Children's Home run by Keys Care Limited in Windsor and Maidenhead

Unique reference number SC438624 Inspection date 25/01/2013 Inspector Guy Mammatt Type of inspection Interim Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 01/08/2012 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Brief description of the service

This privately owned home is run by a large nationwide provider. It is registered for up to two children with emotional or behavioural difficulties.

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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 August the home was judged as inadequate with ten requirements and five recommendations put in place. The home has demonstrated continued improvement in the quality of care and outcomes for young people since the last inspection. The home has also met all of the requirements and recommendations that were raised at the previous inspection.

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Progress

The home now meets its own expectations in the Statement of Purpose as it does provide a safe, homely therapeutic environment. The Statement of Purpose has also been reviewed to ensure it reflects the facilities and amenities available at the home. The decoration and furnishing of the home have been transformed to provide an exceptional environment for young people to live in. All parts of the home are well maintained and have good facilities for young people to use in their leisure time.

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Progress

Effective risk assessments are now in place to provide support to young people. The risk assessments are individualised and include the relevant preventative strategies to help staff keep the young people safe. The Registered Manager has ensured the prompt referral to the local safeguarding team of all allegations of abuse. The Registered Manager has also ensured all significant events in the protection of children have been notified to HMCI at Ofsted. As a result, good safeguarding practice has been followed and important information has been shared with the correct parties.

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Progress

The volume used for recording restrictive physical intervention has been re-designed to ensure it includes all the necessary information required to meet the children’s home regulations. The recording of restraint by staff is thorough and to a good standard. The Registered Manager effectively monitors the use of restraint to ensure all the correct details of the incident are included and young people are consulted with following the restraint. As a result of this the recording and monitoring of the use of restraint in the home is of a good standard. This protects the young people in the home by ensuring restraint is only used under the correct circumstances.

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Progress

The Registered Manager has used questionnaires to gather feedback from the young people, families and placing authorities. This has been incorporated into the monitoring carried out by the Registered Manager and has helped improve the service for young people and their families. The visitor’s book is now used properly to ensure all visitors to the home are recorded accurately for the protection of young people living there.

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Progress

Young people take part in regular house meetings and receive feedback every time to ensure they know their views and wishes have been acted upon. Young people are protected when they go missing from home and staff provide an effective response to ensure young people return safely when they are located. The Registered Manager provides a good oversight to the use of sanctions in the home and will address any identified issues with staff. This ensures young people receive fair and reasonable sanctions. Young people are also now encouraged to have their say following any sanction put in place.

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Progress

Young people have made outstanding progress since their time of placement and the last inspection. Young people have excellent attendance at school and are involved in working towards national curriculum qualifications. Young people engage in therapy and attend health appointments to ensure their physical and emotional health is promoted. Young people take part in community clubs within the local area and have made positive peer group friendships. Young people have displayed they can be trusted away from the staffs’ supervision and have also had friends back to the home. As a result young people receive excellent promotion of equal opportunities for young people in care and have shown they can maintain appropriate friendships.

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Progress

Young people benefit from improved family contact which is supported sensitively by staff. Young people also receive regular key worker session from staff and meetings with other professionals to ensure they develop an understanding of their actions towards others.

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Progress

The Registered Manager receives good support from the senior management to ensure the home delivers a good standard of care. The Registered Manager leads the team well and has instilled a therapeutic language technique throughout the staff team to manage challenging behaviour. The focus is for staff to help young people understand where their feelings are coming from and not to solely implement punitive sanctions. The young people have excelled in the routine, structure and calm atmosphere put in place by the home.

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Progress

The young people do not currently have access to a telephone without having to first ask staff. This means young people are not entirely safeguarded as they cannot make a phone call in private without staff knowing.

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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 children accommodated in the home are provided at all reasonable times with access to the following facilities which they may use without first making reference to a person working at the home; a telephone on which to make and receive telephone calls in private. (Regulation 15 (4 (a)) 28/02/2013

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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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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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