Children's Home run by Sandcastle Care Limited in Blackpool

Inspection report children's home: SC363398 1 SC363398 Registered provider: Sandcastle Care Ltd

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home provides care and accommodation for seven young people with learning disabilities and children with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The home is privately owned.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

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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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 2 February 2017

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Declined in effectiveness

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Key findings from this inspection

This children’s home requires improvement to be good because: Inspection report children's home: SC363398 2  Risks to the health, safety and well-being of young people are not always clearly identified or planned for.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Not all young people have individual behaviour management plans in place, which provide staff with guidance about individual risks and strategies.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Care planning information should be clearer so that staff have clear guidance about young people’s needs and how to support them effectively.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Clearer information about young people’s individual methods of communication would assist staff in understanding young people, and how they express their needs and wishes.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Arrangements to support young people to prepare for independence require improvement, to help ensure that young people are given the opportunity to develop the necessary social and practical skills.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The training programme should be reviewed in line with young people’s needs, to help ensure that staff have the skills to provide safe and effective care.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people receive a good level of care, and experience positive outcomes.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Parents and external professionals provide consistently positive feedback about the care and support provided to young people.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people are supported to maintain important relationships. Staff encourage the involvement of parents, where appropriate.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff ensure that young people have educational provision that meets their needs.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people’s medicines are carefully managed. Robust audit systems mean that any errors in the administration of medicines can be quickly identified and addressed.

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Key findings from this inspection

 New staff are carefully recruited to help ensure that they are of suitable character to care for young people.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff at the home feel well supported, and report an open and transparent culture.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The management team is committed to improvement and has developed quality assurance systems in a manner which will assist the home in making improvements. Inspection report children's home: SC363398 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

02/02/2017 Interim Declined in effectiveness 15/08/2016 Full Good 11/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 21/01/2016 Full Good Inspection report children's home: SC363398 4

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to 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 person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

12.—(1) The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. (2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— (a) that staff— (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; (ii) help each child to understand how to keep safe; (iii) have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm; (iv) manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other; (v) understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person; (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

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Requirement Due date

14.—(1) The care planning standard is that children— (a) receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; 31/05/2017

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Recommendations

 Staff need the knowledge and skills to recognise and be alert for any signs that Inspection report children's home: SC363398 5 might indicate a child is in any way at risk of harm. The registered person should ensure that skills in safeguarding are gained, refreshed and recorded in the home’s workforce plan. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.12)

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Recommendations

 Any use of restraint carries risks. These include causing physical injury, psychological trauma or emotional disturbance. When considering whether restraint is warranted, staff in children’s homes need to take into account: - the age and understanding of the child; - the size of the child; - the relevance of any disability, health problem or medication to the behaviour in question and the action that might be taken as a result; - the relative risks of not intervening; - the child’s previously sought views on strategies that they considered might de-escalate or calm a situation, if appropriate; - the method of restraint which would be appropriate in the specific circumstances; and - the impact of the restraint on the carer’s future relationship with the child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.55)

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Recommendations

 Ensure that the children’s home complies with relevant health and safety legislation. Specifically, by means of the development of personal emergency evacuation plans which take into account the individual needs of the young people and detail the support they may require to evacuate the home in an emergency. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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Recommendations

 The home should work in partnership with relevant people as appropriate to ensure that each child is provided with support (appropriate to their age and understanding) to communicate their views, wishes and feelings and participate as fully as possible in all aspects of their care planning and daily care. This may include the use of and support to use communication aids, equipment and/or any necessary language support. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.6)

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Recommendations

 As well as longer-term support for children to move on from the home effectively (regulation 6(2)(b)(vi)), the home has an important role in supporting each child leaving the home in the period immediately before their departure. The registered person should work with the placing authority to ensure that each child’s transition is planned and help each child to prepare for leaving, both practically and emotionally. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 57, paragraph 11.9)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should have a workforce plan which can fulfil the workforce-related requirements of regulation 16, schedule 1 (paragraphs 19 and 20). The plan should: Inspection report children's home: SC363398 6 - detail the necessary management and staffing structure (including any staff commissioned to provide health and education), the experience and qualifications of staff currently working within the staffing structure and any further training required for those staff, to enable the delivery of the home’s Statement of Purpose; - detail the processes and agreed timescales for staff to achieve induction, probation and any core training (such as safeguarding, health and safety and mandatory qualifications); - detail the process for managing and improving poor performance; - detail the process and timescales for supervision of practice (see regulation 33(4)(b)) and keep appropriate records for staff in the home.

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Recommendations

The plan should be updated to include any new training and qualifications completed by staff while working at the home, and used to record the ongoing training and continuing professional development needs of staff – including the home’s manager. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)

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improvement to be good

Young people who live at this home receive a good level of care and support, and have made some good progress in a number of areas. Feedback from parents and external professionals is consistently positive. One parent commented, ‘I have nothing but praise for them. They have taken time to understand [X] and what he needs.’ And a social worker said, ‘We have seen really good progress for [X]. This placement has been extremely positive for him.’

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improvement to be good

Observations of the young people interacting with staff were very positive. It was clear that they shared good relationships, and young people appeared comfortable and relaxed in the presence of staff. Staff were seen to respond sensitively to young people’s non-verbal communication and take time to understand what young people were expressing. On one occasion, a young person presented as unsettled and a staff member was observed to respond in a gentle and calm manner, which was effective in calming the young person.

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improvement to be good

Some of the young people who live at the home use individual methods of communication. While observations of staff interacting with them were positive, this practice could be developed further with the implementation of individual communication plans for each young person. These would help the staff to learn more about young people and understand how they express their needs and wishes.

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improvement to be good

Young people are supported to maintain important relationships and are provided with support to maintain contact with their loved ones. Parents we spoke with commented that they felt fully involved with their child’s care and were always welcomed at the Inspection report children's home: SC363398 7 home. At the time of the inspection, a parent was present at the home doing some gardening with the young people. He commented that this was a regular arrangement which he and his son enjoyed greatly. He also joined the young people and staff for a meal before he left.

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improvement to be good

Staff support young people to maintain good health. Arrangements to ensure that young people access routine health care, such as dental and optical services, are in place. Staff have a good understanding of young people’s specific health care needs and the support they require. One parent shared some very positive feedback regarding work done by the home to liaise with external professionals to enable one young person to access some specialist equipment. However, this good practice is not always supported by clear care planning. For example, one young person has some complex health care needs, which require very careful management on a daily basis. Information in the young person’s care plan relating to this area is not sufficiently clear. There are some conflicting instructions and a lack of clarity in terms of daily management. It is evident from progress made by the young person that his health care needs have been managed

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improvement to be good

well, and as such, the shortfalls in records and care planning have not had a negative impact on him. However, gaps in care plan information could lead to gaps in care in the future, and as such, a requirement is raised in relation to this matter.

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improvement to be good

A requirement was raised at the last inspection of the home in relation to the management of young people’s medication. At this inspection it was found that good improvements have been made in this area, and the requirement is suitably addressed. Records relating to medication administration are much improved and of satisfactory quality. Arrangements for the monitoring of medication stored within the home are also much improved, and robust auditing systems mean that any errors made with a young person’s medication can be identified and addressed in a prompt manner.

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improvement to be good

Staff positively support young people’s education. All young people have suitable education provision in place and attend on a regular basis. Staff liaise with education providers effectively to ensure that any support required by a young person is in place. This helps to ensure that young people have education provision that meets their individual needs and enables them to reach their potential.

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improvement to be good

Arrangements to support young people in developing skills for independence require some improvement. One young person has reached an age where he is ready to move on from the service. A pathway plan has very recently been developed for the young person, which was provided following several requests from the home. However, as yet no plans are in place to assist the young person to develop practical and social skills necessary to live with minimal support in the future.

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improvement to be good

Efforts have been made to develop information for the young people in a format that is meaningful to them. For example, pictorial menus have recently been introduced and shared with young people during their meetings. Young people’s meetings are currently being reviewed to establish how they can be adapted so that the young people benefit fully from them. Similar changes are being made to arrangements for direct work with young people, such as key-worker sessions. This demonstrates that managers take Inspection report children's home: SC363398 8 young people’s needs into account when reviewing how care and support is provided.

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improvement to be good

A requirement was raised at the last inspection of the home relating to the protection of young people, in terms of assessing and managing risks to their safety and safeguarding. During this inspection, it was identified that the provider has failed to fully address the requirement, and as such a further requirement is raised in relation to the protection of young people.

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improvement to be good

It was found during this inspection that some improvements to risk assessment processes have been made. New risk assessment processes have been implemented with a view to providing clearer information, and using this new information more effectively. However, the quality of risk assessments is variable and further improvements are required to ensure that all risks to young people are identified and carefully planned for.

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improvement to be good

Gaps in information within some young people’s risk assessments and care plans were identified. For example, risks relating to one young person’s complex health care needs were not well detailed, and guidance for staff about providing safe and effective care was not always clear. This means that staff may not have a full understanding of how to support young people in a way that promotes their safety and well-being.

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improvement to be good

The whole staff team has recently received updated safeguarding training. Group and individual supervision has taken place to support the team’s knowledge and understanding of whistle-blowing procedures. Staff spoken with demonstrated knowledge of the procedures, and confidence in the management team to address any issues raised. However, it was identified during the inspection that a recent concern had not been reported to a member of the management team for a week. On receipt of the concern, the management team took appropriate action, but the length of time taken for the initial report to be made is of concern.

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improvement to be good

Staff support young people’s behaviour in a positive way. There is a strong focus on rewarding positive behaviour. The manner in which rewards are used is individualised for each young person so that the process is meaningful to them, and something they want to engage in. Sanctions or consequences are not excessive, and are monitored by the management team to ensure they are proportionate and relevant to the situation. One example of a sanction being issued and not recorded was identified. Care should be taken to ensure that all sanctions are recorded so their use can be monitored effectively.

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improvement to be good

Individual behaviour management plans are in place for the majority of young people. However, this document could not be produced for one young person. This was of concern as this particular young person has some complex communication and behavioural needs. In addition, a staff member had recorded on some debrief documentation that more information was required about how to understand and Inspection report children's home: SC363398 9 manage this young person’s behaviour. Individual behaviour management plans help to ensure that staff support young people in a safe and consistent manner.

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improvement to be good

Incidents of young people being missing from the home are rare. At the present time no young person is assessed as being at risk of going missing. However, there are clear protocols in place should this situation occur in the future. This means that staff have clear information about the actions they must take to safeguard any young person who is missing.

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improvement to be good

At the time of the inspection, the management team was in the process of updating the home’s locality risk assessment. Evidence was provided to demonstrate effective liaison with external professionals and other local services, to help ensure that all the relevant information is received.

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improvement to be good

Measures are in place to help ensure that young people are provided with a safe environment. Regular checks and environmental audits mean that any risks to young people’s health and safety are identified and addressed. Evidence is available to demonstrate that facilities and equipment within the home are regularly checked and maintained, to ensure that they are fit for purpose. The home has an up-to-date fire risk assessment in place, and robust fire safety procedures are followed including the completion of regular fire drills. To further support the safety of young people, it is recommended that personal emergency evacuation plans (PEEPs) are developed to ensure that any potential difficulties in evacuating a young person, for example due to their disability, are identified and planned for.

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improvement to be good

Arrangements are in place to ensure that staff working with young people are carefully recruited. Managers follow robust recruitment procedures, which include carrying out a number of background checks of prospective employees. This reduces the risk of young people being cared for by people of an unsuitable character, and therefore helps to protect them from harm.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

There have been some changes to the management of the service, which have resulted in the absence of a registered manager for several months. However, the provider has managed the changes well, and suitable interim arrangements mean that the disruption to young people and staff has been minimal during this time.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

At the time of this inspection a new manager had been appointed and was in the process of commencing the process of registration with Ofsted. The new manager described a very good level of support from her line manager, and a welcoming and receptive staff team which was keen to move forward.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff spoken with were positive about the home and described good improvements and Inspection report children's home: SC363398 10 developments. One staff member said, ‘It feels like we are a really settled team now and things are really moving forward.’ Staff expressed satisfaction with the level of support they receive from the management team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Some gaps in formal supervision and appraisal have been identified by the management team, and work has been ongoing to bring these up to date. Recent improvements in the way in which supervision is recorded mean that this area can now be monitored more effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Arrangements are in place to provide all new staff members with a comprehensive induction at the start of their employment. However, in some cases records of this process are unclear and do not provide an accurate account of the aspects of induction that some staff members have completed. It is recommended that these records be reviewed to ensure that they provide clear evidence of the induction training provided to new staff members. This will help to ensure that new staff have the necessary understanding and knowledge to practise in a safe manner.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

There is a positive approach to training and staff are encouraged and supported to undertake a range of learning relevant to their roles. However, it is recommended that the training programme be reviewed with careful consideration being given to the needs of the young people who currently live at the home. For example, a formal training programme, based on the complex health care needs of one young person in particular, would help to ensure that staff have the necessary skills and knowledge to provide safe and effective care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Currently, less than half the staff team hold nationally recognised qualifications in caring for young people, but all those who do not hold the qualification are in the process of obtaining it. A range of mandatory training in areas such as safeguarding, first aid and positive behaviour support is provided. The management team carefully monitors mandatory training to ensure that all staff are up to date with each course.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

There have been a number of positive developments within the home recently, which include improvements in the systems used to monitor safety and quality across the home. It is acknowledged that, at the time of this inspection, a number of new systems and processes were in their early stages and, as such, were not yet embedded. The management team was able to provide a number of examples of actions taken in response to areas identified by them as requiring improvement. This demonstrates that issues are acted on when identified. However, the outstanding requirement, new requirement and recommendations raised in this report highlight the need to further improve internal monitoring processes. This would enable issues to be identified in a timely fashion and independently of external scrutiny.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the difference made to the lives of Inspection report children's home: SC363398 11 children and young people. They watched how professional staff work with children and young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care provided. Wherever possible, they talked to children and 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.

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Information about this inspection

Using the ‘Social care common inspection framework’, this inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service, how it meets the core functions of the service as set out in legislation, and to consider how well it complies with the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’. Inspection report children's home: SC363398 12

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Sandcastle Care Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 49 Whitegate Drive, Blackpool, Lancashire FY3 9DG

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Michael Swarbrick

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Inspector

Marie Cordingley, social care inspector Inspection report children's home: SC363398 13 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, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children's services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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