Children's Home run by Pathway Care Solutions Ltd in Nottinghamshire

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 and young people enjoy excellent relationships, and this helps young people to engage in activities and develop confidence.  There continues to be a reduction in risk-taking behaviour, such as self-harm, and young people do not go missing from the home. Young people can easily identify the progress they make in keeping themselves safe.  Staff work very well as a team and feel supported by the manager and their colleagues.  The views of others regarding the care and wellbeing of young people are extremely positive.  Despite excellent progress made by young people, there are shortfalls in other areas that mean some young people’s experiences are not as positive as they should be. This is in relation to the use of restraints.  Two requirements are made in relation to restraint and six recommendations reflect the need for improvements in recording in a number of areas and in the provision of more training.

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Statutory requirements

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

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Requirement Due date

No measure of control or discipline which is excessive, unreasonable, or contrary to paragraph (2) may be used in relation to any child. (Regulation 19 (1)) 17/02/2017

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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 a description of the measure and its duration; the name of the person who used the measure (‘the user’), and of any other person present when the measure was used. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(iv)(vi)) 17/02/2017

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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

 Progress in education can be measured and evidenced in various ways. This relates to staff recording the learning opportunities and progress outside of formal education. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 26, paragraph 5.2)

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Recommendations

 Staff should continually and actively assess the risks to each child. This is in relation to keeping risk assessments up to date and detailing strategies to manage and reduce the risks. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that skills in safeguarding are gained, refreshed and recorded in the homes workforce plan. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.12)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that all incidents of control, discipline and restraint are subject to systems of regular scrutiny to ensure that their use is fair. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.36)

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Recommendations

 Records of restraint must be kept and should enable the registered person and staff to review the use of control, discipline and restraint to identify effective practice. This is in relation to all staff learning from incidents and improving team practice. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.59)

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Recommendations

 All children's case records must be kept up to date and signed and dated by the author of each entry. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3)

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Information about this children's home

This home provides placements for up to five young people who have learning disabilities. The home is owned and managed by a private company.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 02/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 02/12/2015 Full Outstanding 11/03/2015 Interim Improved effectiveness 15/10/2014 Full Outstanding

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Good

Young people undoubtedly make excellent progress in many areas of their lives, including their education, health, participation in activities, their growth in confidence and contact with family. This progress is undermined by shortfalls in other areas, particularly in relation to the use of restraint, which impacts on young people’s overall experiences, resulting in a judgement of good.

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Good

The majority of young people engage in full-time education, achieving to a high standard and sometimes achieving qualifications a year early. Some young people receive bespoke packages of learning, ensuring that their individual needs are met. Staff liaise effectively with providers to ensure minimal changes to timetables, as this impacts on young people’s routines. The use of a home diary and a school diary ensures consistency in approach to homework, and highlights any behaviour concerns in school. Young people take part in a range of after school activities including sport, drama, and singing. This enhances their social skills and increases their confidence.

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Good

Young people take part in a vast range of activities such as going to the cinema, swimming, accessing the gym, going to a fair, trips to London and going on holiday. Their fears and anxieties are eased by staff who work hard to ensure that they gain confidence in their own abilities, making activities more accessible and enjoyable. Young people and staff take part in community and charitable events such as coffee mornings for cancer charities and doing a sponsored walk for raising awareness of autism. This helps young people engage with the wider community, strengthening their social skills.

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Good

Young people make significant progress in their health with many losing weight as they learn to eat healthy, balanced meals and take regular exercise. Staff identify links between medication and behaviours, and work closely with medical professionals to ensure that medication dosages effectively support young people. Many young people have reduced or ceased medication as a result.

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Good

Contact for some young people has massively improved, and staff and families enjoy very positive relationships that support parents and enable consistency in the provision of care.

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Good

Growth in confidence and increased social skills mean that some young people can now access the local shops independently and have access to a personal mobile phone. All young people take part in activities to increase their skills for independence such as preparing food, going shopping, doing the laundry and cleaning their rooms. This prepares them for transition to independence or adult care. Staff plan transitions well, ensuring that all necessary information is available for the young person and parents, helping the move to be as smooth as possible.

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Good

Young people and staff enjoy very positive relationships and this helps young people to engage in activities and develop confidence. Staff are rightly proud of the young people’s achievements. Young people play an active role in their care and in the running of the home. They willingly participate in resident meetings, key work sessions and their reviews. Skills in communication have improved so much for one young person that he is now clearly able to demonstrate his views and make choices.

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Good

The home provides a number of large open spaces, encouraging social interaction while also offering space for young people to be on their own if they choose. Bedrooms have been highly personalised. Large canvas prints of the young people and displays of their work provide a very homely feel. Maintenance is ongoing, with staff regularly reporting concerns to be rectified.

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Good

Care plans provide clear guidance for staff on how to care for young people, their likes and dislikes, and routines. Key work is used effectively to engage young people in reaching their targets. Achievement files contain a wealth of photographs and certificates but it is unclear how these identify the progress made. Tracking files show some progress from starting points and provide a clearer picture of the journey for some young people, but not all of these are up to date. In addition, daily reports often report no achievement in education at weekends or outside of school hours when it is clear the home provides a wealth of learning opportunities outside of the formal education environment. Recommendations are made to ensure that all records are kept up to date, thereby providing accurate information for young people.

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Good

There continues to be a significant reduction in risk taking behaviour, such as self- harm, and young people do not go missing from the home. Young people can easily identify the progress they make in keeping themselves safe. One young person urged the inspector to record the following statement: ‘I am not the same young person I was. They have turned me around for the better. I was in a really dark place, self-harming, suicidal. They have saved my life.’

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Good

Staff clearly understand the process to follow in the event of a young person going missing. Detailed protocols and procedures provide a framework for recording and reporting absence incidents.

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Good

The home is clean and kept safe and appropriately secure. Regular fire, maintenance and health and safety checks ensure that the home remains so. Regular fire drills mean that young people and staff know what to do in the event of a fire. Young people also participate in their own workshops as well as in staff workshops on fire safety, increasing their knowledge of how to keep safe.

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Good

Staff benefit from a wide range of training opportunities including safeguarding, radicalisation, female genital mutilation and sexual exploitation. The majority of staff have undertaken all training, but two require a refresher course in safeguarding for which an application has been made by the manager. Some gaps in training in understanding the risks of extremism and radicalisation were also identified. The manager is reviewing other options such as online courses to rectify this. A recommendation is made to ensure that all staff receive up-to-date training in matters related to the safety of young people.

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Good

Management of risk is generally good, ensuring that young people stay safe while still enjoying a range of activities that give them the freedom to develop as individuals. Detailed assessment of the risk of bullying in relation to young people who have learning disabilities ensures that risk is minimised and young people continue to have positive relationships with each other. Some minor shortfalls were identified in the recording of two risk assessments and a recommendation is made to ensure that all risk assessments provide clarity as to how to manage and reduce the risk and that they are kept up to date.

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Good

Positive behaviour is encouraged using a rewards system. The use of sanctions is reducing as staff look at more restorative practice. The use of physical intervention is also reducing. In many cases, this is because staff are utilising different strategies which effectively manage behaviour before requiring physical intervention. This is not the case in all incidents. Some incident records indicate that staff were swift to use interventions, and in some cases floor restraints, when it is not clear why any intervention was required. A number of records lack details of who was involved in which aspect of the restraint. Where several holds are used in one incident, it is difficult to identify timings, staff involvement and the reason for different holds. Holds appear to escalate for no clear reason in a few incidents. The manager has reviewed all incidents and it is a concern that these shortfalls have not been identified during this review. Staff usually debrief with the manager

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Good

following an incident but this is not always recorded or disseminated across the team for wider learning and improvement of practice.

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Good

The registered manager is relatively new in post but has many years’ experience and is suitably qualified. She is an enthusiastic and motivated manager who clearly wants to continue to improve the care and outcomes for young people. This is reflected in a much improved development plan that now provides clarity and detailed information on plans for the home and achievements so far. Staff, young people, parents and other professionals speak very highly of the manager.

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Good

The staff team is committed, happy and equally motivated. The use of ‘team member of the month’ provides an opportunity for staff to nominate a colleague for this award, recognising the high quality of work and positive impact of that member of staff.

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Good

Staff work very well as a team and feel supported by the manager and their colleagues. Supervision is regular, providing appropriate challenge and opportunities for reflection. Team meetings provide a good forum for staff to discuss the progress of young people and any concerns. Input from the organisations therapy team helps staff develop strategies for supporting young people. The manager holds regular quizzes, with staff asking questions about young people’s care arrangements, policies and procedures, and setting various scenarios. This ensures that staff keep up to date with the needs of young people and understand the purpose of their role. It also provides information for the manager to understand what to do to help staff in their role.

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Good

All staff are either qualified to the appropriate level, are on the course or are still in probationary period. This means staff are qualified as required.

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Good

Staff and the manager work effectively in partnership with a range of other professionals who speak highly of the home. One said, ‘As a professional, I am very impressed with the service, how you have supported and improved the quality of life of the young person I am involved with. Thank you for changing the outcomes for the young person.’

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Good

The statement of purpose provides all the required information about the home, enabling stakeholders to understand the aims of the home. Staff also clearly understand the aims of the home and the philosophy of the organisation, putting this into practice daily. The guide for young people provides young people with a clear picture of what the home is like.

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Good

An independent person visits monthly to review the quality of care, achievements, safety and welfare of young people. Staff, young people and parents often contribute to this visit ensuring that their views are heard. The manager also completes monthly checks and reviews of the service and submits reports to the regulator every three months. She is currently looking at developing these using a range of media to involve young people more in the review of their care. As already mentioned, the manager’s checks did not notice shortfalls in restraint or the gaps in training identified during the inspection.

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Good

No requirements or recommendations were made at the last inspection. A total of two requirements and six recommendations are made following this inspection. These reflect the need for improvements in restraint practice, recording in a number of areas and the provision of more training.

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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 0300 123 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 children looked after 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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