Children's Home run by Blue Mountain Homes Ltd in Derbyshire

Inspection report children’s home: 1244161 1 Registered provider: Blue Mountain Homes 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 privately owned. It is able to provide care to one young person who has emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: Good

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Enforcement action since last inspection

None Inspection report children’s home: 1244161 2

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Key findings from this inspection

 The manager leads by example and models good practice. This has helped the staff to develop their practice quickly, despite being relatively inexperienced.  Staff are developing all the time. They are a resilient team and are always positive in their work.  The young person is very well supported.  Staff understand the young person’s needs very well. They know how to help her with her complex emotional and mental health issues.  Safeguarding practice is very strong. The young person is particularly well protected when she goes missing. The young person is safer than she was before moving to the home and goes missing less often.  Urgent action is always taken to address safeguarding matters. The right professionals are given safeguarding information quickly. This enables them to make well-informed decisions about the young person’s safety and welfare.  Professionals and family members strongly praise the home.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The young person’s well-being is always at the centre of staff practice.  The manager ensures that he influences other professionals’ decisions. He makes sure that the young person has access to all of the services that she needs.

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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 young person’s health is not as good as it could be. Her diet is not healthy and there is an over reliance on fast food and snacks.  Medication records do not always show that medicines are given. Records should be improved to give a clear picture of medication administration.  The young person is not asked for her opinions about how restraints are conducted.  Risk assessments are not always clear about how staff should protect the young person. This is a recording issue and has not impacted on the young person’s safety to date.  Formal staff supervision needs to be improved to make sure that there are regular opportunities for the manager to monitor staff practice.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/03/2017 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 1244161 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 health and well-being standard is that—

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Requirement Due date

the health and well-being needs of children are met

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Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being

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Requirement Due date

children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles. (Regulation 10(1)(a)(b) and (c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the young person should be helped and supported to eat a balanced, nutritious diet. 1/09/2017

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Requirement Due date

Ensure that the registered person makes arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home. (Regulation 23 (1))

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Requirement Due date

This is in particular relation to medication records. 1/09/2017

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Recommendations

 Ensure that any child who has been restrained is given the opportunity to express their feelings about the experience of the restraint. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.60)  Ensure that staff continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5). This is in particular relation to risk assessments to be used when young people go missing.  Ensure that the registered person has systems in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional, which allows them to reflect on their practice and Inspection report children’s home: 1244161 4 the needs of the children assigned to their care. (‘Guide to the children’s homes

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Recommendations

regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young person’s experiences are positive. A family member said: ‘Any kid would be lucky to be put in that home.’ The young person has developed some helpful, constructive relationships with staff. The stable staff team has a consistent approach. Staff help the young person to explore issues relating to her background and previous life experiences. They also help her to manage her anxiety and to reduce her stress. Staff are persistent in trying to find ways for her to engage in the help and support that she needs. High staffing ratios are primarily there for the young person’s safety and welfare. However, staff are not overbearing. Staff are proactive in many areas, especially in relation to safety. Issues are dealt with ‘head on’ and nothing is left to drift. The young person receives a clear message, at all times, about expected behaviour and how she can make progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young person has taken part in a wide range of new activities. For example, she has been tobogganing and bike riding. Her particular interest in pets has been embraced. The young person’s pets now include a hamster, a rabbit and some tropical fish. The atmosphere in the home is happy and relaxed. Decisions are centred around the young person. She is influential in the running of the home. The organisation listens and often responds to her wishes. For example, there is a new patio and grassed area in response to her request. This provides a more pleasant garden area.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Planning for independence is good. The young person enjoys and engages in practical work to help her learn household management skills. The young person has learned a lot about how she should look after herself and how to be safer.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young person has not been encouraged enough by staff to eat a healthy diet. She relies on a lot of junk food, such as crisps, ready meals and take-away meals. Work has not been creative enough to change the young person’s eating habits. Professionals who could have been drafted in to help and advise, such as dieticians and the children looked after nurse, have not been contacted. This matter has been allowed to drift for several months.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Doctors have prescribed some medication for the young person. Staff confirmed that she takes this regularly. However, records are poor. Monitoring is difficult because of the lack of clarity in these records. There should be a clearer picture of what has been taken, and when, to more effectively safeguard the young person.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young person’s emotional wellbeing has a very high priority. She engages regularly Inspection report children’s home: 1244161 5 with the company’s own psychologist and with community mental health professionals. Staff have a strong understanding of issues relating to attachment disorders and mental health. This means that they can help the young person to manager her anxieties and emotional responses. The young person has developed some very positive coping strategies with the help of the manager and staff. She is more able to sit through important meetings and uses positive strategies to reduce her anxiety. This means that she can be more influential in her own care and can give her opinions in a constructive manner.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Education is a big challenge for the young person. This is because of high anxiety levels. However, she has recently attended a college course for a number of weeks. This is good progress because she has been out of education for many months. While this education placement broke down, staff ‘went the extra mile’ to support the young person while she was there. For example, they were available and in view to her at all times, either in or around the education building. The young person knew where staff were in case she needed support. This education experience was more positive for the young person because staff supported her so well. The young person has a new placement for the autumn term and is more inclined to engage because of the support she receives. When the local authority has not sent appropriate paperwork, such as personal education plans, the manager has challenged this. He makes sure that there

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

are appropriate plans in place for the young person’s education.

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

The manager ensures that the young person’s safety is of paramount importance. He leads his team of well-trained staff so that they ensure that the young person is as safe as she can be. The young person has presented with some very complex risk-taking behaviours, such as going missing, mixing with inappropriate people and self-harm. Staff are very effective in reducing risks. To promote her safety, the young person has restrictions imposed on her by the courts. The manager adheres fully to these directives but also ensures that an oppressive culture is not allowed to develop. He thinks carefully about risk. He spends a lot of time finding out about the young person’s associates and networks in the community. He shares this very important information with the police. The very robust approach ensures that the young person is as safe as she can be, despite the high risks she presents.

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

A very capable staff team is at the centre of safeguarding practice. Team members know what they should do to reduce all aspects of risk and consistently follow risk assessments. Risk assessment documentation is not always clear on what action should be taken to protect the young person, but this is a recording issue rather than a care issue. The manager and staff never stop protecting this young person, despite the complex risks she presents. They are resilient and never give up trying.

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

When the young person goes missing, responses from staff are consistently very good. Urgent action is always taken. This means that the young person returns home safely and as quickly as possible. The young person’s episodes of missing are reducing since Inspection report children’s home: 1244161 6 coming to the home. This helps to protect her from being exploited or abused by others.

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

All staff are well versed in the home’s model of behaviour management because they are trained. The emphasis is on the avoidance of restraint and the use of more positive methods of behaviour management whenever possible. After any restraint, it is clear that the young person’s welfare is a priority. She is always asked whether she is hurt in any way. There are good discussions with the young person about whet led to the behaviour and about the reasons for the restraint. However, the young person is not asked for her views about how staff conducted the restraint and how it felt, or for her comments about staff practice. This is a missed opportunity to improve practice and to check that the young person felt safe during the restraint. Despite some difficult behaviour from the young person, staff remain focused and motivated. Incentives work well. Staff remain positive during periods of challenge. This gives the young person the

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

message that she is respected and liked, whatever her behaviour. One professional highlighted this by stating: ‘Even at her worst, staff come back without bringing any negative baggage with them.’

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

All safeguarding information is passed to the appropriate professionals in a timely manner. The designated safeguarding officer for the local area is satisfied with the way that safeguarding is managed. He said that the manager ‘will always take the advice given, implement it, and is prompt at feeding back, supplying any further information I ask for’.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is suitably qualified to run a children’s home. He has a number of years’ experience and is tenacious in his management style. He is politely assertive with other professionals. He ensures that the young person and her progress are always prioritised. For example, he has recently challenged a professional about the timing of an education assessment. He has ‘chased’ the local authority for documentation, such as education plans and return home interviews after periods when the young person has been missing from home. He makes sure that the young person has access to services that she needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is always there for the young person. At the same time, he empowers his staff team. Because this is a one-bedded home, he can afford the time to lead the care himself. He leads by example and encourages the team in their resilience and confidence. He is very well respected and liked by his team. Equally, he has an excellent relationship with the young person. He delivers individual support sessions himself. This means that he is very clear about the young person’s progress and difficulties, so that he can lead the care effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel supported in their work. The close-knit working environment means that professional discussions take place on a daily and sometimes hourly basis. Opportunities for more formal supervision are not consistent and one newer member of staff has not received a formal session since March. This does not give opportunity for staff to have Inspection report children’s home: 1244161 7 their performance formally appraised.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff training is well organised. This means that staff understand the young person’s needs. The young person told the inspector that staff know her very well. She thinks that this is a strength of the home. Staff understand why the young person behaves in a certain way or puts herself at risk. They are able to make links between the young person’s history and her current behaviours.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

An independent visitor visits the home each month to complete her own inspection. These visits are usually very thorough. Opportunities to improve are identified, and managers are quick to act on suggestions. The manager’s own monitoring is also effective because he understands the strengths of the home and the areas for development. However, monitoring has not been robust enough to pick up shortfalls in staff supervision, in medication records and in the young person’s poor diet. The manager and organisation are happy to reflect on this. They plan to ensure that monitoring improves, to make sure that no other areas start to slip. The manager’s positive attitude shows his desire to further develop the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The statement of purpose is clear. The home sets out to provide a period of stability and to enable young people to gain control of their behaviour. This ethos is woven into care planning. The young person’s placement goals match well with the home’s ethos as stated. The home does what it sets out to do.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There are very positive working relationships between the home and other professionals. There was very positive feedback about communication from the young person’s placing authority. Comments include, ‘We have a brilliant relationship. The home works very well.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There have been some improvements since the last inspection. The one requirement and three recommendations made have all been met. The manager is more in control of staff recruitment, although this cannot be fully inspected, as there have been no new staff since the last inspection. Other improvements include better records of when young people have been missing and better information in the young person’s file about her previous education history.

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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. Inspection report children’s home: 1244161 8 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

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Information about this inspection

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: 1244161 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Blue Mountain Homes Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Flat 17, Leeland Mansions, Leeland Road, London W13 9HE

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Pradeep Manaktala

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Inspector

Caroline Brailsford, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1244161 10 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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