Children's Home run by N H Care Limited in Birmingham

Unique reference number SC432966 Inspection date 25/10/2012 Inspector Amanda Ellis Type of inspection Interim Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 25/01/2012 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Brief description of the service

This is home is part of a private children's care organisation and is registered to accommodate four young people with learning disabilities of which one child may also have a physical disability.

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The inspection judgements and what they mean

Good progress The children’s home has demonstrated continued improvement in quality of care and outcomes for children and young people and where appropriate has addressed all requirements and the large majority of recommendations that were raised at the previous inspection. Satisfactory progress The children’s home has maintained quality of care and outcomes for children and young people and where appropriate has addressed all requirements and the majority of recommendations that were raised at the previous inspection. Inadequate progress The children’s home has failed to address one or more requirements and/or has not met the majority of recommendations and/or the quality of care and outcomes for children and young people have declined since the last full inspection.

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Progress

Since their previous inspection the service is judged to be making good progress .

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Progress

At the full inspection in January 2012, the overall quality rating for this home was good, with one requirement and four recommendations. The service has appropriately addressed the requirement and the majority of recommendations from the previous inspection. At this visit the home is judged as making good progress.

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Progress

The requirement which relates to ensuring notifications are sent to HMCI without delay has been fully addressed, information is now sent in a timely manner. In addition a recommendation to ensure the reporting of safeguarding concerns to all relevant parties has been fully implemented. These measures provide better clarity of how the home ensures young people are safeguarded.

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Progress

It was recommended that the home's missing from care procedures are compatible with protocols as managed by the police and the local authority. The Registered Manager has pursued this area but has not yet been able to complete this task. This recommendation is not met and is raised again as a recommendation.

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Progress

The home was asked to ensure that there is a clear written record of all medication given to young people during their placement. All medication is stored, administered and recorded appropriately. Consequently, young people benefit from medication systems that are safe, effective and well monitored by the manager.

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Progress

Lastly, fire risk assessments for individual young people have been updated. This combined with regular fire evacuations and consistent work with the young people on strategies to promote the safety of children, ensure young people are kept safe.

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Progress

The majority of the staff team have received appropriate mandatory training. However, not all staff havehad their safeguarding training updated. This means that the safety and welfare of young people could be compromised when untrained staff are on duty.

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Progress

Young people are positive about the care they receive and feel listened to. There is good consultation with young people; effective use is made of key work sessions and resident meetings to discuss their care and how the home operates. However, young people do not have the benefit of being able to access advocacy or support from independent advice and support groups. This has been set as a recommendation at this inspection.

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Progress

Management and staff remain enthusiastic about the home and the way that young people are supported to make progress while they live in the home. Young people generally respond well to this enthusiasm and build strong and trusting relationships with staff. Young people make good progress in terms of education and social skills. A parent spoke positively about the effectiveness of staff in their efforts to address challenging behaviours. She feels that the commitment of staff has led to, ‘Big improvements in behaviour; there is no hitting now! We can now have a mother and son relationship’.

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Progress

A particular strength of this home is that staff have a good understanding of the cultural needs of young people and actively support them in observing their religious practices and wider cultural needs. This home continues to demonstrate a commitment to delivering good standards of individualised care and support. This means young people receive effective quality of care and improved outcomes for young people.

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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 there is at all times, a sufficient number of suitably qualified, competent and experienced persons working at the 23/11/2012 children's home. (Regulation 25 (1))

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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 the home's missing from care procedures are compatible with and have regard to Runaway and Missing from Home and Care protocols as managed by the police or by the local authority (NMS 5.6)  ensure young people have access to independent advice and support from adults; specifically young people know their rights to advocacy and how to access an advocate. (NMS 1.5)

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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 progress made by the provider since the last full inspection, identifies any further strengths, any areas for improvement and makes judgements as outlined in the Inspection of children’s homes – framework for inspection (March 2011).

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