Children's Home run by Doncaster Children‟s Services Trust Limited in Doncaster

Inspection date 04/08/2015

Previous inspection judgement Improved effectiveness

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home are

The children's home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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The children's home provision requires improvement because:

 Opportunities for young people to engage in a range of interesting and meaningful activities is limited  Monitoring does not take into account the views of others and is not effective in driving forward improvement  Procedures for logging in medication are not always followed  The home’s Statement of Purpose does not meet with new requirements

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The children's home strengths

 Children and young people the receive care that successfully and consistently meets their complex health needs  Partnership working with parents and other professionals is a notable area of good practice  Children and young people are safe at the home. The opportunities for them to go missing are minimal as they are well supervised both within and outside of the home

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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 (England) Regulations 2015 and the Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards. The registered person(s) must comply with the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must compile in relation to the children’s home a statement (“the statement of purpose”) which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1. (Regulation 16 (1)) 04/09/2015

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home. (2) In particular the registered person must ensure that— (c) a record is kept of the administration of medicine to each child.(Regulation 23 (1) & (2) (c)) 04/09/2015

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children’s home at least once each month. (4) The independent person must produce a report about a visit (“the independent person’s report”) which sets out, in particular, the independent person’s opinion as to whether— (a) children are effectively safeguarded; and (b) the conduct of the home promotes children’s well-being. (7) The independent person must provide a copy of the independent person’s report to— (a) HMCI. (Regulation 44 (1) (4) (a) (b) & (7) (a)) 04/09/2015

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months (2) In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating— (a) the quality of care provided for children; (b) the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and (c) any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children. 04/09/2015 (5) The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (1) (2) (a)(b)(c) & (5))

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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

 The information set out in the Statement of Purpose is an essential part of the process of agreement between the registered person and placing authority that a placement in that home is the right one for that child, and that the home will be able to respond effectively to the child’s assessed needs (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 15, paragraph 3.6). This is with specific reference to ensuring the content of the Statement of Purpose accurately reflects the services offered.  For children’s homes to be nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of their children, they will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 15, paragraph 3.9). This is with specific reference to ensuring the home has a less institutionalised appearance and improvements are completed in a timely fashion.  Short break settings have an important role to play in extending and

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Recommendations

increasing the opportunities available to children to share, socialise with others and choose activities alongside their peers (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 40, paragraph 8.21). This is with specific reference to improving shift planning and extending the amount and range of activities available for children and young people.  The registered person should have a system in place so that all serious events are notified, within 24 hours, to the appropriate people. The system should cover the action that should be followed if the event arises at the weekend or on a public holiday. Notification must include details of the action taken by the home’s staff in response to the event. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 63, paragraph 14.13)

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Information about this children's home

This is a local authority children’s home that provides short breaks for up to 10 children who have physical and/or learning disabilities.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

11/03/2015 Interim Improved Effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

10/01/2014 Interim Satisfactory Progress

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people living in the home

The majority of children and young people enjoy coming to the home. Games and toys are provided for younger children and they have access to outdoor play equipment. Older teenagers have raised concerns about the lack of opportunity to participate in different activities on their short breaks. Staff are not pro-active in planning shifts to accommodate young people’s preferences or in offering a range of alternative choices. This limits the opportunities for young people to extend their social horizons; for instance by engaging in recreational, leisure and cultural activities in the local community.

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people living in the home

The complex health needs of children and young people are very well understood by staff; they are very sensitive to changes in behaviour that may indicate a change in their health. Partnership working with health professionals is particularly effective.

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people living in the home

The attention to the sometimes complicated prescribed medication regimes to maintain children and young people’s health and well-being is generally good. The supply and dispensing of non-prescribed medication is not always logged in as required. This could cause confusion and potentially put young people’s health at risk.

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people living in the home

The home is clean and safe but has an institutionalised feel in places. For example, there are few pictures on the walls and none of these provide positive images of disability. There is often delay in effecting improvements to the home, for instance in providing further appropriate sensory decorations and to the garden area in front of the property.

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people living in the home

Staff provide good support to children and young people with their education. There is good communication and liaison with the specialist schools and colleges. A positive area of development is the sharing of practice with colleagues in education to provide children and young people with greater continuity of care.

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people living in the home

There is careful planning for those who are using the service for the first time. Consideration is given to the mix of children and young people visiting on any particular day. This ensures that staff can meet the complex needs of each individual and spend individual time with them.

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people living in the home

The home is very spacious and comfortably furnished. Bedrooms are personalised in consultation with children and young people. Specialist equipment such as overhead hoists help staff to move and handle children and young people safely.

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people living in the home

Children and young people benefit from the long-term arrangement of their short breaks. This means staff know them and their families very well. Staff are diligent at observing children and young people’s appearance and are quick to provide reassurance, care and comfort. Parents feel that their children are very well looked after and are pleased with the service they get. They feel that this service is an important ‘life-line’ and say that the support of staff is ‘excellent.’

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people are helped and protected

Parents say that they trust staff and feel that their children are safe during their short breaks at the home. They are protected by high levels of supervision and surveillance. This means they do not have the opportunity to put themselves at risk through running away.

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people are helped and protected

The quality of relationships between staff and children and young people is a strength of the short break service. Children and young people are clearly very fond of staff, particularly their key workers who know their personalities, preferences and needs very well. It is apparent that children who have limited verbal communication also feel confident in their relationships with staff.

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people are helped and protected

Children and young people respond positively to the nurturing and caring approach from staff. Behaviour management strategies are successful. They take into account the difficulties that children and young people sometimes have in processing information and the frustration that can cause.

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people are helped and protected

The manager ensures children and young people are protected by appropriate vetting and checks on new employees. In addition that the home provides a safe and secure space for children and young people to enjoy their time here.

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leaders and managers

The Registered Manager holds the Diploma Level 5 in leadership and management. She has managed this home for 8 years. The home’s Statement of Purpose is not compliant with the regulations and in part refers to another children’s home. To a large extent this is a generic document. The content does not entirely relate to the service it provides for children with disabilities. This means that the home cannot be fully held to account for the service it delivers.

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leaders and managers

The manager’s monitoring processes do not effectively contribute to improving the quality of care provided for children and young people. The manager knows that parents are happy with the service their children receive. Feedback from professionals is more mixed and young people have made their opinions clear.

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leaders and managers

There is no systematic evaluation of this spectrum of views and the impact of the service on young people’s progress and experiences. This is further hindered by a lack of clear, measurable and achievable planning goals.

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leaders and managers

These shortfalls do not have a significant impact on the safety and welfare of children and young people. They spend the overwhelming majority of their time being cared for by their parents. The lack of robust quality assurance procedures means that it is not apparent how the manager drives forward continual improvement. Emerging patterns and trends may also be missed, as well as the opportunity to reflect on areas of success.

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leaders and managers

The independent visitor provides a good level of scrutiny of the home and consults with parents. The visitor’s report is not compliant with the regulations in terms of confirming the effectiveness of safeguarding and promotion of welfare. Reports are not always sent to Ofsted in a timely manner. This is a requirement set at the last inspection that has not been met.

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leaders and managers

There are few notifiable incidents, but when these occur the provider does not always ensure that they are sent to Ofsted ‘without delay’. This prevents the regulator from taking prompt action should the need arise.

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leaders and managers

Children and young people benefit from a staff team that has worked together for many years. They are very knowledgeable about the complex needs of the children and young people they look after. This provides continuity of care and consistency in practice. Staff say they are very well supported in their work and have appropriate training opportunities to enhance their skills.

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What the inspection judgements mean

The experiences and progress of children and young people are at the centre of the inspection. Inspectors will use their professional judgement to determine the weight and significance of their findings in this respect. The judgements included in the report are made against Inspection of children's homes: framework for inspection.

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What the inspection judgements mean

An outstanding children's home provides highly effective services that contribute to significantly improved outcomes for children and young people who need help and protection and care. Their progress exceeds expectations and is sustained over time. A good children's home provides effective services that help, protect and care for children and young people and have their welfare safeguarded and promoted. In a children's home that requires improvement , there are no widespread or serious failures that create or leave children being harmed or at risk of harm. The welfare of looked after children is safeguarded and promoted. Minimum requirements are in place, however, the children's home is not yet delivering good protection, help and care for children and young people. A children's home that is inadequate is providing services where there are widespread or serious failures that create or leave children and young people being

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What the inspection judgements mean

harmed or at risk of harm or result in children looked after not having their welfare safeguarded and promoted.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people living in the children's home. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the difference adults make to the lives of children and young people. They read case files, watched how professional staff work with children, young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care given to children and young people. Wherever possible, they talked to children, young people and their families. In addition the inspectors have tried to understand what the children's home knows about how well it is performing, how well it is doing and what difference it is making for the children and young people who it is trying to help, protect and look after. This 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 Children's

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Information about this inspection

Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards. the guidance raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted, which is available from Ofsted's website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Information about this inspection

achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, workbased learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It inspects services for looked after children and child protection. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team,

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Information about this inspection

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Information about this inspection

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Information about this inspection

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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