Children's Home run by Lytham Care Limited in Knowsley

Unique reference number SC454035 Inspector Michelle Bacon Type of inspection Interim Provision subtype Children's home

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Registered manager Pamela Constance Date of last inspection 10/07/2014 2 of 6 Inspection date 05/01/2015

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Previous inspection good Enforcement action since last inspection none

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This inspection

This home was judged good at the last full inspection. At this interim inspection Ofsted judge that it has declined in effectiveness .

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This inspection

This inspection focused on the effectiveness of the home, and the progress and experiences of young people since the recent full inspection. This visit has found shortfalls in safeguarding practice and procedures that potentially impacts on the welfare and safety of young people. There has been limited progress for some young people in terms of their education and health. There has also been a significant increase in young people going missing from the home and engaging in risk taking behaviours. Consequently, one young person moved placements because the home could no longer keep them safe.

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This inspection

The home has made some progress on the previous recommendations. Educational attendance and achievement vary in relation to individual young people. Some young people successfully completed a number of national examinations in the summer and progressed onto further education. However, while others have been assisted to access alternative educational placements to suit their learning needs, their attendance still remains problematic and sporadic. As a result, the opportunity for some young people to reach their full academic potential is limited and this affects their future life chances. A recommendation to ensure young people understand the purpose and content of their plans has not been met. Young people are not asked to sign or comment on their placements plans to demonstrate they agree with and understand them. Health care plans fail to identify if pertinent health concerns such as outstanding immunisations have been fully addressed.

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This inspection

Furthermore, some young people do not engage with services that promote their psychological and emotional well-being. This has the potential to impact on their long term emotional health and resilience to manage their feelings in a productive way.

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This inspection

Following the last visit the home has implemented individual risk assessments relating to missing from home. However, these risk assessments do not detail 3 of 6 effective prevention measures where young people are at risk of sexual exploitation or persistently go missing. Risk assessments are not compiled in conjunction with the placing authority. Strategy meetings and risk management meetings have taken place for some young people but missing from home meetings have not taken place in line with agreed protocols for other young people. Furthermore, discussions between the placing authority and the home regarding the safety of young people are not recorded effectively. Therefore the safety and welfare of young people is not fully promoted and they are at risk of harm.

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This inspection

The Registered Manager has failed to implement child protection procedures effectively. She initiated disciplinary procedures following poor practice by staff without referral to the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO). A member of staff raised concerns about the manager during a disciplinary process; again this was not referred to the LADO for their consideration. The failure to follow procedure does not adequately ensure the protection of young people. On several occasions the organisation has failed to notify the regulatory body of significant incidents relating to the home to ensure appropriate action was taken to safeguard young people, for example, when police have been called to the home

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This inspection

Medication systems are unsafe. Young people have not taken their medication as prescribed by their doctor. On one occasion a member of staff has taken a young person's medication for their own use. Records and administration practice are poor. For example, on at least 3 occasions medication has been discarded because it had been dropped by staff. This does not promote the health and welfare of young people as thye do not receive the medication as prescribed

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This inspection

Young people's records do not always contain all of the required information. Placement plans, behaviour management plans, risk assessments and some key working sessions lack sufficient detail around young people's current needs. For example, records for one young person are contradictory: their placement plan states they do not have a Statement of Education Need (SEN) but their review minutes record they have. As a result, the individual needs and vulnerabilities of young people are not always well recorded or regularly reviewed.

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This inspection

The manager monitors the operation of the home. However, these quality assurance processes are not sufficiently robust, as they have failed to identify the shortfalls found during this inspection. Furthermore, no independent visits took place during September or October. This means the performance of the home has not been monitored effectively externally. The manager has not supplied the regulator with a copy of their quarterly monitoring reports since April 2014.

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This inspection

The home is unable to demonstrate a capacity for continued improvement since the last inspection. Some of the recommendations from the last inspection have not been addressed, therefore these are repeated. A number of requirements have been made as a result of this inspection. 4 of 6

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Information about this children’s home

This is a privately-owned children home that provides care and accommodation for up to five young people with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties and learning disabilities.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/07/2014 Full good 14/02/2014 Interim satisfactory progress 27/09/2013 Full adequate

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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 conducted so as to make proper provision for the care, education, supervision, support and, where appropriate, treatment, of children accommodated there (Regulation 11 (1) (b) ) * 30/01/2015

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) implement a written policy for the protection of children which provides for the prompt referral to the local authority in whose area the children’s home is situated, of any allegation of abuse or neglect affecting any child accommodated in the children’s home (Regulation 16 (1)(2)(b)) * 30/01/2015

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure where the registered person considers that a child who is accommodated in the home is, or has been, persistently absent without permission; or is at risk of harm they ask the local authority that looks after that child to review that child's care plan 02/02/2015 5 of 6 (Regulation 16(6)(a)&(b))

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure suitable arrangements for the recording, handling, safekeeping, safe administration of any medicines received into the children's home. In particular any medicine which is prescribed for a child is administered as prescribed, to the child (Regulation 21(1)&(2)(b)) * 30/01/2015

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) without delay, notify the persons indicated in column 2 any of the events listed in column 1 of the table in Schedule 5 (Regulation 30 (1)) 02/02/2015

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure visits by the independent person under paragraph (1) shall take place at least once a month and may be unannounced (Regulation 33(7)) 02/02/2015

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) establish and maintain a system for improving the quality of care provided in the children’s home and the registered person shall supply to HMCI a report in respect of any review conducted by him for the purposes of paragraph(1). (Regulation 34 (1)(b)&(2)) 02/03/2015

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Reg. Requirement Due date

*These requirements are subject to a compliance notice

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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 children's physical, emotional, sexual and social development needs are met. This is specifically in relation to; ensuring that these areas are included in the young people's health plan and that staff demonstrate how these needs are being met (NMS 6.1)  ensure children understand, within their level of understanding, the purpose and content of their plan and the reasoning behind any decisions about their care (NMS 25.1)  ensure information about a child is recorded clearly and in a way which will be helpful to the child when they access their files now or in the future. (NMS 22.5) Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Recommendations

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What inspection judgements mean

At the interim inspections we make a judgement on whether the home has improved in effectiveness, sustained effectiveness, or declined in effectiveness since the previous full inspection. This is in line with the Inspection of children’s homes: framework for inspection.

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Information 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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Information 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 framework of inspection for children's homes.

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