Children's Home run by Oakley House Children’s Home Limited in Staffordshire

This monitoring visit

This second monitoring visit is the result of raised concerns about young people’s overall experience and progress identified at a full inspection completed on 30 June 2015. Concerns included, not having consistent and stable staff team to meet young people’s diverse needs. This in turn impacted on young people’s behavioural and emotional well-being and hindered key records remaining up to date.

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This monitoring visit

Young people are beginning to receive more consistent and stable care from a small committed staff team. The appointment of permanent care staff has helped to reduce the previous high reliance on using agency workers. The new staff are beginning to build positive relationships with young people so that they can understand their diverse needs.

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This monitoring visit

The staff rota is now showing which staff are caring for the young people at any given time. However, the home has not yet implemented their workforce plan to ensure management have a good oversight on the needs of the workforce.

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This monitoring visit

The director has ensured the home’s action plan has been shared with all stakeholders. This shows work has been completed to enhance staffing and improve care practice. This has extended to bringing in new recording systems which is helping to improve the overall provision of care.

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This monitoring visit

The protection of young people remains a significant weakness. Arrangements for monitoring the welfare of young people spending time in the community or on work experience, is not sufficiently rigorous to protect them from harm. For example, follow up checks necessary to ensure adults working with a young person during work experience are suitability vetted, have not been fully completed and a record made. Welfare checks of young people spending long periods of time away from the home, fail to be robust to ensure they are fully safeguarded.

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This monitoring visit

The arrangements for the safe handling, recording and administration of medication remain poor. Ongoing errors are still going unnoticed. This includes conflicting information between records. There is also an absence of any care plan for medication that is required to be given as and when required. This leaves staff without access to key information over when a young person should take a specific medication and the required dosage.

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This monitoring visit

Monitoring of records such as physical interventions fail to pick up conflicting information. For example, the time of two restraints overlap. The methods used to avoid the need for physical intervention fails to capture actual details of what staff attempt. Risk assessments also hold conflicting information, which compromises their accuracy.

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This monitoring visit

The home’s safeguarding policy has been partially updated. This is helping to assist staff to learn about who is the home’s designated safeguarding officer. Despite the revisions made, the whistle blowing section continues to hold incorrect information. The policy on protection of children continues to also miss out details in relation to countering risks of self-harm and suicide. This hinders staff to have access to all key information that assists their safeguarding practice.

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Information about this children's home

This is a children's home for up to three young people, aged between 10 and 17 years, with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties and learning disabilities. The home is operated by a private company.

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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

In order to meet the protection of children standard the registered person must ensure

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Requirement Due date

(i) Assess whether each child is at of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

(ii) Help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

(iii) Have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm. 14/09/2015

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration of medicines received into the children home. (Regulation 23 (1)) 14/09/2015

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home a record is made which includes - details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(v)) 14/09/2015

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):  Ensure the registered person has a workforce plan which can fulfil the workforce related requirements of regulation 16, schedule 1 (paragraphs 19 and 20) The plan should: - Detail the necessary management and staffing structure, (including any staff commissioned to provide health and education), the experience and qualifications of staff currently working within the staffing structure and any further training required for those staff, to enable the delivery of the homes Statement of Purpose; Detail the processes and agreed timescales for staff to achieve induction, probation and any core training (such as safeguarding and health and safety and mandatory qualifications); Detail the process for managing and improving poor performance; Detail the process and timescales for supervision of

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Recommendations

practice (see Regulation 33 (4) (b)) and keep appropriate records for staff in the home. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 53, paragraph 10.8)

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Recommendations

 Ensure there is a contingency plan prepared in the event of a shortfall in staffing levels. If it is likely that there might only be one member of staff on duty at any time the manager should make a formal assessment of the implications for children's care, including any likely risks. This assessment should be recorded and available for inspection by Ofsted and placing authorities (10.18). (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 54, paragraph 10.18)

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Recommendations

 Ensure the home follows the managing medicines in care home (March 2014) guidelines (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 35, paragraph 7.17)

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Recommendations

 Ensure the policy on the protection of children from abuse and neglect also covers countering risks of self-harm and suicide (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 44, paragraph 9.20)

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Information about this inspection

The purpose of this visit was to monitor the action taken and the progress made by the home since their last Ofsted inspection. This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000. 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

The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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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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