Children's Home run by Bryn Melyn Care Limited in Shropshire

Unique reference number SC372661 Inspection date 18/04/2013 Inspector David Morgan Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 30/08/2012 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Brief description of the service

This home is operated by a private care organisation, which also provides therapy and education to the young people. The home is registered to provide care and accommodation for one child or young person who has emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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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 good .

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Overall effectiveness

The last full inspection found that the service was operating at a good standard and the current inspection finds that this has been maintained. The last interim inspection made two requirements and two recommendations. All of these matters have been addressed. In particular, there has been an improvement in the maintenance and presentation of the property. This inspection identifies no breaches of regulations but raises four new recommendations to develop the service further. A recommendation is made to refine the involvement of external stakeholders, such as parents, in discussions about improving the service. Another is raised to maximise the benefits of fire drill exercises.

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Overall effectiveness

The service is particularly effective in providing personalised care that integrates care, therapy and education. Staff promote improved outcomes in every aspect of care and address obstacles with input from other professionals. As a result, young people are positive about the care they receive and make clear progress. Unsafe behaviours are reducing as young people become more independent.

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Overall effectiveness

New senior managers have recently been appointed by the organisation and they have been greeted positively by staff. Any alterations arising from this significant change will be seen in due course. On-site leadership by the manager is strong and addresses the needs of staff and young people well.

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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 wishes, feelings and views of children and those significant to them are taken into account in monitoring staff and in developing the home (NMS 1.7)  apply the emergency escape plan so that all staff and children are familiar with it and have practiced so they know what to do in an emergency. This is with regard to ensuring all staff undertake fire drills that use different scenarios (NMS 10.9)  ensure all specialist professionals (e.g. legal, educationalists, psychologists, therapists) are professionally qualified and, where applicable, registered by the appropriate professional body. This is with regard to there being evidence kept on site (NMS 18.4)  ensure there is a system in place to monitor the quality and adequacy of record keeping and take action when needed. This is with regard to records of dietary intake also including snacks and fizzy drinks, where necessary. (NMS 22.1)

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people feel secure in their home. They know that their views matter and make a difference. In extreme cases, they know their complaints are taken seriously too. One young person said, ‘It’s nice here; if I want something within reason they do it.’ Young people feel that staff are fair and, on the whole, they enjoy positive, well- established relationships with the staff team. As a result, young people make clear progress from their starting points, whether it is behaviourally, in terms of their self- control, or in their practical skills.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people benefit from a wide range of activities that are both enjoyable and educational. These opportunities develop their social skills and increase their self- confidence. These occasions, plus those taken during school-time, expose young people to a diverse range of people. Also, at home, gender and age stereo-types are challenged and further work is planned in this area. Formal education is given a particularly high priority, as befits the tripartite nature of the service. Consequently, young people attend regularly, gain substantial experience, and work successfully towards academic qualifications.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people enjoy excellent opportunities to have their individual needs met. Day- to-day care succeeds in meeting individual needs well through the high staffing ratio and other organisational arrangements, such as the small size of the home and its rural location. Careful consideration is given to ensuring that any needs arising from nationality, for example, are discussed regularly and addressed thoroughly. Families and friends are integrated as much as possible into discussions and events and visits occur regularly. As a result, young people feel that their individuality and backgrounds are respected. In this context, careful consideration is also given to preparing young people for independence to ensure it is as effective as possible.

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Quality of care

Excellent attention is given to ensuring continuity of staffing even between placements. This means that the need of young people to sustain important relationships, which is the basis of their personal progress, is met well. Young people are clear that their views make a difference in the home, for example, in writing down how staff will provide them with the support needed to implement daily programmes. Their views have made a difference to how key worker sessions are implemented too. The opinions of young people are also routinely obtained in meaningful ways prior to their statutory reviews.

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Quality of care

Staff clearly address the targets agreed with other professionals, both those who are internal to the organisation and those outside it, as well as young people themselves. This consistency of practice is a fundamental part of their effectiveness, for example in clearly improving young people's self-motivation. One external professional thought the progress of young people was 'impressive'. Health issues are met appropriately and as a result young people remain healthy and understand how to pursue healthy lifestyles. Records of meals are up to date and indicate a balanced nutritional intake. However, these do not show other food and drinks that young people take. This makes it less easy to monitor calorie intake and support young people to eat healthily.

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Quality of care

Young people are engaged in wide-ranging activities and interests on and off site. As well as being enjoyable and healthy, they develop young people’s social and practical skills. Young people contribute to cooking and cleaning; they have helped to make curtains and they are involved in other tasks around the house. This helps their self- esteem and sense of belonging. The property itself is presented well. Improvements have been made to the speed with which maintenance issues are addressed. Plans for further improvements are in place, including refurbishing the kitchen.

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Safeguarding children and young people

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

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people are kept safe through the rural location of the home and the fact that there is only one occupant. In addition, there is good attention to fire and other safety issues, such as checks on the car. Such measures have been comprehensively reviewed and improved recently. Equipment servicing occurs regularly. Fire drills are held at a greater frequency than required so that staff and young people act promptly in the event of an alarm sounding. Drills include night-time evacuations, too. However, such exercises do not include the use of different scenarios to train staff most effectively. Young people are safeguarded well in other ways too. There are comprehensive recruitment practices that the manager verifies personally. However, the evidence available on site is limited and there is none confirming the registration of specialist professionals, such as therapists. This shortfall has minimal direct impact on young

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Safeguarding children and young people

people. Incidents of young people putting themselves at risk have been successfully reduced to a low level, whether it be incidents requiring physical intervention by staff or young people being absent without authority. Staff endeavour wherever possible to act constructively rather than apply measures of control. This contributes substantially to the positive relationships they have with young people. A young person commented, ‘The rules are fair, they don’t do a sanction straightaway; you get another chance usually.’ Improvements are currently underway to the recording of consequences arising from negative behaviours so that the log better reflects the positive reparative philosophy.

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Safeguarding children and young people

External professionals confirm that the home’s staff report any incidents promptly and there is good interagency consultation. This contributes to effective safeguarding of young people via up-to-date risk assessments. Young people feel safe in their home and with staff and confidently raise concerns. The manager ensures that lessons from incidents both at the home and elsewhere in the company are integrated into improving practices.

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Leadership and management

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

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Leadership and management

There is clear and effective leadership of the home. During a challenging period the focus has remained on providing good childcare to young people with complex needs. This has included making difficult decisions and altering plans in order to care for young people in the most productive way. In particular, there is good continuity of staffing, which is greatly appreciated by young people. Additionally, staff receive strong support in terms of managerial input and training. Staff are brought up to date promptly about professional developments, such as child sexual exploitation and the latest national safeguarding guidance. Annual refresher courses are automatically provided and all staff are qualified, some to graduate level. The therapeutic focus of the service is integrated into professional development opportunities too. As a result, staff operate at the high level of competency necessary for effective outcomes in this

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Leadership and management

There are sufficient measures in place to monitor the home, which routinely include discussions with young people. These reports ensure that standards of care are maintained and that improvements occur in some areas, for example in the presentation of the property. Broader consultation routinely occurs regarding the care of young people but is somewhat under-developed with regard to improving the service overall. Nevertheless, development planning occurs and the manager enthusiastically embraces new ideas. New training has been implemented, for example, to help staff identify and address stress at work. A new plan to promote equality and diversity more rigorously has also been drafted. A new deputy manager is in post over the two homes for which the manager is registered. His supervision of staff is an important contribution to consistent practice and the capacity of the service to improve further.

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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 and the evaluation schedule for the inspection of children's homes.

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