Children's home run by Oldham Children’s Social Care in Oldham

home are

There are serious and/or widespread failures that mean that children and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded and their care and experiences are poor and they aer not making progress.

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The children's home provision is inadequate because:

 Children are not adequately safeguarded. Disclosures are not identified as safeguarding concerns and appropriate child protection procedures are not followed by the manager to refer to the statutory agencies and placing authority.

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The children's home provision is inadequate because:

 Care plans and risk assessments remain incomplete for a significant number of children and have not been reviewed to ensure that individual needs are met. Staff do not have up-to-date information to guide their practice and to keep children safe.

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The children's home provision is inadequate because:

 The registered manager does not effectively review and analyse significant events, including physical interventions, to ensure that safe and appropriate action is proportionate and necessary. This means information is lost which could improve the quality of care.

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The children's home provision is inadequate because:

 External monitoring by an independent visitor is not used effectively. Five out of six requirements from the interim inspection by Ofsted have not been fully met. Therefore the manager does not respond to identified shortfalls in a timely manner to make improvements to the quality of care in the home.

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The children's home provision is inadequate because:

 Children‘s health is not always safeguarded to ensure appropriate medical attention is sought. Occupational therapy assessments have not been commissioned to ensure children access safe equipment.

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The children's home provision is inadequate because:

 Planning for new admissions remains weak. There is a reliance on verbal rather than written information to inform care provided and compatibility of children.

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The children's home provision is inadequate because:

 The home has no missing child policy in place. This means staff have no formal guidance to follow if a child goes missing from the home or in the community.

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The children's home provision is inadequate because:

 Supervision is not used effectively to monitor performance of staff to ensure they are contributing equally to the work of the team in caring for young people.

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The children's home provision is inadequate because:

 Children do not experience personalised activities to promote their individual development.  The home does not consider the communication needs of children whose first language is not English, or are non-verbal. This means that children may not understand or be able to communicate their wishes and feelings. 

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The children's home strengths

 Feedback from some professionals and parents is generally positive. Parents are happy with the service that their children receive. They believe communication is good with the home and their children enjoy attending their short breaks.

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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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18: Placement plan for a child who is not looked after

(1)This regulation applies to a child who is not looked after by a local authority. (4) The registered person must prepare a placement plan for the child before the child is admitted to the home or, if that is not reasonably practicable, as soon as possible after the child is admitted to the home. (5) The placement plan must set out, in particular (a) how, on a day-to-day basis, the child will be cared for, and the child‘s welfare safeguarding and promoted by the home; and (b) the arrangements made for the child‘s care, education and health.

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18: Placement plan for a child who is not looked after

This is with particular regard to ensuring that all care plans share a common format and that the plans are regularly reviewed. 16/12/2016

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20: Restraint and deprivation of liberty

(2) restraint in relation to a child must be necessary and proportionate

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20: Restraint and deprivation of liberty

This is with particular regard to appropriate recording, analysis and reporting of incidents of the use of restraint to determine whether its use is necessary and proportionate. 16/12/2016

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9: The enjoyment and achievement standard

(1)The enjoyment and achievement standard is that children take part in and benefit from a variety of activities that meet their needs and develop and reflect their creative, cultural, intellectual, physical and social interests and skills. (2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure (a) That staff help each child to (i) Develop the child‘s interests and hobbies; and (ii) Participate in activities that the child enjoys and which meet and expand the child‘s interests and preferences 16/12/2016

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34 Policies for the protection of children

(1) The registered manager must prepare and implement a policy which- (a) is intended to safeguard children accommodated in the home from abuse or neglect; and (b) sets out the procedure to be followed in the event of an allegation of abuse or neglect (2) The procedure to be followed in the event of an allegation of abuse or neglect must, in particular- (b) provide for the prompt referral of an allegation about current or ongoing abuse or neglect in relation to a child to the placing authority and, if different, the local authority in whose area the home is located; (d) provide for records to be kept of an allegation of abuse or neglect, and the action taken in response

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34 Policies for the protection of children

This is in particular regard to the procedure to be followed in the event of an allegation being made by a child, and the timely notification of any referral and recording of the allegation and action taken.

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34 Policies for the protection of children

(4) The registered person must prepare and implement a policy (―the missing child policy‖) setting out – (a) the steps taken, and to be taken, to prevent children from being absent without permission; and (b) the procedures to be followed, and the roles and responsibilities of persons working at the home, in relation to a child who is, or has been, so absent.

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34 Policies for the protection of children

This is in particular regard to a policy being prepared and implemented specifically for the home, which takes into account the additional needs of the children for whom accommodation is provided, and the procedures to be followed by staff. 16/12/2016

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10 The health and well-being standard

(1) The health and well-being standard is that – (a) the health and well-being needs of children are met (b) children receive advice services and support in relation to their health and well-being.

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10 The health and well-being standard

This is in particular regard to seeking advice following accidents and injuries where a prompt response is necessary and recording following such accidents. 16/12/2016

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13 The leadership and management standard *

13.—(1) The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children‘s home that— (a) helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and (b) promotes their welfare. (2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— (f) understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experience of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home (h) use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. 16/12/2016

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14 The care planning standard *

14. —(1) The care planning standard is that children —

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14 The care planning standard *

(a) receive effectively planned care in or through the children‘s home; and (2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure- (b) that arrangements are in place to- (i) ensure the effective induction of each child into the home; (ii) manage and review the placement of each child in the home and (iii) plan for, and help, each child to prepare to leave the home or to move into adult care in a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with the child‘s placing authority. 16/12/2016

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12 The protection of children standard *

12.—(1) the protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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12 The protection of children standard *

(2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— (a) that staff—

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12 The protection of children standard *

(i) assess whether each child is at risk 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; 16/12/2016 (vi) take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child‘s welfare; and (vii) are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home‘s child protection policies

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12 The protection of children standard *

(d) that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child‘s health

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Recommendations

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

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Recommendations

 Records must be kept of the administration of all medication. This is in particular relation to the disposal of spoiled medication. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 35 7.15).

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Information about this children's home

The home is registered to provide short breaks for up to seven children and young people who may have physical disabilities, learning disabilities or sensory impairment. It is a local authority children‘s home.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 30/08/2016 Interim Declined in effectiveness 01/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 11/08/2015 Full Good 27/02/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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people living in the home are

There are continued shortfalls within care planning in the home, despite a requirement at the last full inspection, which was repeated again at the interim inspection, records remain inconsistent. Whilst some progress has been made, approximately 25% of care plans have not been transferred to the home‘s preferred format and remain out of date. Staff rely on parents to provide information for the care plan, without accounting for the needs of parents whose first language is not English. Up-to-date multi-agency assessments and plans, such as Education, Health and Care Plans are not obtained to support the completion of the home‘s care plans. Staff are able to meet the basic care of children but do not have access to information to understand their holistic needs to fully support their communication, development and progress. Other records, including daily contact sheets, continue to vary in quality, some contain judgemental opinion and

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people living in the home are

information included is not collated to inform progress. This impacts on the ability of the home to monitor and demonstrate progress made by children and young people to reach their full developmental potential.

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people living in the home are

There is a lack of forward planning for young people using the service, which means suitable experiences for children and young people that are individualised and take into account differing needs, are not identified and provided. Activities are planned on an ad-hoc basis during the shift handover. Only three members of staff are trained to drive the home‘s minibus, restricting opportunities to engage in activities elsewhere. Children were observed to be catered for as one group despite 1:1 staffing. Staff do not take opportunities to plan individual activities that might help them better understand children‘s needs and develop their strengths or consult with children about preferences for activities. One child was taken to a local park during the morning and taken to another park in the afternoon as a group activity, thus restricting his range of experiences. Staff do not demonstrate knowledge of individual communication needs of young people and use spoken

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people living in the home are

English and prompts such as pointing. This limits the level and range of engagement for children to benefit from a professional service designed to offer opportunities they might not experience at home.

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people living in the home are

Children, including those who cannot communicate verbally, are not actively participating in day-to-day decisions or encouraged to contribute to their care plans and record their views. Visits by the Children‘s Society to help capture their views have only recently been reinstated after ‗lapsing‘ for some time. An updated children‘s guide DVD has not been completed and therefore children and young people have little access to information in alternative forms before their first visit. Parents spoke positively of the home. One parent said her child looks forward and is excited to going to ‗the hotel‘, and that staff tell her everything. He is happy, therefore she is happy. Her only concern was that the medication procedure was too strict, especially given any changes. Another parent said that staff look after him and that this gives ‗peace of mind‘. It was a shock when her child went missing from the home, but attending a meeting reassured her that changes had been

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people living in the home are

made to make the home safer. She described the home as ‗a really great place‘ ‗bright and cheerful‘ and that ‗everybody was helpful and good‘ with her child. New systems were introduced to improve communication with parents and professionals, but do not always record that outcomes have been achieved. Overreliance on verbal transmission of information persists and written records lack detail to assure the reader that parents are fully informed about their child‘s care. In one case, records do not state whether the parent was informed of the use of restraint.

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people living in the home are

New transition plan templates have been introduced and completed for 27 young people. Whilst these contain basic information, they do not outline how the home is supporting young people‘s transition to adult services. Progress has been hampered to some extent by vacancies in social work transitions teams, which have recently been filled. The home does not use its knowledge of young people who have accessed the service for a number of years to understand their wishes and feelings and development of skills as they move towards adulthood.

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people living in the home are

Planning for new admissions remains weak. Although records track dates of visits and receipt of care plans, there is little qualitative information recorded from introductory visits. Staff continue to rely on verbal information to understand and meet children‘s care needs. Matching with other children is still based on verbal understanding rather than through formal impact assessments. One child who has recently started to access short breaks has an incomplete care plan. Staff had no knowledge of assessments of how well he understood English or support he had at school, presuming his English was ‗good enough‘ as he had attended school for some years. Staff had not considered whether a translator service would have been beneficial to gain information from his parent to ensure a clear understanding of his care needs. The home therefore fails to complete robust pre-admission assessments to ensure the service can meet children‘s needs and that children are

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people are helped and protected

Inadequate Risk assessment and management in the home is very weak. Risk assessments in the home‘s preferred new format for the home are incomplete for 39% of children and young people, according to internal monitoring. This means staff do not have access to consistently written assessments which identify and provide guidance to reduce risks. Managers state that risk assessments are written in response to events rather than proactively identifying potential risks. The assessment for one child, who has previously left the home unsupervised, highlights the need for close supervision. It does not identify clear actions to take if he does leave staff supervision. Lack of robust risk assessments, alongside incomplete care plans, means that children are not always kept safe.

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people are helped and protected

One child‘s daily contact sheets indicate that since January 2016 she has been checked on hourly during the night. Her care plan, in the new format, clearly states that due to the risk of seizure, she should be checked at thirty minute intervals. Four members of night staff were unaware of this when questioned by the registered manager. Therefore her care plan is not robustly followed to ensure her safety at night.

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people are helped and protected

Allegations made by children are not handled in accordance with statutory guidance. On one occasion, there is clear evidence that the home failed to act appropriately to ensure a child‘s safety and welfare or to report to appropriate external agencies following a disclosure. The manager had failed to develop lines of enquiry to investigate contributory factors or to identify improvements in practice. This means the home has failed to ensure that the child can further use the service safely.

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people are helped and protected

An electronic safeguarding log was introduced in September 2016 for staff to notify managers of any concerns. However, it does not consistently demonstrate that managers share information with parents or professionals or record actions and outcomes. Some entries effectively record observations by staff and responses to ensure child protection procedures are followed, but lack managerial oversight. This indicates that children‘s welfare is not adequately tracked or monitored.

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people are helped and protected

The home does not have a ‗missing child policy‘ specific to a service for children with complex needs. Incidents of children going missing from the home are rare, however staff have no formal and clear process to follow. Although individual members of staff can articulate an appropriate course of action, procedures need to be clear and accessible for the whole team, particularly for new members of staff. Parents can provide written consent to allow staff to prevent their child from leaving the home without authorisation and to return them to the home if they leave. However, these consent forms are not stored in an easily accessible system, meaning not all staff know about or can implement the agreed procedures.

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people are helped and protected

The use of physical restraint within the home is minimal. However, on one occasion, restraint of a young person has been used which is poorly recorded, does not record discussions with the child afterwards or debrief staff involved. The recording and lack of review of the incident, means the reader cannot determine whether the physical restraint was necessary or proportionate. The placement was ended following the incident and there is no managerial assessment of the decision to ensure it was taken in the best interests of the child or others.

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people are helped and protected

Accidents are not consistently recorded. For example, when a child‘s tooth was damaged after being hit in the face by a cricket ball, staff did not seek immediate professional medical advice. The child was later taken to hospital following a seizure. The home‘s inaction fails to ensure young people‘s health is protected following an injury. Another child has fallen out of bed, and while school and parents were told, there is no record of the social worker being informed or consideration of an occupational therapy assessment to ensure the bed is safe for this child. Occupational therapy assessments remain outstanding for other children, preventing them from accessing the service they are assessed to need.

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people are helped and protected

Staff do not take immediate action to address shortfalls in clinical waste disposal and do not follow procedures to dispose of items such as continence pads correctly. Open and unlabelled containers of non-prescribed creams, toiletries and used toothbrushes are kept in bathrooms. Therefore children are at risk of cross- infection and have access to human waste material which is unacceptable.

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people are helped and protected

Practice regarding the safe storage and administration of controlled drugs has improved. However, staff knowledge and practice of how to record and dispose of spoilt medication is not consistent and improvements in recording would help staff learn from any incidents and improve audit.

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leaders and managers

The registered manager is suitably qualified and experienced and holds a Diploma in Social Work. He has been registered with Ofsted since March 2007 and was registered before then with the previous inspectorate. He is supported adequately by two deputy managers.

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leaders and managers

The staff team comprise two services which merged in December 2015. New staff are currently being recruited to fill vacant posts. The team is not yet a cohesive unit, which managers believe is due partly to insufficient planning and team development prior to the services being merged. A new rolling rota has recently been introduced to promote consistency and relationships between staff who previously may not have worked together, and team meetings are now held fortnightly to improve communication. Some staff find this helpful, however managers consider that morale has remained impacted upon by differences in practice and performance. One member of staff has not completed mandatory training within timescales, which means they have missed out on essential instruction.

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leaders and managers

Target dates are not set in supervision to enable managers to address performance issues effectively. Alternative arrangements to cover supervisor sick leave were not made to ensure one member of staff received supervision within policy guidance, resulting in a lack of oversight of performance. Some staff have raised concerns regarding practice and recording with managers, but are not confident that these have been addressed.

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leaders and managers

Relationships are being built with social workers, schools and parents whose children have not previously used the home, and relationships with the local authority who manage the home are maintained. Keyworkers inform parents of the children‘s experiences and feedback from parents is generally positive. Outreach workers for one child state that he enjoys his stays, sleeps well and is keen to come. They identify that transportation and the medication policy can present difficulties but this has been managed between the outreach service and the home.

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leaders and managers

Shortfalls in managerial oversight of day-to-day practice and specific incidents continues, despite assurances at the last interim inspection that managers would review daily contact sheets to quality assure and monitor events. The registered manager has failed to report significant incidents to relevant professionals as a result. This means that there is no regular review to ensure necessary action is taken to protect and keep children safe.

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leaders and managers

The manager has failed to fully address all but one of the previous requirements made at the interim inspection. This has had a continuing impact on the delivery of the service and outcomes for children and young people. An acting senior residential manager was appointed in September 2016 and meets weekly with the registered manager to develop a task-focussed plan to accelerate changes required. Whilst this is work in progress, the senior manager has not always ensured that actions agreed have been implemented.

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leaders and managers

External monitoring visits have recommended a number of actions to be taken to address shortfalls within the home over at least three consecutive months which the registered manager has failed to address. These include completion of care plans, risk assessments, and personal emergency evacuations plans. The manager is not responding to recommendations to demonstrate he uses such monitoring effectively to improve the home. This means that children are not cared for safely and their welfare and progress is not suitably promoted.

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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

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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