Children's home run by Capstone Care Provider Limited in Nottingham

Inspection report children’s home: SC431699 1 SC431699 Registered provider: Capstone Care Provider Limited

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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 registered to accommodate three children and young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. It is owned by a private provider.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: Inadequate

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Enforcement action since last inspection

None Inspection report children’s home: SC431699 2

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Key findings from this inspection

This children’s home requires improvement to be good because

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Key findings from this inspection

 Safeguarding practice requires further improvement. Not all staff have a firm understanding of safeguarding practice.  Not all staff have had supervision – specifically, staff who have transferred to this home from one of the provider’s other children’s homes. This is unsafe practice.  Young people do not participate in their care planning. They are not offered the opportunity to read their files. This means that they cannot comment on or influence decisions made about them.  The home still does not have a workforce development programme. This means that managers do not have oversight of the training profile of the staff team.  Managers have not ensured that when young people leave the home, they have a comprehensive record of their time in the home.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Managers have ensured that staff receive a range of training and development opportunities to improve their knowledge and the quality of care provided.  Young people, social workers, teaching staff and the designated police officer provide positive descriptions of the home and the staff.  Young people continue to make progress with their education, health, social life and behaviours.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/06/2017 Full Inadequate 24/01/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 29/06/2016 Full Good 21/01/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC431699 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 with the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard. The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that staff understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person and are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12(1)(2)(a)(v)(vii)) 28/08/2017

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard. The care planning standard is that children receive effectively planned care in and through the children’s home. In particular, the standard in paragraph (2) requires the registered person to ensure— that staff help each child to access and contribute to the records kept by the registered person in relation to the child. (Regulation 14(1)(2)(f)) 28/08/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. This is with particular regard to ensuring that all staff receive well-coordinated and regular supervision. (Regulation 33(4)(b)) 28/08/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if there is any incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious or a child protection enquiry is instigated or concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry). (Regulation 40(4)(d)(i)(ii)(e)) 28/08/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that a notification made under this regulation must include details of the matter, the 28/08/2017 Inspection report children’s home: SC431699 4 other persons, bodies or organisations (if any) who and which have been notified and any actions taken by the registered person as a result of the matter. This is with particular reference to ensuring that the details of the notification are clear with regards to the incident, actions and outcome of the incident. (Regulation 40(5)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)) The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children’s home at least once each month. The registered person must help the independent person to interview, if they consent, in private, children, their parents, relatives and persons working in the home as the independent person requires. The independent person must produce a report about the visit (‘the independent person’s report’) which sets

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Requirement Due date

out, in particular, the independent person’s opinion as to whether children are effectively safeguarded and the conduct of the home promotes children’s well-being. The independent person must provide a copy of the independent person’s report to HMCI. (Regulation 44(1)(2)(a)(4)(a)(b)(7)(a)) 28/08/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (‘a quality of care review’) at least once every six months. The report must monitor, review and evaluate the quality of care provided for children, the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it, and any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children. The registered person must supply a copy to HMCI within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed. (Regulation 45(1)(2)(a)(b)(c)(4)(a)) 28/08/2017

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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 detail the necessary management and staffing structure, 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. Additionally, the plan should include the processes and agreed timescales for staff to achieve induction, probation and any core training (such as safeguarding and health and safety and mandatory qualifications). 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

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Recommendations

including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8) Inspection report children’s home: SC431699 5  The home’s records on each child represent a significant contribution to their life history. Children and their parents should be supported to understand the nature of records kept by the home and how to access them. Staff should understand their important role in encouraging the child to reflect on and understand their history, according to their age and understanding. Staff should keep and encourage children to keep memorabilia of the time spent living at the home and help them record significant life events. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.5)

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improvement to be good

The last full inspection identified shortfalls in all judgement areas. There were seven requirements raised. There have been improvements since the last inspection. However, not all shortfalls from that inspection have been satisfactorily addressed. This inspection confirms that, until improvements have been implemented and embedded, the overall experience of young people requires improvement. Currently, young people do not participate in their own care planning. They are not offered the opportunity to read their files, contribute to care, behaviour and placement plans or risk assessments. This means that young people’s views, wishes and feelings are not taken into account or acted on. This does not enable young people to contribute to their care planning. Young people are still not supported by staff to collate a record of their time in the home. This fails to provide young people with an enduring record of memories to look

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improvement to be good

back on. This is especially important when some young people are preparing for a transition to adult care. Two young people remain in placement since the last inspection. One social worker confirmed that the home meets the young person’s needs. Moreover, she stated, ‘The progress with the young person is due to the commitment and work of the staff team.’ The young person told the inspector: ‘All the staff help me. I like my keyworker because he spends time with me.’ The other young person said, ‘It’s steady, alright, I’m okay here.’ These comments show that young people are settled in this home. The registered manager and staff prioritise education for young people. One young person moved from a special educational needs school to college. He said that this transition was hard, but staff have always supported him. The other young person is doing very well in school, despite previously poor educational engagement. Both young

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improvement to be good

people have very good attendance and engagement. Young people in this home are healthy and have their health needs promoted. They do not smoke or use drugs. They both exercise regularly. One young person is an avid footballer and plays at every opportunity. Health is further promoted by regular visits to the doctors, dentists and opticians. When young people have specific health issues, Inspection report children’s home: SC431699 6 specialist medical care is sought. Significant progress has been made with one young person, to support him to have a hearing assessment. This is despite his long-standing reluctance to attend any medical appointment. The outcome is that he will have minor surgery to resolve a long-standing hearing problem. The previous inspection identified that young people were not provided with opportunities to contribute to the quality of care in the home. Since this time, the manager has provided a range of methods to support better participation, for example a

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improvement to be good

variety of consultations and questionnaires. These improvements mean that young people can express their views and help in the shaping of the delivery of care.

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improvement to be good

Since the last full inspection, there have been no significant safeguarding events in the home. Young people are settled and stated that they feel safe. Local designated police officers confirmed that there are no safeguarding issues.

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improvement to be good

Managers have made concerted efforts to ensure that staff have the knowledge and skills to safeguard young people. Staff have engaged in a range of safeguarding training. This includes sexual exploitation and child protection. Safeguarding is an agenda item for all supervisions and team meetings. However, despite these steps, not all staff have satisfactory safeguarding knowledge. Some staff have an insecure knowledge in relation to safeguarding procedure and protocols. For example, not all staff know how to ‘whistle-blow’ or whom to contact outside of the organisation. Missing from care procedures and the risks relating to missing from care are not fully understood. Importantly, staff need to ensure that they check the identity of visitors to the home. This did not occur on this inspection. Omitting to check the identity of visitors to the home potentially places young people at risk of harm. There have been improvements in safeguarding practice since the last full inspection,

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improvement to be good

notably that risk assessments are regularly reviewed and read by staff. This means that staff have a much-improved knowledge of current risks and risk management strategies.

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

Since the last inspection, the responsible individual and registered manager have endeavoured to drive improvements. However, some shortfalls identified at the last inspection have not been met. Supervision of staff requires improvement. The last full inspection identified that the manager was not supervising casual staff. Since this time, all casual staff have been supervised. Records of supervision show child-focused discussion, with an emphasis on safeguarding. However, the manager has not supervised new members of staff who have transferred to the home. This means that the manager does not understand gaps Inspection report children’s home: SC431699 7 in knowledge, especially safeguarding knowledge. Staff have benefited from a range of training since the last inspection. However, the registered manager still does not have an accurate overview of training. Training records are inaccurate and incomplete. This means that the manager cannot be certain that the

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

staff have the relevant skills and knowledge to meet the needs of young people. It also limits forward planning to ensure that staff have up-to-date training. Managers have developed a better understanding of regulatory requirements. They understand the content and timescales for notifying Ofsted of significant events. They have plans to improve internal and external monitoring reports. However, the timescales between inspections have meant that the provider has not had to submit these reports. Therefore, Ofsted has been unable to assess the effectiveness of improvements. These requirements will be reset and judged at a future inspection. The responsible individual and registered manager are clear about the shortfalls identified in this inspection. They are committed to take effective action to drive improvement.

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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: SC431699 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Capstone Care Provider Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: The Renewal Trust Business Centre, 3 Hawksworth Street, Nottingham NG3 2EG

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Trevor Edinborough

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Inspectors

Amanda Ellis, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC431699 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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