Children's Home run by Action for Children Services Ltd in Buckinghamshire

Unique reference number SC424089 Inspection date 19/12/2012 Inspector Emeline Evans Type of inspection Interim Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 24/04/2012 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Brief description of the service

This is a short breaks service for children and young people with learning disabilities, sensory impairment and physical disabilities. It is run by a national children's charity and can accommodate up to a total of 14 young people. Young people may have challenging behaviours associated with their disability and complex health needs that require nursing input.

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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 satisfactory progress .

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Progress

The home was judged as adequate at the last inspection in April 2012 with three statutory requirements and six recommendations for improvement. The home has maintained the good quality of care and outcomes for young people.

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Progress

Following the restructuring of the management team, the Registered Manager has recently left the children’s home. The new manager is in the process of applying for registration with Ofsted. The new manager and staff team are positive about changes and are in the early stages of identifying and reflecting on current practice and development needs of the service. This positive approach is ensuring the home is maintaining its quality of care for the young people.

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Progress

The management team has complied with the requirement made at the last inspection with regard to recruitment practice. There is now full and satisfactory information available on a computer spread sheet which details all the necessary information. This now evidences the processes undertaken for the recruitment of staff and their suitability to work with children and young people.

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Progress

The home was asked to improve the recording of any measure of control or restraint in the home. All recording is now in line with regulations; this has been addressed with the staff team to ensure compliance. The system cross-references to all incidents in the home. This is a comprehensive system, which staff are aware of and enables effective monitoring to take place.

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Progress

The manager now reviews Schedule 6 matters on a regular basis and this involves routine consultation with the young people and parents. This ensures any shortfalls in the care of young people are recognised and addressed. However, the manager currently does not use the process of monitoring to identify patterns and trends and to further improve the quality of care. The home has also not reviewed the development plan for the home. The plan in operation still does not reflect on outcomes for the young people or enable the manager and staff team to reflect on the progress in the home.

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Progress

Regulation 33 visits have taken place to form an opinion on the standard of care. During these visits, file audits also take place to ensure young people’s files and records are now complete and up-to-date. This is resulting in young people’s placement plans being reviewed and updated on a regular basis.

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Progress

The manager now has a system in place to be able to monitor online training undertaken by staff. Staff have completed some training since the last inspection. Some of this is specific to the needs of the young people, for example, how to implement social stories for the young people. However, staff have still not received training in communication systems and autistic spectrum disorders. Staff feel this would be a benefit and enhance their skills to support the young people presently accessing the service.

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Progress

The management team has been actively trying to recruit to senior positions within the home. However, this is an on-going process and they have not been successful in achieving full staffing, so the management team have taken on additional roles to fill any gaps. This still does not ensure the home can fulfil the Statement of Purpose and meet the individual needs of the young people. Young people are, however, now able to see who is working on each shift, through the aid of photographs. This enables them to feel more relaxed in their transitions and routines.

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Progress

There is a real commitment from the management and staff team to further raise the standard of care provided to the young people accessing the service. They have clear vision and realistic aspirations for the service and in achieving positive outcomes for the young people. Young people have a good relationship with the care staff and they respond well to the praise and encouragement received. The care provided for the young people is good and young people benefit from this child-centred approach. One parent commented, ‘we get recovery and breathing time in the full knowledge that our son is being looked after well, is happy and trying different things.’ Staff recognise the progress young people have made and are proud of these achievements and as one staff member stated, ‘we enjoy seeing the children achieve and move on.’

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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

 review the development plan to identify the future of the home and how the home will achieve outcomes for children (NMS 15.2)  ensure the overall number of staff employed in the home can fulfil the Statement of Purpose and meet the individual needs of the children (NMS 17.1)  ensure the staff are equipped with the skills to meet the needs of the children. In particular, this relates to training in communication systems and autistic spectrum disorders (NMS 18.1)  ensure the review of matters set out in Schedule 6 of the Children's Homes Regulations 2001 enables the provider to identify any trends or issues of concern, in order to improve the quality of care provided. Reports of these reviews under regulation 34 should be completed at six monthly intervals and a copy of every report should be sent to Ofsted within 28 days of completion. (Volume 5, statutory guidance, para 3.14)

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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.

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