Children's Home run by Benjamin UK Ltd in Buckinghamshire

Unique reference number SC067757 Inspection date 18/02/2014 Inspector Bridget Goddard Type of inspection Interim Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 16/08/2013 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Brief description of the service

This children’s home is privately owned, providing care and accommodation for up to four young people with emotional and 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 2013 the home received an adequate judgement overall. Two requirements and four recommendations were made as a result of that inspection. These have been well- met, and generally the home has made good progress.

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Progress

The first requirement was to ensure that there was sufficient staffing to effectively meet the needs of young people placed. There has been significant change to the group of young people placed, and generally the home's core staffing complement is sufficient to meet their needs. However, on occasion where more staff are required the home has effective processes to secure this in the short-term, and will negotiate with the local authority for longer term arrangements. The home's management has recently demonstrated that it will turn down referrals where it cannot be confident that it can effectively meet young people's needs. This requirement is therefore met.

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Progress

The second requirement concerned reviewing and revising the behaviour management policy, and ensuring all staff were clear about how to promote appropriate behaviour. The policy has been clarified, and the staff group have had helpful discussions about various behaviours and decided together on appropriate sanctions for these. This means that young people can expect a consistent response from staff to certain behaviours. This helps reinforce what is appropriate behaviour. This requirement is therefore also met.

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Progress

The four recommendations set concerned training, physical activity and smoking cessation plans, educational opportunities, and fire drill practice. Staff do now receive high quality behaviour management training at a very early stage in their employment. Young people are actively involved in a good range of physical activities, and receive appropriate targeted support on smoking cessation. Young people are also now benefitting from a renewed focus on their education, and most young people are sustainably accessing some form of education. This is a significant achievement, as some young people have previously been out of education for lengthy periods of time. The final recommendation concerned ensuring the accurate recording of young people's involvement in fire drills. This has been successfully completed. The home has therefore fully met all four recommendations.

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Progress

There has been a significant drop in the number of notifications made, which positively reflects the reduced number of significant incidents in the home. These notifications are appropriate and thoroughly made but on occasions are not sent in a timely manner. This reduces the opportunities available for scrutiny.

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Progress

Décor and furnishings in the home have recently been updated, and this process has been significantly influenced by young people's choices. Generally the home is going through a relatively settled period, and there is a positive, new management structure in place. The home has met all requirements and recommendations from the last inspection and has made good progress. One recommendation has been made as a result of this inspection.

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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 there is a system in place to notify within 24 hours the persons and appropriate authorities of the occurrence of significant events in accordance with Regulation 30. This system includes what to do where a notifiable event arises at weekends. (NMS 24.1)

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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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