Children's Home run by Suffolk County Council in Suffolk

Unique reference number SC430022 Inspection date 24/02/2014 Inspector Deirdra Keating Type of inspection Interim Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 18/11/2013 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Brief description of the service

This home provides medium- and long-term placements for up to seven young people who have emotional and or behavioural difficulties. The home is owned and operated by a local authority.

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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

This home was judged as adequate overall at the full inspection in November 2013. Since the full inspection, the manager has met the three requirements and six recommendations. The manager has been focused and resourceful in addressing these shortfalls. This demonstrates a drive to improve the home and has resulted in a better quality of care for young people.

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Progress

The manager ensures that records of sanctions are complete and include the effectiveness of each sanction. This helps staff and young people to manage behaviour in a way that is likely to reduce further incidents. Young people’s views are included and recorded in reviewing the effectiveness of sanctions.

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Progress

Notifications of events at the home are all submitted to Ofsted within required timescales. There have been a high number of notifiable incidents. The reporting of these is clear and includes regular updates following the actions taken by the home and outside professionals. This ensures that Ofsted are aware of any serious incidents at the home providing an extra safeguard to young people. The manager has provided a telephone for young people based on individual assessment of risk. Some young people have mobile phones with credit provided by the home. The provision of a telephone is based on an assessment of each young person’s background and history. This ensures that young people have access to the telephone unless making calls is detrimental to their wellbeing and safety.

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Progress

The manager has secured extra staffing at the weekend. A shift covering the weekend days provides an extra member of staff and an extra vehicle. This helps facilitate young people’s individual preferences regarding weekend activities. New staff are employed and agency staff are no longer used. This helps ensure young people know the staff team and know who to expect on duty, providing them with security and continuity of care.

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Progress

The provision of food supplies has changed. Online deliveries provide dry and heavy goods for the home. Young people are actively involved in the purchase and provision of perishable foods. This promotes independence as young people experience shopping, cooking and budgeting. This helps young people gain a sense of locality, value for money and develop life skills. Staff teach young people about healthy foods and encourage healthy eating. A range of healthy snacks and fresh fruit is always available. Young people exercise more choice and preference over foods purchased. This also encourages young people to take responsibility for their health.

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Progress

The manager has sourced and booked training for all staff in relation to self-injurious behaviours. Staff access mandatory training and good thought has been given to the future development of the home. This includes the placement group dynamics and culture of the staff team. Team training is booked to help staff consider team dynamics and different approaches. This supports continuity of approach and reflective practice.

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Progress

The manager monitors all records kept by the home. The records sampled evidence better recording and required detail. This ensures documentation of incidents is clear and meets requirements. The home is spacious and maintained adequately. However, the kitchen and dining room are not cleaned to a high standard and the rear patio has cigarette debris. The manager and staff team have worked hard to make changes and improvements to the home. These have improved outcomes for young people particularly in terms of food, activities and taking responsibility for their health.

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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 all areas of the home are well decorated and maintained with particular reference to the patio and dining area. (NMS 10.3)

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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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