Children's Home run by Barnardo’s in Oxfordshire

Unique reference number SC013144 Inspection date 06/02/2014 Inspector Clare Davies Type of inspection Interim Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 19/09/2013 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Brief description of the service

This residential short-break service caters for up to six children or young people at any one time. 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 good progress .

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Progress

At the last full inspection in September 2013, the overall quality rating for this home was judged as outstanding, with no requirements or recommendations set. The home demonstrates good progress in maintaining high quality care delivered to children and young people while driving the development of the service forward. Since the last inspection this short break service has achieved registration with the Care Quality Commission in order to provide domiciliary care. This enables the staff team to take their skills outside of the setting and support children, young people, and their families in their own home. The last inspection report highlighted how flexible this service can be to accommodate the complex needs of children and young people with disabilities. The further development of providing domiciliary care contributes to the range of support available, and has been welcomed by families when their child has not been well enough to travel to the short break setting.

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Progress

There is a strong committed approach to safeguarding, led firmly by the manager and responsible individual. Attendance at training courses, membership of the local safeguarding children's board and participation in multi-agency conferences ensures that the leadership and management of this service are fully aware of the current issues relating to the protection of children and young people. The impact of these events, and studying the recommendations from serious case reviews, has led to the revision of staff supervision records and a sharper focus on practice. The managers are aware of local and national cases of child sexual exploitation as reported through serious case reviews. They recognise that issues of poor engagement with children and young people, and failure to listen to them in such cases, are potentially magnified if involving children and young people with disabilities. Key messages from these reviews are disseminated to the staff team

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Progress

through team days and supervision. This further raises their awareness in matters of child protection. Continuous professional development for staff has involved training in understanding autism, fire safety, equality and diversity, and an update regarding the management of epilepsy. This organisation recognises the need to ensure nursing staff have access to clinical supervision and training specific to maintain their professional registration. The collaboration with partner agencies, such as health and social care, ensures ready access to nurse specific training and a greater focus on the recruitment and retention of nursing staff. Children and young people enjoy visiting this short break service and all that it has to offer. There are many resources on site such as a sensory room, hydrotherapy pool, an activity garden and, more recently, a kitchen garden has been installed ready for planting vegetables in the spring. Children and young people are supported to access

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Progress

local leisure facilities; this promotes their social development and inclusion within the community. Through consultation, the staff team plan activities according to the wishes of children and young people. Consultation involves varied methods of communication such as picture symbols, electronic devices and sign language. The staff are skilled to ensure that children and young people are able to express their views and participate in making choices. This service continues to provide a nurturing and safe environment in which the specific care needs of each child and young person can be assessed and met. No requirements or recommendations were identified during this inspection.

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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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