Children's Home run by Five Rivers Child Care Limited in Wiltshire

Unique reference number SC059717 Inspection date 31/12/2013 Inspector Bridget Goddard Type of inspection Interim Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 07/08/2013 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Brief description of the service

The home is one of four settings in the area owned and managed by a national childcare agency. There are operational links with the organisation's fostering service and school. The home is registered to care for six young people with emotional or behavioural difficulties. The home currently accommodates girls only, and provides short-term and long-term placements.

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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 August 2013 this home received a good judgement overall, and demonstrated some outstanding features. Two recommendations were raised at that inspection and both been met, and overall the provider has made satisfactory progress.

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Progress

The first recommendation concerned ensuring that young people participate in activities to promote their health. Staff have encouraged appropriate involvement by young people in such activities, and this has been satisfactorily met in line with young people's personal preferences.

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Progress

The second recommendation concerned ensuring that agency staff are properly managed and supported. This has been well-met by ensuring that copies of essential checks are on file, and that agency workers have easy access to key information about young people. Shift leaders are also clearly responsible for ensuring that agency workers have access to key information and processes. This is particularly important as most agency workers are not specialists in children's residential social care.

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Progress

Young people are generally making steady progress, and there are encouraging signs in some of a reduction in risky behaviour. There have been changes to the young people living in this home, and overall the number of incidents has reduced. The home continues to work well with other agencies to help keep young people safe, and staff are clearly demonstrating an informed and warm understanding of what young people need in order to thrive.

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Progress

The home has a small, core staff group which is well-supplemented by experienced sessional workers. Many of these were previously fully employed by the home, but have chosen a more flexible work option. This means that young people usually have continuity of staffing. However, the staffing complement is fragile particularly at holiday times, or when there is sickness. On these occasions agency staff are used alongside core staff particularly at night time. This means that inexperienced and unfamiliar staff can be the first point of contact in night time crisis situations. The home has tried hard to remedy this by having an on-going staff recruitment campaign, but this has generally been unsuccessful. As a result of these recruitment issues, there are more limited opportunities for this small staff group to take full advantage of for example, all clinical support sessions available. Generally, there are

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Progress

also reduced opportunities for the staff group to be built into a sustainable and diverse staff team.

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Progress

The physical environment of the home has been significantly upgraded since the last inspection. There is now a new dining kitchen and a refurbished bathroom. Young people were involved in choosing some aspects of the design and are rightly proud of their new facilities.

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Progress

Regulation 33 monitoring is thorough and clear. However, reports are not always received in the home and by Ofsted in a timely fashion and as a result this is reducing their effectiveness.

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Progress

One requirement and one recommendation have been made as a result of this inspection.

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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

25 ensure that there is at all times, having regard to the statement 03/03/2014 (2001) of purpose and the number and needs of the children accommodated there; and the need to safeguard and promote the health and welfare of the children accommodated in the home a sufficient number of suitably qualified, competent and experienced persons working at the children's home. (Regulation 25 (1) (a) (b) )

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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 procedures for monitoring the activities of the home are effective. This specifically relates to shortening the timescales when completed Regulation 33 reports are received by the home and by Ofsted (NMS 21.1)

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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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