Children's home run by Diverse Abilities Plus Limited in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole

Inspection report children’s home: SC004085 1 SC004085 Registered provider: Diverse Abilities Plus 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 is a short-break residential home for children and young people who have severe physical and/or learning disabilities. It is run by an independent charitable organisation. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to four children or young people. Day care for children and young people is also provided.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Date of last inspection: 13 February 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Improved effectiveness

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Enforcement action since last inspection

None Inspection report children’s home: SC004085 2

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Key findings from this inspection

 Children and young people have good experiences. Those that have been visiting the home for some time benefit from their visits and make good personal developments.  Parents’ and social workers’ views are overwhelmingly positive.  Staff provide good individualised care, which is sensitive to the needs of the children and young people.  The safeguarding arrangements for protecting children and young people are good.  The manager provides effective and good leadership.

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Key findings from this inspection

The children’s home’s areas for development

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Key findings from this inspection

 The manager is required to update the home’s location risk assessment.  The manager is recommended to analyse and interpret the use of agency staff.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/02/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 13/10/2016 Full Requires improvement 21/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 07/12/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC004085 3

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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

The registered person must review the appropriateness and suitability of the location of the premises used for the purposes of the children’s home at least once in each calendar year taking into account the requirement in regulation 12 (2) (c) (the protection of children standard).

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Requirement Due date

When conducting the review, the registered person must consult, and take into account the views of, each relevant person. (Regulation 43 (1) and (2)) 30/06/2017

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Recommendations

 The use of external agency staff can be a positive choice to complement the skills and experiences of the permanent workforce. Any external agency staff should meet the requirements in regulation 32(4) regarding mandatory qualifications and the registered person should consider their skills, qualifications and any induction necessary before they commence work in the home. The use of agency staff should be carefully monitored and reviewed to ensure children receive continuity of care. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraph 10.6)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people’s good progress can be evidenced in many ways. Individuals begin using the day service as part of their transition into having overnight visits. Children and young people who initially displayed very unsettled behaviour on their arrival at the home have settled remarkably well; they are now happy, content and know the staff well. Inspection report children’s home: SC004085 4 Staff are good at identifying when children and young people require greater support. As a result, staffing ratios for certain children and young people are increased to enable them to have a more positive experience when they visit. Staff are able to meet their needs quickly and attend to them as soon as they become unsettled. They problem solve with the children and young people and understand what they are trying to communicate. Consequently, children and young people are coping far better with busier

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

environments and engaging more meaningfully with their peers.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff use good quality behaviour support plans, which give them clear guidance on how best to support children and young people. This has helped them to achieve positive outcomes and decrease incidents of challenging behaviour. Measures taken have enabled children and young people to continue to visit the home and access the community safely with staff members’ assistance.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The community nurse team works alongside the staff to help them to meet children and young people’s health needs. As a result, children and young people’s complex feeding and medication needs are met.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people are encouraged to make choices about what they would like to do while visiting the home. One young person loves to enjoy a long bubble bath every time they visit, and many enjoy going to the local parks or playing with the wide variety of play equipment in the home’s garden.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people’s notable achievements since attending the home include: being able to use the interactive wall in the sensory room effectively, developing skills to request outside activities, interacting more with others through play, being more settled overnight, increasing their dietary options, increasing their ability to communicate without the need to grab out for items, developing their independence skills for shopping, enjoying their bath time and for many of them starting packages of overnight care when they have never been away from their family home alone before.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All parents and carers spoken with as part of the inspection provided very positive feedback about the home and their child’s visits. One stated that, ‘It is absolutely brilliant,’ while others’ comments include: ‘Staff are excellent and my child is well cared for,’ ‘My child absolutely enjoys it,’ and ‘My child has benefited from the social stimulation that it provides.’ Parents and carers feel well informed and that the communication from staff is excellent. A parent said, ‘The home-to-home communication book works well, I am kept informed of what my child has been doing and any accidents they may have had.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All social workers who are responsible for children and young people attending the home were contacted for their views as part of this inspection. None raised any concerns with the inspector. Those that provided feedback reported that their families are well supported, they are pleased with the strategies that are used to help children and young people, and that staff are very professional.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home has excellent facilities for children and young people to use. It has been Inspection report children’s home: SC004085 5 renovated over the past 12 months and all areas are now in use. The bedrooms are spacious and very nicely decorated, there is a training kitchen and two large living spaces for children and young people. They can also access a sensory room, outdoor play equipment, a soft play area and an under-the-sea themed bathroom. The home is resourced with a good range of toys, electrical equipment, art materials and books.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people attend local schools arranged by the families and placing authorities. Staff from the home work alongside the education staff where needed, including taking children and young people to school and supporting them in meetings. Staff will also link the children and young people’s targets at the home with their educational goals where possible.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people’s underlying health matters are managed by their parents and carers. Each individual has a good quality healthcare plan written by staff at the home. Staff and parents stay in regular contact about changes in medication and the outcome of medical appointments. Children and young people’s healthcare plans contain epilepsy protocols, moving and handling plans, personal care routines and feeding regimes wherever required.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff understand the risks and particular vulnerabilities of supporting children and young people with disabilities. They meet their intimate care needs with privacy and respect.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff and leaders display good safeguarding knowledge and have responded appropriately to triggers, changes in behaviour and unusual bruising or injury to the children and young people. There have been no child protection concerns or safeguarding allegations reported since the previous inspection.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

There is no bullying behaviour between children and young people. The manager carefully matches the individuals together each day to ensure that they have a positive experience together. Good quality risk assessments are in place to identify whether a young person poses a potential risk of injury to other children or young people. These risks are well managed by staff.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

There have been four restraints used since the last inspection. The measures have been implemented by staff as a proportionate response to keep children and young people safe. The records contain good details of the incident, the individual’s behaviour and measures taken to avoid the need for restraint. The manager has monitored the effectiveness of the measures used and records contain a description of how the young person was engaged or observed following the incident. Staff are also able to talk through what happened and to reflect on their practice.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

All incident and accident reports completed by staff about children and young people’s visits are sent to their families and social workers. This process is clearly auditable. There have been no occasions of children and young people going missing from staff members’ care, due to the security measures on the external doors and constant staff Inspection report children’s home: SC004085 6 supervision.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff implement behaviour management plans for children and young people who require them. They are updated after an incident. The plans detail the best ways for staff to support children and young people’s behaviours. When needed, staff consult with behaviour management professionals from the local authority and talk with families if children and young people’s behaviour becomes difficult to manage.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff use pre-planned ‘motivators’ as an incentive to help children and young people overcome a difficult situation. Staff very rarely use sanctions.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The recruitment and vetting processes for new staff are good. They include full checks on individuals before they start work and once again if they change roles within the organisation. Appropriate checks on new staff who have lived or worked overseas are completed as required.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The current risk assessment of the location of the home does not explore the possible impact of other children’s or vulnerable adult’s services located close to the home. The assessment does not include information acquired from the police about crime in the area.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager provides good and effective leadership. She has been registered in post since December 2013 and exceeds the required qualifications for the role. The manager ensures that all children and young people now receive a short-break package in accordance with the conditions of registration.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager leads the home in line with the statement of purpose and children’s guide. In addition to supporting children and young people living with their families, staff provide enriching learning and social environments, develop children and young people’s independence, promote their responsible choices and exercise the rights for children with disabilities.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and senior team have addressed concerns raised at the last inspection about medication errors occurring in the last year. Due to the significant increase in the number of medication handling errors, all staff involved in dispensing and administering medication were reassessed and had their competency to undertake these tasks tested. Medication workshops have also been put in place to help further support the training needs of staff and to ensure that their learning and practice is supported to a high level.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff undertake specialist training to support children and young people with specific health needs; for example, a visual impairment. Staff morale is good and some said that they, ‘love their job,’ and ‘it is the best job in the world’.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Regular, good quality monitoring takes place. An independent person visits once a month and the manager completes six-monthly audits of the quality of care. Senior Inspection report children’s home: SC004085 7 management oversight is good, supportive and helpful.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager ensures that plans for individual children and young people comprehensively identify their needs. Plans take into account the local authority care plan for each child. The manager works successfully with other agencies and professionals. She seeks to build effective working relationships with families, social workers and local authority health professionals to secure positive outcomes for children and young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager compiles data about how frequently agency staff are used. As yet, this data has not been analysed or used to inform future planning.

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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 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 whom 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: SC004085 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Diverse Abilities Plus Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Barnabas Project Centre, 13–15 Manor Avenue, Poole, Dorset BH12 4LB

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Jonathan Seaward

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Inspector

Guy Mammatt, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC004085 9 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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