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Unique reference number SC036917 Inspection date 05/03/2014 Inspector Patrick Sullivan Type of inspection Interim Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 09/10/2013 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Brief description of the service

The home provides short and medium-term residential care for up to five young people with emotional and/or behavioural problems. The home also undertakes outreach work with young people, either to prevent the need for accommodation, or to support them and their carers once they have left the home. This service is provided 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

At the last inspection this service was judged to be 'good'. Since then there has been a change in the management arrangements with the long established Registered Manager being seconded to another project for 4 days a week with the deputy manager stepping up in to the manager’s role. The deputy manager is a very experienced member of staff and has worked at the home for a substantial period of time.

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Progress

No Requirements were made at the last inspection but there were two recommendations, both of which have been met.

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Progress

The first recommendation concerned delegation of responsibilities to staff. The new management arrangements are now clearly in place. The policy around consent for medical treatment has been revised and all staff are aware of this. This recommendation has been met. The second recommendation relates to copies of Personal Education Plans being kept as a separate document from the care plan. This had been actioned on the children's case files that were viewed as part of the inspection.

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Progress

The home is maintained to a high standard and presents as a comfortable environment for the young people who live there. The staff team is experienced and well established in the unit. During the course of the inspection there were several examples of positive interaction between the staff on shift and the young people living in the home.

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Progress

A number of notifications had been received by Ofsted in recent weeks concerning the behaviour of one young person. This behaviour included absconding and placing herself at risk in the wider community. On the day of the inspection a decision had been made that the home could no longer keep this young person safe and she was being moved to another more appropriate placement. Additional staff had been drafted into the home to assist with this move and to maintain a safe environment. The situation was handled calmly and sensitively. It was clear that there were very positive relationships between staff and young people.

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Progress

This relationship continues beyond the young persons stay at the home. An ex residents log is kept which records visits to the home by former residents. There are frequent visits to the home by a number of young people. Many of whom were 'just passing'. A number of former residents visited the home over the Christmas period.

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Progress

The home maintains its records to a high standard. Copies of incidents are recorded on the young person's file as well as in the appropriate incident book. The records are detailed and clearly outline both the incident as well as what led up to it.

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Progress

This is a well maintained and run Children's Home. Children are well cared for by an experienced staff team who benefit from good leadership and management. At this point in time the change in management has not had a detrimental impact on the home however this will need to be assessed in greater detail at the next full 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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