Coniston House

Unique reference number SC379123 Inspection date 28/03/2014 Inspector Mark Ryder Type of inspection Interim Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 19/12/2013 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Brief description of the service

The home is one of three within this private organisation that offers placements for up to five young people who may have a combination of mental health, psychological, emotional or complex care needs that present challenging behaviour. The service is designed to offer medium- to long-term care 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 last inspection in December 2013, this home was judged as adequate with some inadequate and some good aspects. Four requirements and two recommendations were made. The outcome of this visit is that all requirements and recommendations have been met and that the home is making satisfactory progress.

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Progress

The Registered Manager is in the process of re-registering to become the manager at another of the organisations homes. The acting manager has applied for registration at this home. During the transfer of roles both managers take responsibility and have oversight of the home's development. The manager and leaders regularly monitor the home's records and practice of staff. This promotes the safety and welfare of young people.

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Progress

Medication storage, administration and recording has significantly improved since the last inspection. The new lockable medication fridge and secure storage facility, with additional training for staff and improved record keeping, has made this area much safer for young people.

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Progress

Young people live in a safe environment which affords them time to build relationships and mature into adulthood. Young people say that they like the staff and they feel safe living here. Young people say that the rules are fair and that they have lots of activities to do. However, some young people were frustrated at the delay in gaining an educational placement.

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Progress

Education is promoted at this home although there is limited progress for some young people in placement. Decision making between the placing authority and senior managers about education planning has been confusing with the result that young people have not benefitted from formal educational opportunities. While the home currently meets national minimum standards and regulations, young people's educational attainment has not sufficiently progressed since their placements began.

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Progress

The home's Statement of Purpose has been recently updated to include a description of the electronic internal door alarms that are in constant use. This ensures that in future local authority commissioning teams are fully aware of the use of the alarm system prior to placements. Current placing authorities have recently been informed about the electronic door alarms and the home is in the process of confirming written agreement within all young people's care plans. This is an improvement since the last inspection.

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Progress

The young people's guide provides an accurate overview of what each young person can expect when living at this home. The guide has recently been updated to include the contact details of their independent reviewing officer, the children's rights director and Ofsted. This is an improvement since the last visit.

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Progress

Monitoring by an independent person, who regularly visits the home, provides constructive critical feedback to the acting manager and staff. As a result practice and record keeping are continuing to improve.

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Progress

While young peoples' risk taking behaviours continue, staff have the experience, training and competence in managing such situations. The staff are effective in working with young people with complex emotional and behavioural difficulties and are ably supported by the in-house therapeutic team.

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Progress

Notifications of incidents of a serious nature are sent to the appropriate agencies in a timely way. Therefore, Ofsted is able to review such incidents prior to each inspection and assess how this service has managed each situation.

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Progress

As a result of this inspection there are no requirements or recommendations were made.

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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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