Melanie Waddy

Melanie Waddy Inspection report for adoption support agency

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Unique reference number SC359792 Inspection date 10/12/2014 Inspector Marian Denny Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Adults

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Setting address 39 Cranley Gardens, LONDON, N10 3AB

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Telephone number 0208 815 0073 Email mwaddy@fertileminds.org Registered person Melanie Waddy Registered manager Responsible individual Date of last inspection 23/05/2011 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated.

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Brief description of the service

The adoption support agency was registered in March 2007 and is operated by an individual practitioner. She is a registered psychoanalytical psychotherapist offering short and long term therapy to any adults who have been affected in any way by adoption. This agency does not provide a birth records counselling or intermediary services.

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The inspection judgements and what they mean

Outstanding : a service of exceptional quality that significantly exceeds minimum requirements Good : a service of high quality that exceeds minimum requirements Adequate : a service that only meets minimum requirements Inadequate : a service that does not meet minimum requirements

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Overall effectiveness

The overall effectiveness is judged to be good .

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Overall effectiveness

This is a good adoption support agency and has positive relationships with commissioners and service users. It provides a prompt service following referral, which is tailored to meet the individual needs of those people using the service. The intended outcomes are clear and progress is regularly reviewed and assessed. The agency usually achieves good outcomes for service users and as a consequence, this minimises the impact of those who have experienced difficulties in the adoption process.

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Overall effectiveness

The provider is very open to ideas from service users and other professionals to help inform the agency’s service future development. The provider has a good understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the service and has clear ideas for its future development.

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Overall effectiveness

The shortfalls identified at this inspection largely relate to the agency’s policies, the Statement of Purpose and supervision records and do not detract from the service provided to service users.

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the registered person should take account of the following recommendation(s):

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Recommendations

 ensure the aims and objectives of the Statement of Purpose are outcome focussed and show how the service will meet outcomes, with specific regard to those using the service (NMS18.2)  ensure the child protection procedures are submitted for consideration and comment to the Local Safeguarding Children's Board (LSCB) and to the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) for child protection. This is with specific regard to the agency's Safeguarding Policy (NMS 22.4)  ensure the agency has written procedures for dealing with allegations of historical abuse which may be made by service users during the course of service provision (NMS22.12)  ensure a written record is kept detailing the time and date and length of each supervision. The record is signed by the supervisor and the registered manager at the end of the supervision (NMS 26.2)  Ensure the registered provider has a comprehensive written health and safety

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Recommendations

policy for all service users which covers all legal requirements. (NMS 26.9)

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Outcomes for service users

This agency provides good outcomes for those using its services. Service users have a clear understanding of the purpose of the intervention and usually welcome it, as it is a service which meets their needs. The agency ensures that the therapeutic or counselling service provided is always fully discussed with service users in their initial assessment visit. It is also reviewed on an ongoing basis in response to a service user’s changing circumstances. This facilitates the engagement of those using the service and ensures a flexible, effective and supportive service is provided. Occasionally, in the initial assessment visit or during the course of the service being provided, it becomes clear that the person’s needs cannot be met by the agency. In these situations, the provider will suggest alternative services that they can access to meet their need.

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Outcomes for service users

Commissioning authorities, who use this agency’s services, are extremely positive and complimentary about them. They indicated that service users’ found the support provided ‘very helpful’ and in some cases it enabled them ‘to put their lives back together’. Similarly, it was said that some adopters have also greatly benefitted from the agency’s involvement as it has enabled them to effectively address some issues that have arisen during the adoption assessment. As a result, they have been able to move forward with their adoption assessment, have become approved adopters and are now able to provide a home to children who have a care plan for adoption.

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Outcomes for service users

All those spoken to during the inspection were extremely positive about the agency; the outcomes achieved and were unable to identify anything that the agency could improve upon.

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Quality of service

The quality of the service provision is good. The provider is well-qualified and a highly skilled psychoanalytical psychotherapist. She has a real commitment to her continued professional development and as a result accesses a wide range of specialised training to ensure this. She demonstrates a very thorough understanding of adoption and the issues pertinent in supporting those who have been affected by the adoption process.

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Quality of service

She provides a prompt, welcoming service that is professional, flexible and totally focused on the needs of those using her service. The initial assessment determines the length and type of service to be provided, which is tailored to meet the individual’s needs. The service is subject to regular review, which ensures that it is on track to meet the desired outcomes. At the conclusion of the service an evaluation is conducted, which involves the service user and commissioner, if appropriate, in order to assess the effectiveness of the support. This ensures the therapeutic approach remains focussed on positive outcomes. Assessments and therapeutic sessions are recorded. This helps to ensure that there is a clear plan to guide the therapeutic work. It also ensures that in the event of the provider being unable to continue the work, there will be some continuity of practice for the service user.

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Quality of service

The agency has good links with some local voluntary adoption agencies and works collaboratively with them to support service users and promote the best possible outcomes. The provider accesses a variety of specialist training, receives external supervision in her work and keeps herself up-to-date with the latest research findings. This enables her to provide a therapeutic and counselling service which is of a high quality. Commissioners using the service are very positive about the services, for example, they state they have, ’Very effective working relationships with the provider’ and that communication is ‘excellent’. They also comment extremely positively about the provider’s ‘Depth of understanding about adoption’, as well as her high level of qualifications, professional competency and excellent standard of service.

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Safeguarding

The service is good at keeping children and young people safe and feeling safe.

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Safeguarding

Safeguarding all those who use this service is at the centre of the provider's practice. There are clear policies and procedures that underpin the work; however, the agency does not have a health and safety policy. The provider though does have clear expectations about managing behaviour during the sessions and service users are made aware of this at the start of the work. This ensures there is a clear understanding about expectations by the therapist and those using the service. The provider has a safeguarding policy; however it does not address the procedure for dealing with allegations of historical abuse. Nor has the policy been submitted for consideration and comment to the Local Safeguarding Children’s Board (LSCB) or the Local Authority designated Officer (LADO) for child protection. The provider works across local authorities and she is aware of how to access other local authorities procedures should there be a need to. The provider showed she has a good

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Safeguarding

awareness of how to deal with allegations although to date there have not been any made to her.

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Safeguarding

The agency has a clear complaints policy and procedures and those using the service are informed about this at the start of their involvement with the agency. Since the last inspection no complaints have been made.

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Safeguarding

The provider does her utmost to ensure service users are kept safe and at times, with the service users’ agreement, refers them on to other health professionals. Commissioners spoken with are very positive about the safeguarding ethos of the agency and they express no concerns regarding the agency's willingness to pass on any concerns.

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Leadership and management

The leadership and management of the adoption support agency are good .

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Leadership and management

The provider is a very knowledgeable and skilled professional. Her initial professional background was in the field of nursing and she is registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council. She has relevant experience of adoption, which includes being a member of an adoption panel and in this role receives regular training and updates on adoption law and current issues. She is also registered with the United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) and is a qualified psychoanalytic psychotherapist. She attends a great deal of training in order to facilitate her on-going professional development and receives external professional, clinical supervision in respect of her practice. She regularly renews her criminal record check through the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), as part of her nursing and adoption agency support registration.

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Leadership and management

The agency has a Statement of Purpose; however it does not clearly outline the aims and objectives of the agency. There is though, clear information about what the facilities and services the agency provides.

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Leadership and management

At the last inspection of the agency in May 2011, three recommendations were made. One related to the Statement of Purpose and the policies backing it, in particular those relating to safeguarding and equality and diversity, which were not in sufficient detail. The second recommendation related to completing periodic reports on service delivery to aid monitoring progress and the review of the service. The third recommendation related to reviewing the complaints' procedure to ensure that it is comprehensive and is effective in making service users aware of how to raise concerns or complaints. The provider has met the recommendation made at the last inspection. However, further work is still required in relation to the agency’s Statement of Purpose and safeguarding policy. Consequently recommendations have been made in this report regarding these matters. The complaints policy and procedures though had been very fully addressed and as a result those using the

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Leadership and management

service had received extremely good information about how to make a complaint. The provider has not received any complaints about her service and this reflects the fact that she always actively listens to those using her service and is extremely mindful about ensuring that people receive a high quality and flexible service.

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Leadership and management

The agency keeps records of the work undertaken by the agency and these are stored in a confidential and secure manner. Regular clinical supervision is undertaken of the provider by a very well qualified and experienced supervisor in psychoanalytical psychotherapy. However, the written supervision records do not always detail the date, time and length of each of the supervision sessions undertaken. Nor do they ensure the record is signed by the supervisor and the registered manager at the end of the supervision.

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Leadership and management

The provider regularly reviews the quality of the service that is provided and is keen to obtain feedback from those using the services and those that commission her service. Any information received is used to inform the development of the agency’s service. Financial reports confirm that the agency continues to be financially viable.

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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 main strengths, any areas for improvement, including any breaches of regulation, and any failure to meet national minimum standards. The judgements included in the report are made against the inspection framework and the evaluation schedule for the inspection of adoption support agencies.

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