place a detailed risk assessment for each child (NMS 5.1)  ensure that the home’s procedures are compatible with and have regard to Runaway and Missing from Home and Care (RMFHC) protocols and procedures (NMS 5.6)  ensure that staff receive guidance and training to provide appropriate care if looking after children with complex needs, specifically relating to young people who have autism (NMS 6.8)  ensure that the children’s guide contains details of what the home sets out to do for children, how children can find out their rights and how a child can contact their independent reviewing officer (IRO) (NMS 13.5)  ensure that staff are provided with regular supervision by appropriately qualified and experienced staff (NMS 19.4)  ensure that staff members who are placed in charge of the home and other staff

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Recommendations

at particular times have substantial relevant experience and have successfully completed their induction and probationary periods (NMS 17.5)  ensure that where only one member of staff is on duty at any one time, a risk assessment has been carried out and recorded in writing (NMS 17.9)  ensure that medication is administered in line with an agreed protocol (Children Act 1989 Guidance and Regulations Volume 5: Children’s Homes, statutory guidance, paragraph 2.53)  ensure that each child has prior written consent from a person with parental responsibility for staff to administer first aid (Children Act 1989 Guidance and Regulations Volume 5: Children’s Homes, statutory guidance, paragraph 2.54)  ensure that any child involved in an incident of restraint records their perception of the incident. (Children Act 1989 Guidance and Regulations Volume 5: Children’s Homes, statutory guidance, paragraph 2.91)

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Outcomes for children and young people

Outcomes for children and young people are adequate .

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Outcomes for children and young people

Some young people attend the on-site school while others attend provision in the community. The education placement they attend is determined by each young person’s individual circumstances. Whatever the school attended, young people have very good attendance. Young people are also making good progress in school, in line with their peers and appropriate to their age and ability.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are making some progress in developing a positive self-view. Staff support contact arrangements so that young people can benefit from keeping in touch with their families safely and appropriately. This helps young people to begin to make sense of their backgrounds. One young person has made a photo collage of themselves with various staff and doing various things in and around the home. This will provide happy memories of their time in the home and contribute in the future to an understanding of their life story.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Staff take positive action to promote healthy lifestyles and encourage young people to make informed choices so that they can keep themselves well. For example, young people who come to the home with a smoking habit are supported to give up through formal cessation programmes.

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Outcomes for children and young people

The home provides some opportunities for young people to develop life skills. Young people have choice in meal planning and are supported and encouraged to learn cooking skills for themselves. Young people are able to take part in a range of activities inside and outside the home. This builds their confidence in their own abilities and helps them to keep integrated with wider society. For example, in response to a request by young people the home has started a fishing club. Photos in the home show an obviously happy young person proudly displaying the first fish they caught.

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Quality of care

Young people get on well with staff and each other. They have a good understanding of what behaviour is and is not acceptable. As a result, the atmosphere is the home is generally calm, positive and happy.

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Quality of care

The home is equipped and furnished to an extremely high standard. This gives young people a sense that they are valued and that they matter. Bedroom doors are accessed by electronic cards. This is a very secure system which promotes young people’s privacy, dignity and safety. There is safe internet access in each young person’s bedroom which ensures that young people have excellent resources to help with homework. Young people have some say in the running of the home. For example they are able to have meetings where they can express their preferences for activities or meal choice. However, the information for young people about how they can make a complaint is poor. For example, there is no child-friendly complaints policy nor any forms that young people can use to make a written complaint in confidence.

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Quality of care

There is some evidence that a system of individual placement planning has been drafted and is to be implemented. However, currently there are no placement plans for young people. This means that it is impossible to know what outcomes are expected for each young person or how the placement will achieve them. Young people have little understanding of the reason for their placement or what progress they are expected to make. There is little acknowledgement of needs relating to young people’s culture and identity and subsequent lack of any plans to address these.

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Quality of care

Staff support young people to stay healthy and have established effective links with all the services needed to maintain health. However, there are shortfalls in the administration of medication. There is no policy governing medication and only one member of staff has had training in this area. This places young people at risk of error when they have to take medication. Additionally, the home does not have written consent to administer first aid from a person with parental responsibility for each young person. This reduces accountability for the use of this measure if it is necessary.

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Quality of care

The home supports the education of young people by having effective links with their schools. This includes situations where young people go to schools other than that on the campus. There is a good range of activities both inside the home, the on-site school, and in the community. These provide opportunities for young people to have different experiences which add to their skills, as well giving sheer enjoyment. For example, one young person is learning to ride horses, which is providing her with a tremendous sense of achievement.

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Safeguarding children and young people

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

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people feel safe here. One young person said, ‘There’s nothing to be scared of here.’ Staff are aware of what to do if they have any concerns related to the safety of young people. This ensures that any issues relating to child protection are notified promptly to the right people. There is no bullying, but staff are alert to the possibility of it occurring and are confident that they would deal with it effectively.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The systems to prevent young people going missing and keeping them safe if they do are ineffective. The risk assessments in place do not identify possible triggers, protective factors or likely places the young person might go to. This would help to reduce an episode of running away happening at all and to return the young person quickly. The record keeping in relation to young people going missing contains insufficient detail. For example, there is no recording of the reasons the young person gave for running away. Additionally, the home does not ensure that the protocol with the local police is followed. As a result, young people have been missing for significant periods of time and have not been seen by anyone independent of the home on their return. These shortfalls expose young people to risk because it is impossible to know why young people went missing or where they have been.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The home has a behaviour management policy in place and staff strive to reward positive behaviour. They use praise and more tangible incentives to help young people learn better ways of behaving and develop self-control and consideration for others. Commendably, restraint is used infrequently, and there is an account of one episode of restraint. However, there is no central recording facility for restraints, and no evidence that a young person was spoken to following the recorded incident. Additionally, there is no analysis of the effectiveness or consequences of the restraint, nor whether the young person was offered medical assistance if they were injured during the incident. All these shortfalls mean that the accountability for using restraints is seriously weakened and young people are placed at risk. With regard to sanctions, although they are used appropriately, the recording of these is also

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Safeguarding children and young people

inadequate. The effectiveness of the sanction is not recorded, which means that it is impossible to evaluate whether or not a particular sanction has worked.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Recruitment practice is generally robust, however in an isolated staff record there is no evidence of the subject's qualifications. This means that it is not always possible, for the provider to be assured that people working at the home have the right skills to meet the needs of young people.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Although the fabric of the home generally presents no hazards there are significant shortfalls in the management of fire safety. The records do not confirm that all young people have received instruction in fire safety or taken part in a fire drill. Checks on equipment, such as emergency lighting and fire doors, are not carried out as required by the home’s policy. One fire door was wedged open at the time of the inspection. These deficiencies mean that the safety of young people, staff and visitors to the home is compromised.

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Leadership and management

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

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Leadership and management

Staff say that they feel supported by the manager and the provider. The quality of the environment demonstrates the commitment of the organisation to provide a good level of care. However, there are a number of shortfalls in the management of the home which indicate significant failures of leadership. For example, some staff who have not successfully completed their probationary periods are left in charge of the home and other staff. This means that shifts are led by people with insufficient experience to provide adequate support to staff.

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Leadership and management

In general, there are sufficient staff in place to meet the needs of young people. Staff absences are usually covered by agency staff and by support staff who work in the school and know the young people. However, there are occasions when staff work alone when there are young people in the home. There is no policy to cover these situations which exposes both young people and staff to unnecessary risk. Staff do not receive professional supervision at regular intervals. This means that they do not receive the right level of support to carry out their task and effectively meet the needs of young people. Additionally, although staff receive ongoing training, there are gaps in their knowledge. For example, staff do not feel confident that they have had sufficient training to adequately meet the needs of young people with particularly complex health needs.

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Leadership and management

The home is operating in accordance with its Statement of Purpose. There are, however, deficiencies in the children’s guide. It does not contain an adequate summary of the Statement of Purpose. For example, it does not provide such basic information as how many other young people are living here. It also does not tell young people about how to make written complaints or how complaints will be dealt with. It also fails to include details of their independent reviewing officer (IRO). This means that young people do not know what their IRO does, how they might promote their rights, or how to contact them.

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Leadership and management

Records on young people are adequate. However, the register of young people does not contain all the required information. As a result, it fails to provide a complete record of a young person’s circumstances at the time of their admission.

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Leadership and management

Neither internal nor external monitoring of the home meets requirements. External monitoring by the provider does not consult with young people’s parents, which means that their opinions cannot be taken into account in making improvements to the service. Also, there is no evidence that the manager is carrying out regular monitoring of the home. This means that the quality of care being provided cannot be evaluated or shortcomings rectified. It also means that the manager is unable to properly monitor and understand the impact that the home is having on outcomes for young people. This in turn makes it difficult to identify what improvements to practice are necessary.

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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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