Children's Home run by London Borough of Hillingdon in Hillingdon

Unique reference number SC068789 Inspection date 28/03/2014 Inspector Wilfried Maxfield Type of inspection Interim Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 07/05/2013 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Brief description of the service

This local authority service provides overnight short breaks, medium and long-term provision for up to eight young people aged between 10 and 17 years old who have physical and learning disabilities. In addition to this, the service also offers day services and tea visits.

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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 inadequate progress .

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Progress

This home was judged as good overall at the last inspection which took place in May 2013. At this interim inspection the home is judged to be making inadequate progress. The home has addressed one recommendation from the last inspection. A number of additional shortfalls have been noted. As a consequence of this, five requirements and four recommendations have been raised.

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Progress

The centre has appointed an acting manger after the previous Registered Manager left in September 2013. This was notified to Ofsted in January 2014. Since this date the new manager has tried to submit a valid application to Ofsted to be registered but has failed to do so.

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Progress

The current Statement of Purpose is not adequate. The managers of the home and the provider are not clear about the aims and objectives of the home and what services and facilities it provides. The centre is still in the process of consolidating its services and clearly define its identity. This process is not well managed. In 2011 the centre merged with another children's home providing respite for children with disabilities. It was originally registered as a short breaks service for children with high medical needs. Now it also functions as a residential children's home and there are plans to take on more long term permanent residents. In addition, the centre is admitting more children with very challenging behaviour. All of these developments are not adequately documented in the current Statement of Purpose.

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Progress

The centre employs a very competent, experienced and well qualified group of staff. They are working hard to provide a good service for children with exceedingly complex and diverse needs. Managers and staff are still adapting to the impact of providing the services of a children's home while also operating as a short break resource centre. The resulting mix of children in terms of age, need and disability is a real challenge and there are times when staff struggle to do justice to such diversity. Plans to manage this more effectively and use the scope of the building for a clearer separation of specialist provisions are not being progressed.

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Progress

Children and young people's privacy and security within the centre is not adequately protected. The building is used by many different people and groups. Very vulnerable children have to share the building with local community groups including the voluntary sector, health and education colleagues. The premises also house teams of professionals and their offices and surplus office space is used by social workers for hot-desking. It is not clear how the presence of these very diverse groups of people in the building is being managed and how access to sensitive areas within the building is being safeguarded and restricted.

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Progress

Children and young people benefit from good internal care planning. Care plans demonstrate a clear commitment to personalised care based on a good knowledge and assessment of children and young people's complex needs. Care plans are highly detailed and informative and are frequently updated. Records contain good individual profiles detailing needs in core areas. Behaviour management plans are good and benefit from the input of a clinical psychology service. However, the centre does not document adequately how young people are being prepared for a successful transition to independence and adulthood. Young people nearing the age of 18 are not on a transition plan that clearly outlines their position when they will leave care.

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Progress

The statutory placement and review planning process is currently not being documented adequately. For example, young people that are looked after by their local authority and live residentially at the centre have no minutes of review meetings in file. It is therefore not possible to assess and review their progress and whether the placement is still suitable for them. Managers at the centre do not request statutory reviews if overdue and do not chase outstanding reports. There is no system in place that monitors children's records effectively and is capable of identifying such significant shortfalls.

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Statutory Requirements

This section sets out the actions which must be taken so that the registered person/s meets the Care Standards Act 2000, Children's Homes Regulations 2001 and the National Minimum Standards. The registered person(s) must comply with the given timescales.

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure that the children's home is at all times conducted in a manner which is consistent with its statement of purpose (Regulation 4 (6)) 16/05/2014

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) keep under review and, where appropriate, revise the statement of purpose and the children's guide (Regulation 5 (a)) 16/05/2014

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) make suitable arrangements to ensure that the home is conducted in a manner which respects the privacy and dignity of children accommodated there (Regulation 11 (2) (a)) 16/05/2014

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure that all parts of the children's home used by children are secure from unauthorised access (Regulation 31 (b)) 16/05/2014

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) maintain in the children's home the records specified in Schedule 4 and ensure that they are kept up to date. Here in particular, ensure a record of all visitors to the home and to children accommodated in the home, including names of visitors and reasons for the visit. (Regulation 29 (1) Schedule 4 (13)) 16/05/2014

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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

 contribute to the development of each child's care plan, including the pathway plan for 'eligible' care leavers and work collaboratively with the young person's social worker or personal adviser in implementing the plan (NMS 12.2)  ensure there is a system in place to monitor the quality and adequacy of record keeping and take action when needed. Here in particular, ensure that a such system is capable of identifying missing LAC review notes (NMS 22.1)  contact the placing authorities to request statutory reviews or visits if overdue for any child (NMS 25.5)  record the result of all statutory reviews and reviews of Placement Plans on the child's file. (NMS 25.8)

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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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