Children's Home run by Barnardo’s in Oxfordshire

Unique reference number SC069128 Inspection date 09/01/2013 Inspector Maire Atherton Type of inspection Interim Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 23/04/2012 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 service caters for a maximum of seven children and young people at any one time, including one emergency bed. It provides a residential short break service and a domiciliary care service that is inspected by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

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Brief description of the service

The service is provided by a national charity in partnership with a local authority and a primary care trust. Children and young people can therefore be provided with care and health packages. Most of the children and young people using the service have complex health needs, or are on the autistic spectrum and have associated challenging behaviour.

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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

At the full inspection in April 2012 the overall effectiveness of the service was judged good, with three requirements and three recommendations made. A number of these related to organisational issues, three have been met, one partly met and two are not met.

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Progress

All eligible staff in post have either obtained or are registered for the level three diploma in child care. As a registered nurse the manager is now benefiting from clinical supervision in addition to the line management supervision that was already in place. It remains unclear if the organisational induction process for new staff incorporates the Children's Workforce Development Council's induction standards and this recommendation is repeated.

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Progress

There is thorough external monitoring through monthly visits, quarterly performance reviews and an annual care audit. The reports of the quarterly performance reviews have not been submitted to Ofsted. This requirement is repeated.

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Progress

The manager has been in discussion with the Care Quality Commission and consequently the charity is to apply to register the home as an additional activity for the provision of healthcare because the location is already registered as a domiciliary care agency. This enables staff to provide support to the family and care for children and young people in their own homes when required.

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Progress

The manager is working effectively with commissioners to address issues arising from the increasing number of children and young people with complex health needs referred to the service. For a short time there was an additional member of staff on evening shifts, weekends and during the school holidays. This enabled staff to provide more opportunities to support the development of those children and young people who could realise a greater degree of independence. At the time of this visit an additional member of staff is being deployed according to the individual intensifying needs and/or the combination of children and young people staying. This means that opportunities for individual development are again limited. In addition the staffing budget, which has not been increased for three years, does not cover all of the additional costs and the charity is in discussion with commissioners about this. The closer working relationship with the commissioners coupled with the use of

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Progress

individual risk assessments has been instrumental in ensuring that only those who would benefit from the service are admitted, even in an emergency.

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Progress

Some of the children and young people who use the service have life limiting conditions and on occasion staff are involved in supporting families through bereavement. The impact of this on staff has been recognised and extra support measures for the whole staff team are being implemented by the management team.

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Progress

Additional support for staff in the management of challenging behaviour is being provided by the behaviour support service. Staff are working in partnership and a review is held at the end of each visit to determine the efficacy of the strategies used to provide the young person with a safe and enjoyable stay.

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Progress

Staff remain very child centred in their work and children and young people benefit from and enjoy the warm relationships they have with staff. One child said 'I like coming here, I can chill and talk to anyone if I have any problems.' The staff know the children and young people and their individual communication styles extremely well. Children and young people are supported to make meaningful choices and indicate their preferences using their own chosen means, whether that is a facial expression, use of a relevant communication aid or speech. Staff vary the way they offer the options to ensure that children's and young people's responses are really what they want. There has been some progress in updating care plans to ensure that they reflect the detail seen in practice but a limited number are yet to be updated. This recommendation is repeated. The staff are requesting and receiving copies of reviews for all looked after children.

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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 reports of reviews conducted for the purpose of improving the quality of care are supplied to Ofsted. (Regulation 34 (2)) 31/03/2013

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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 induction process for new staff incorporates the Children's Workforce Development Council's induction standards (NMS 18.3)  ensure that the care plans contain all the detail observed in practice. (NMS 2.1)

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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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