Children's home run by Quarriers in Inverclyde

Requires improvement

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:

 An interim manager is covering for the registered manager who is on maternity leave. The interim manager has been in post since 15 February 2016 and has not made an application to register with Ofsted as required.  The service is providing care and accommodation for a young person with a sensory impairment. Although the home is registered to support young people with a physical disability, an additional condition of registration regarding sensory impairments is also required.  The registered manager investigated a complaint about a staff member, without recording the detail of the complaint, the investigation process and the outcome in the complaints log.  The interim manager has not submitted the most recent statement of purpose to HMCI at Ofsted.  The home is not decorated and furnished to a good standard throughout.  Young people’s care plans do not always contain the specific details about their health conditions.

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The children's home strengths

 Young people appear happy using the service. Parents and a local authority representative confirm that young people enjoy attending and make friends easily.  The consultation with young people is good. Together with the staff team’s enthusiasm, this has led to an increase in the variety of activities that the young people take part in.  The staff team has good behaviour management skills. All potentially challenging situations are identified and de-escalated quickly to ensure that young people are kept safe.  The interim manager has a good development plan for the modernisation of the building.

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that must be taken so that the registered persons meet 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 persons must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

6: The quality and purpose of care standard

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the quality and purpose of care standard, the registered person must ensure (2)(C) that the premises are designed and furnished so as to meet the needs of each child. In particular, ensure that all areas of the home are decorated and well maintained throughout. 31 July 2016

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Requirement Due date

13: The leadership and management standard

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the leadership and management standard the registered person is required to

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Requirement Due date

(2)(d) ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. In particular, ensure that staff are provided with care plans that comprehensively explain each child’s needs (including health needs) and what these needs mean in practice. 31 July 2016

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the care planning standard the registered person is required to

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Requirement Due date

(2)(a) ensure that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that they home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose.. 31 July 2016

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it and notify HMCI of any 31 July 2016 revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision (Regulation 16(3)(a)(b)).

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that a record is made of any complaint, the action taken in response, and the outcome of any investigation (Regulation 39(3)). 31 July 2016

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Requirement Due date

44: Independent person: visits and reports

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must provide a copy of the independent person’s report to HMCI (Regulation 44(7)(a)). 31 July 2016

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Information about this children's home

The service offers short breaks for up to five children and young people who have learning disabilities and/or physical disabilities with associated complex medical care needs. This service is delivered and managed by a charitable organisation that has other homes throughout England and Scotland.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

15 February 2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

5 January 2015 Interim Improved effectiveness

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Requires improvement

The home is not decorated and furnished to a good standard throughout. Some young people’s bedrooms require painting and there are tears in some carpets. Young people do not have access to a computer in their living space or are able to access the internet. Some young people use a computer in the manager’s office, but this option is not accessible for all of them. As a result, young people attend a service that is not in line with a family home environment. Young people’s care plans do not always contain the necessary information to inform staff of their health conditions. In the care plan for a young person who is visually impaired, it is not stated that he cannot see. Instead, it refers to the medical condition that he was born with. This is not explicit and relies on staff knowing the details and symptoms of the medical condition. Thus, new staff members are not provided with sufficient information about the young people

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Requires improvement

before they support them. Young people enjoy coming to the home. One young person stated that ‘it is very nice here.’ Parents report that their children love using the service and appreciate being able to mix with peers who have similar needs. Young people enjoy the sleepovers and doing something away from their family home that a parent says ‘is just for them’. Staff consult effectively with young people. They gain young people’s wishes, thoughts and feelings in relation to all aspects of their care. They are involved in choosing the decoration of the home and have a say in the day-to-day running of the home, choices relating to their food, activities, holidays, chill-out time, staffing and recruitment. Staff engage young people in evaluating their activities and how their ideas are put into practice. Young people gain new skills and life experiences because of visiting this home. Parents observe that their young people are now more independent and confident

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Requires improvement

as a result. The staff team is held in high regard by the parents and young people. Staff are enthusiastic and fun. One parent stated, ‘The staff are brilliant.’ Staff engage young people in a range of play activities, such as, singing, dancing, water play and going to the park. There has been an increase in the variety of off-site activities over the past six months. The interim manager now makes sure there are sufficient staff to drive on each shift and encourages staff members to get out more. As a result, young people have visited seaside towns, wildlife parks, farm parks and the zoo. Judgement grade

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Good

The behaviour management techniques staff use are effective. Staff know the young people well and use helpful diversionary techniques if they are becoming agitated or anxious. Staff use strategies that are individual to the young people and engage them in positive activities of their choice. Staff supervise the young people when they are together, to ensure that their actions towards others are not harmful. The interim manager’s ethos and understanding of behaviour management is excellent. She understands why positive strategies are important and says that staff are not to use sanctions on young people, ‘because they come here to have a good time, not to be punished.’ The interim manager recognises the reasons why young people may behave in a way that challenges and seeks to support them with this. The interim manager and the staff team create such a positive environment for the young people that there has been no restraint used since the

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Good

previous inspection and no young people have gone missing from their care. The interim manager immediately shares child protection concerns with the placing authority. Staff taken appropriate action to protect young people. The interim manager accesses a family interventions service to ensure that young people who may be at risk have a designated safe person to talk with. Staff ensure that they have the parents’ consent for visual monitors, which are used in the bedrooms of young people with specific health needs. For young people with epilepsy, there are protocols directing staff how to respond safely to a seizure. Staff follow a personal care policy, which ensures that the young people are supported safely, respectfully and with regard for their dignity and privacy. The interim manager does not use agency staff, and ensures that the recruitment checks for new staff employed by the company are thorough. This means that

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Good

young people are familiar with the staff team that supports them, and that all staff are vetted before working alongside vulnerable young people.

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Requires improvement

The registered manager is on maternity leave. The appointed interim manager has been in post since 15 February 2016. The interim manager has notified Ofsted that the registered manager will be away from work for more than 28 days. However, she has not applied to register with Ofsted, which means that there is an unregistered person in day-to-day charge of the home. The registered manager looked into a complaint about a staff member’s practice. She did not record her investigation into the complaint or the outcome. This approach does not ensure that the investigation was transparent and fair or detail how the outcome was reached. In addition, this does not allow for any learning from the event or for the initial remarks to be resolved. The home is operating outside of its conditions of registration. It is providing care and accommodation for a young person with a sensory impairment. While the young person’s needs are met, the home is required to be registered for

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Requires improvement

supporting these specific needs. The interim manager has not sent the most recent statement of purpose to HMCI at Ofsted or ensured that the last two independent visitor reports are submitted to Ofsted as required. The interim manager is not sufficiently supported to ensure that all the necessary regulatory tasks are completed. The home has a block tender with one local authority to provide 80% of its capacity for young people from that authority. Feedback from the commissioner of the local authority is positive. She comments that social workers feel ‘confident’ and ‘reassured’ about young people using the service. The commissioner reports that there is a waiting list for young people and families wanting to use the service. She states that her response from families is positive and that they have a strong connection to the service. The interim manager and the responsible individual have good communication with

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Requires improvement

the local authority. The commissioner agrees with this and feels that there is good dialogue between them and that any concerns raised are promptly acted upon. The interim manager makes robust decisions to ensure that young people’s needs are compatible. This approach ensures that the activities and opportunities on offer are suitable for all young people that day. The interim manager has made positive changes and brought new ideas to the service. The interim manager has a child- centred approach and responds well to the young people’s needs. She role models how to enthuse the young people and is always keen to sing their favourite tunes with them. The interim manager and the responsible individual have a good development plan to improve the quality of the premises. Decoration is ongoing, and the games room is being transformed into a sensory room with new equipment. Young people’s ideas are included in the decisions about the changes to the premises.

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Requires improvement

There are effective relationships with parents. They feel confident leaving their children for stays and they understand what the service offers. Staff are accessible and keep parents informed about their children’s visits. Staff receive regular professional supervision and thorough training to fulfil their roles properly. New staff undertake an induction course that includes observations of their work by senior staff to ensure that they are competent at dispensing medication and administering personal care to the young people. There are sufficient numbers of staff on duty to meet the needs of the young people as well as the contractual obligations of the local authority. There were three recommendations made at the last inspection. The interim manager has addressed two. She ensures that two staff now always sign the medication records and has removed unnecessary institutional features of the home. A further recommendation, to improve the recording of restraint, cannot be

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Requires improvement

evidenced, as there have been no restraints.

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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 children looked after 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 that 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 whom 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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