Children's home run by Hampshire County Council in Winchester

Good

The children's home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 Staff are doing a lot to obtain and record children‟s and young people‟s wishes and feelings, using a number of methods including feedback forms, communication symbols, observation and consultation with others who know the children and young people well. These are used to reflect on individual experience and to identify potential improvements.  Children and young people have experiences that they may not have elsewhere. Staff are adept at widening horizons by giving young people and parents the confidence to try new things, such as a trip to the cinema. One parent commented that his daughter has the opportunity to „go out into the world and meet people‟, and that he was „over the moon with the place!‟  Targets are set for each child and young person that focus on progress in areas such as communication, making choices and daily living skills. Records show that many have improved abilities as a result.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 The manager and staff strive to liaise closely with other professionals and families. They gather information about individual children and young people and the methods of working with them elsewhere, which promotes continuity of care and the sharing of successful approaches (such as particular communication aids) across settings.  Rapport between staff and children and young people was observed to be very positive and parents are particularly appreciative of relationships forged between themselves and key workers. The mother of one young person recently wrote a card to a member of staff saying, „We are eternally grateful that our son had you as a key worker.‟  There have been no instances of children and young people going missing or receiving a sanction since the last inspection and few occasions where any child or young person has had to be physically restrained. The recording of these incidents has benefited from the introduction of a new format that

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The children's home provision is good because:

makes it easier for readers to understand what happened and to demonstrate regulation timescales have been met.  The use of skin maps to record blemishes, bruising or injury is now established practice, assisted by guidance issued by the manager. This helps to identify the sources of marks, for example, lifting harnesses or clothing that cause rashes. Any unexplained marking is followed up.

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendations:

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Recommendations

 For the children's home to be a nurturing and supportive environment it must be a homely, domestic environment, including ensuring fixtures and fittings are in good order and window restraints are unobtrusive („Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 15, paragraph 3.9).  The registered person should help each child to prepare for leaving both practically and emotionally, in particular to ensure that such work is planned and recorded („Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 57, paragraph 11.9).  The registered person must have systems in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional („Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 61, paragraph 13.2).  All children's case records must be kept up to date and signed and dated by

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Recommendations

the author of each entry („Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 62, paragraph 14.3).  The Regulation 45 report should clearly identify any actions required for the next six months of delivery within the home and how those actions will be addressed. The whole review process and the resulting report should be used as a tool for continuous improvement in the home („Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards, page 65, 15.4).

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Information about this children's home

The home is a local authority children's home that offers short break care and support for up to 13 children who have learning difficulties and/or physical disabilities. There are four beds, specifically allocated for children with complex health needs, which are funded by the local primary care trust.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

17 December 2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

5 March 2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Good

Key workers produce quarterly summary reports that pull together information about children and young people gathered over the previous three months. This includes progress towards targets, feedback from children and young people, liaison with parents and other professionals and actions taken by staff. Any incidents or concerns are also reported. The focus is on the quality of stays, illustrating the increasing emphasis being put on enhancing children‟s and young people‟s experiences while at the home. This is being promoted by the manager, but readily taken up by staff. One said that a strength of the home is that they now „understand children better and give more options. We give them room to explore and choose their own activity. We do more activities too. Can you do ice skating in wheelchairs? Yes you can!‟ Staff help children and young people to enjoy different activities, working with them and family members to feel confident about trying new experiences, for

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Good

example by ensuring that there are enough adults present to take away a child or young person who is not managing. As a result, one family now make trips to the cinema after their child was first taken to see a film while on a short break. Feedback is sought to learn how happy or otherwise children and young people are with aspects of their stay, so more can be done that they like. Often this feedback is made from observation of non-verbal communication. It is a skill, requiring an understanding of each individual and considerable concentration to do effectively. One member of staff commented, „Even if they have no speech they can tell you [what they are thinking] by eye pointing, blink [blinking] or looking away. It took years to get there but we are [there].‟ Developing communication skills has led to improved behaviour for some children and young people. One child had a history of being very challenging, including

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Good

inflicting injuries on staff members, but proficient use of signing now means that „you can say “no” to her now and she will wait more‟. Children and young people are helped to make progress through the setting of targets. Examples are „to eat with a spoon‟ and „to have 10 minutes gentle exercise‟. Not all targets are worded in a way that makes it easy to demonstrate when objectives have been met, but during the inspection it was observed that some young people have made significant, if small, advances. The home is now more than 30 years old and some parts are used for different purposes than they were originally designed for. The layout means it is difficult for wheelchair users to get about and the playroom is only accessible for those able to climb stairs. Maintenance is an ongoing issue and although some items are replaced, a limited budget does mean that some fixtures and fittings are looking worn. In addition, despite the manager‟s requests for rusty and loose window

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Good

restraints (formed by a metal bar fixed across the outside of casements) to be renovated, they remain eyesores. This detracts from the homely atmosphere that he and the staff wish to create. As a result, the recommendation that the home is in good decorative order has been repeated.

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Good

Positive relationships between children, young people and the staff working with them were observed during the inspection. There was good humour and obvious enjoyment in the interactions, with adults praising efforts and good behaviour. One young person, described as „the expert‟ in signing, could tell staff which were the right ones to use, so promoting pride in her abilities and the sense of making a contribution to the life of the home. There is a strong awareness among staff of the vulnerability of the children and young people who use short breaks, with a lot of personal care being given by different people. They give „keep safe‟ messages where possible as a result. Extensive use of skin maps is made to record any marks seen. This helps to identify the cause and time of any injury, mostly the result of accidents or such things as ill-fitting harnesses. Prompt action is then taken to rectify the situation

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Good

and make accidents less likely, for example, by ensuring a cupboard is locked so that a young person who tries to climb at every opportunity cannot use the shelves as foot holds. Training on safeguarding ensures that staff are aware of the signs of potential concerns, the importance of raising issues with appropriate people and of preventative risk assessments. Although children and young people have not gone missing from the home for a very long time, staff have a good grasp of the protocol that they are to follow should the situation arise. Not all risk assessments, consents and personal emergency evacuation plans on files are up to date or have all appropriate signatures. This is largely because circumstances of children and young people have not changed, but without regular reviews the potential for safeguarding matters to be overlooked is not guarded against. A new format for recording significant incidents has been introduced and in

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Good

following it staff give a clear account of how a physical intervention, for example, came to be used. The manager can demonstrate that regulatory timescales have been followed and writes comments about the appropriateness of actions taken or draws any learning points from it. That said, the signature of the staff member making the record is missing from some entries. Children and young people are invited to make complaints if they have concerns but they have not done so, preferring informal means of resolution. Most parents and all professionals spoken to have a high regard for the level of supervision and care offered to children and young people. One set of parents were critical, but their concerns have been appropriately followed up. Overall, the social worker in this instance and the designated officer of the local authority found no fault in how the manager has dealt with safeguarding and their involvement demonstrates that

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Good

due processes have been followed. Health and safety assessments are drawn up and monitoring arrangements are effective in ensuring that the premises and activities carried out within them are safe.

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Good

The manager has done much to address issues arising out of previous inspection reports and to improve the service. All previous requirements have been fulfilled, save that regarding the homely appearance of the home (the responsibility for some of which lies elsewhere in the authority). The manager is aware of weaknesses in the home‟s performance and is addressing them. However, aims set out in the review of quality of care reports (Regulation 45) are not specific enough to make it clear what actions are to be taken or the timescales in which they should be achieved. Developments regarding children‟s and young people‟s feedback, target setting, the use of skin maps and liaison with other professionals are becoming established practice. The full and timely recording of plans, assessments and other work still requires regular reminders, though, and file audits have not picked up late completion of some key documents.

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Good

Handover forms to help communication between day and night staff have helped to ensure that important matters, such as events to inform parents of, are passed on and followed up as necessary. The manager has made meetings about education a priority and this has resulted in some notable improvements for children and young people, including the purchase of a communication tool employed at school that one young person successfully now uses in the home. Staff make contributions to child in need meetings, but are not always given sufficient notice to be able to attend. They also make it known that they are willing to be involved in transition planning, but this is infrequently taken up. It is nevertheless important that staff record the work that they are doing in these fields. Work done to prepare young people to move on practically and emotionally from the home to adult provision was particularly notable for its absence.

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Good

The quarterly summary reports have been a useful innovation as they enable staff to regularly review progress. Currently, staff do not make the next step of drawing on this to set objectives for the next three months. Some staff employed before 1 April 2014 have not obtained their level 3 diploma qualification within the specified two years, but do fall within the exceptions provided for within regulations. Dates have been fixed for the completion of training. A newly appointed team supervisor has not received training in the supervision of staff, a shortfall that was known about. There was no plan for this to be addressed. As noted in previous reports, the future of the home awaits the outcome of a strategic review of provision by the local authority, a process that seems protracted to many members of staff who also feel that „the writing is on the wall‟. It is to the whole team‟s credit that, despite this morale, the commitment to provide as good a

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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 that 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

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

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Information about this inspection

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

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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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