Children's home run by Altum Residential Care Ltd

This monitoring visit

Ofsted received a complaint from young people living at the home. They had raised a number of concerns. These included:

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This monitoring visit

 Insufficient staffing in the home  High levels of agency staff who lacked the experience and skills to offer the support required to meet the young people’s individual needs (especially in regard to self-harm)  No response to complaints young people had raised with both the registered manager and the responsible individual

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This monitoring visit

An internal case discussion took place to consider the information provided. Ofsted then carried out an unannounced visit to the home on 6 December 2016.

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This monitoring visit

The inspectors found that the registered manager was no longer at the home, and were informed by the provider that she was resigning from her position. The responsible individual was overseeing the management of the home, although he was on holiday at the time of this visit. He had recruited a new manager, who was in the process of submitting her application to register with Ofsted. She was present throughout the visit, and was able to provide evidence of the actions she had started to implement to address the concerns raised.

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This monitoring visit

Since starting employment, the manager has taken action to implement a new complaints procedure. This provides young people with formal feedback throughout the complaints process. Young people confirmed that prior to the new manager starting in the home they had not had feedback from the complaints they had made. One young person said, ‘No one listens to us.’ However, the young person acknowledged that the new manager had responded to a complaint she had made in the last few days, and she was awaiting the outcome. This demonstrates that action is being taken to improve the complaints procedure, and the young people now feel that their concerns are beginning to be listened to. This will be monitored at the next inspection, to evaluate the effectiveness of the new system in place.

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This monitoring visit

The home’s rotas were reviewed at the visit, and there were a number of staff off sick as well as vacant posts. Furthermore, there were gaps in the rotas where staff had failed to complete planned shifts, which had impacted on the team’s ability to provide young people with continuity of care. As a result, young people’s care, progress and safety have been compromised. Both the new manager and the director acknowledged in discussions that staffing within the home had been difficult, with a high number of staff leaving in recent weeks. Recruitment of new staff was underway, and references and checks were awaiting completion. Not only has the manager taken action to increase the size of the team through staff recruitment, she has also requested consistent agency staff to ensure that there is always sufficient staff cover and consistency in care. Furthermore, the manager has requested a copy of all agency staff training plans to ensure that they have

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This monitoring visit

the appropriate skills to work with young people. It was recognised that this had not previously been considered, which had impacted on the welfare and support provided to young people.

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This monitoring visit

The director acknowledged the shortfalls identified, and reported that they are working to rectify these. As a result of this monitoring visit, two requirements have been issued.

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Information about this children’s home

The children’s home is owned and manged by a private company. It is registered to care for three children with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that 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

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 must ensure that:

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Requirement Due date

(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— (a) lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home's statement of purpose; (b) ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate; (e) ensure that the home's workforce provides continuity of care to each child; (h) use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. 13/01/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must establish a procedure for considering complaints made by or on behalf of children and ensure that a record is made of any complaint, the action taken in response, and the outcome of any investigation. (Regulation 39 (1)(3)) 13/01/2017 Information about this inspection

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Requirement Due date

The purpose of this visit was to monitor the action taken and progress made by the home since their last Ofsted inspection.

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Requirement Due date

This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000.

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Requirement Due date

out in 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 this guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234 or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Requirement Due date

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Requirement Due date

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Requirement Due date

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