Children's Home run by Eastfield Group in Sefton

Inspection report children’s home: SC064663 1 SC064663

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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 up to six young people who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The home is owned by a private provider.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 31 August to 1 September 2017

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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 requires improvement to be 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: 7 February 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Sustained effectiveness

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Key findings from this inspection

 The registered manager is a strong leader who has high aspirations for the young people living in the home. He ensures that the staff team works effectively to meet the individual needs of the young people and ensure that the Inspection report children’s home: SC064663 2 young people are safeguarded.  Young people make progress in all areas of their lives from their starting points when they move into the home. This includes progress in education, health, socialisation, confidence, activities, independence and relationships.  Collaborative working is well established in the home. This ensures that the young people receive the most appropriate support and intervention to meet their needs.  The home offers young people a safe, secure and nurturing environment. Young people say that they feel safe and happy living in the home.  Relationships between the registered manager, staff and young people are

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Key findings from this inspection

good.  Young people feel valued and are able to share their views, wishes and feelings with the registered manager and staff. Young people say that they are listened to and always receive a response to the requests that they make.  Recording systems in the home are good. This ensures that all information relating to the young people is clearly recorded so that all staff reading the records have a full and accurate account of each young person’s current situation.  The monitoring and review systems in the home are robust and enable the registered manager to identify strengths, weaknesses and areas for development. Swift action is taken to address any identified shortfalls in practice or the quality of care provided to young people to ensure that their needs are met well and outcomes are improved for them.

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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 systems in place for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home does not ensure that the young people are effectively safeguarded.  Not all risk assessments provide an up-to-date and accurate assessment of risk.  The home must ensure that young people only have access to age-appropriate computer games.  Closer monitoring of young people lighting candles in their bedrooms should be in place. Alternatively, young people would benefit from safer items in their bedrooms to provide a nice smell, in place of fragranced candles, to reduce the risk of fire in the home.  Staff supervision records do not demonstrate that regular reflective practice takes place during supervision sessions.  Some records in the home are not fully completed. For example, records relating to room searches omit the registered manager’s evaluation. Inspection report children’s home: SC064663 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 29/09/2016 Full Good 11/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 14/12/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC064663 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

23: Medicines The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home. In particular, the registered person must ensure that— medicines kept in the home are stored in a secure place so as to prevent any child from having unsupervised access to them; medicine which is prescribed for a child is administered as prescribed to the child for whom it is prescribed and to no other child; and a record is kept of the administration of medicine to each child. (Regulation 23 (1)(2)(a)(b)(c) 16/10/2017

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Requirement Due date

12: 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— the staff— 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; help each child to understand how to keep safe; have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm; that the home’s day to day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and protect each child effectively from harm; that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(i)(ii)(iii)(b)(d) 16/10/2017

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Requirement Due date

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Recommendations

 The registered person should actively seek independent scrutiny of the home. The independent person should ensure all completed reports are provided to HMCI. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality Standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24)

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Recommendations

 The registered person must have 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 the needs of the children assigned to their care. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)

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Recommendations

 Staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes fact, opinion and third party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people make significant sustained progress in all areas of their lives including education, health and development, behaviour, confidence, independence and safeguarding. Outcomes are improved for them due to the high level of care, support and intervention that they receive from the registered manager and staff in the children’s home. Young people feel safe and happy living in the home. The relationships between the registered manager, staff and young people are good and promote the overall positive experiences for young people and the progress they make.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are supported with their education and make good progress. Regular attendance at school is promoted by the staff who ensure that good routines are in place for the young people. This supports their regular attendance and punctuality in school. Young people are encouraged and supported to complete their homework, and benefit from an education room in the home to further support their progress in education. Furthermore, they are supported to use the internet for education purposes. Regular communication between the home and schools enable the sharing of relevant information to support each young person at home and at school. This supports young people to have successful outcomes in education. The home is proactive in addressing issues relating to education for the young people. For example, one young person was out of education when he moved into the home and the home liaised effectively with the

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

placing local authority and host local authority to ensure that suitable education provision was in place. This resulted in the young person accessing mainstream Inspection report children’s home: SC064663 6 education rather than the planned alternative education. Education plans are detailed and clearly outline the young people’s journey and progress through education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager and staff have a clear understanding of the health needs of the young people. Healthcare plans are in place which clearly outline the young people’s individual health needs and how they are being met. Health issues are addressed with young people during key-work sessions and staff encourage and support all of the young people to adopt a healthy lifestyle and attend health and development appointments as and when necessary. Issues relating to alcohol and substance misuse and emotional well-being are managed effectively, and young people receive appropriate support in relation to these from specialist services.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people benefit from a wide range of social and recreational opportunities. This includes going to the cinema, the beach, swimming baths, the park and a local games hall to play pool. Furthermore, some of the young people have been on holiday during the school summer holidays. One young person said, ‘The holiday was boss, we really enjoyed it and had lots of fun.’ A member of staff said, ‘I spent a couple of days away with the young people during their holiday, we all really enjoyed it and it was nice to spend quality time together away from the home.’ The wide range of opportunities for young people supports them in building their social interaction, confidence and self- esteem.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people have developed positive relationships with the registered manager and staff. Young people spend time with the registered manager and staff talking, cooking and doing activities. The registered manager and staff listen to the young people and respond appropriately to their views, wishes and feelings. Weekly young people’s meetings allow young people to plan their meals and activities for the coming week. Monthly young people’s meetings allow the young people to share their views, wishes and feelings about the home and the care provided to them. They are listened to and always given a response to the requests they make. For example, one young person requested a new television in the lounge and the registered manager agreed to this. Another young person asked for his bedroom to be personalised in his football team’s wallpaper and bedding and this was also arranged. Furthermore, the young people have

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

regular key-work sessions to discuss and address issues that are specific to them. Monthly consultation forms are completed by the young people and the recent responses were extremely positive. This demonstrates that the young people’s views, wishes and feelings are central to the running of the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Care planning for young people is one of the many strengths in the home. Young people have detailed placement plans in place which clearly define their needs and the suitable action to be taken to address them. In addition to these plans, young people have individual ‘my plans’ which are formulated by them with the support of staff. Information in ‘my plans’ includes each young person’s likes and dislikes, hope and aspirations and the support that they feel they need. This ensures that young people have a voice in the care provided to them and are clear on the arrangements for them. Inspection report children’s home: SC064663 7 The home fully supports young people to develop and maintain positive relationships with friends and family. Regular communication takes place between the staff, young people and their friends and family to arrange contact. The safety and welfare of young people is monitored during contact sessions. Contact arrangements for each young

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

person is clearly recorded within their individual placement plan. This clearly demonstrates that contact with people who are important to each young person is fully promoted, and the home ensures that safeguards are in place to ensure that contact is safe.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home environment provides young people with a safe, supportive and nurturing home. Recent home improvements have been made and plans are in place for further improvements. Young people are consulted as to what improvements they would like in the home and are given the opportunity to choose new items. Young people’s bedrooms are personalised to their particular choice in décor and furnishings. Young people have photographs in their bedrooms of friends and family. Furthermore, the home has photographs of the young people around the house.

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improvement to be good

Young people say that they feel safe living in the home. The individual risks to young people have reduced since moving into the home. However, there are some areas of safeguarding in the home that need to be strengthened to eliminate the potential risks to young people. The registered manager promotes a strong safeguarding culture in the home; however, he acknowledges that some shortfalls could potentially place young people at risk. He is fully committed to addressing the shortfalls identified immediately to ensure that young people are safe from harm and that they live in a safe home environment where their safety and well-being is paramount.

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improvement to be good

The home does not always appropriately assess the games that young people bring into the home. One young person had an inappropriate 18-plus game in their bedroom at the time of the inspection. Furthermore, the young person had a fragranced candle in their bedroom and spoke about lighting and putting this out themselves and staff not regularly monitoring this. Although no harm has been caused by this, it is felt that closer monitoring by staff would reduce the risk of any potential fire or harm to young people.

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improvement to be good

The records and quantities of medication in the home do not demonstrate robust systems in place for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home to ensure that the young people are safeguarded effectively. On inspection, it was identified that some medication could not be accounted for. Furthermore, records demonstrated that a young person was not given medication in line with their prescription. One medication appeared to be over administered and other medication under administered. The inaccurate recording and monitoring of medication potentially places young people at risk of harm. Furthermore, it could result in their health needs not being met. However, the shortfalls in medication were very recent, and records over recent months indicate medication has been given in Inspection report children’s home: SC064663 8 line with young people’s prescription and recorded accurately. The registered manager

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improvement to be good

regularly reviews the medication records as part of the home’s internal monitoring systems. Therefore, it is felt that the errors identified during the inspection would have been picked up by the monitoring and review systems in place. The registered manager recognises that the systems in place relating to the safe administration of medication need to be strengthened, and he plans to implement a more robust procedure immediately.

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improvement to be good

The risk assessment for one young person has not been updated since he moved into the home several months ago. The risk assessment does not provide a true reflection of the current risk levels for the young person, nor does it demonstrate the reduction in risks to him. However, other risk assessments viewed provided a more accurate indication of the risks apparent to the young person and demonstrated the reduction in risk levels. The registered manager is currently working on updating all the risk assessments so that they provide a true reflection of risk levels and how these are managed in the home.

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improvement to be good

The behaviour management practice in the home supports young people to present with age-appropriate behaviour that does not result in a high number of incidents in the home. There is a clear understanding between staff and young people of the expectations of their behaviour in the home, and any negative behaviours are dealt with effectively. Consequences for poor behaviour are consistent and appropriate to the behaviour displayed. A restorative approach to negative behaviour enables young people to reflect on their behaviour and make the required changes to prevent any further such occurrences. Behaviour management plans clearly outline the individual issues for young people that may have a negative impact on their behaviour and the strategies in place to support young people and manage their behaviours. Young people are regularly praised for positive behaviour and this is often recorded in the home’s praise records.

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improvement to be good

Furthermore, young people regularly receive rewards for positive behaviour. The successful implementation of procedures to manage negative behaviour and promote positive behaviours mean that the behaviour of the young people in the home has improved.

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improvement to be good

The home’s review of the appropriateness and suitability of the location of the premises is reviewed at least annually in line with children’s homes regulations. It clearly outlines all known risks in the community and information from others including the police, youth offending service, missing person’s team and local safeguarding children’s board. The considerations made during the location review risk assessment have evaluated if the location of the home influences the potential for an already vulnerable child to be a victim of crime, such as being targeted for sexual exploitation, and whether there is a potential for children placed at the home being drawn into gang crime or anti-social behaviour in the local area.

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improvement to be good

The health and safety practices in the home ensure that young people’s safety and well- being are paramount. Staff carry out regular health and safety checks, including fire drills, to ensure that the premises are safe and young people are able to respond in an emergency. Fire drills are always undertaken when a new young person moves into the Inspection report children’s home: SC064663 9 home. The very good health and safety practice ensures that young people are safeguarded in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager of the home is suitably experienced and qualified to fulfil his role. He has been in this post for over 12 months now and is clearly having a positive impact on the home. He has high aspirations for himself, his staff team and the young people living in the home. He said, ‘Everything I do is for the benefit of the young people.’ He provides effective leadership and management of the children’s home that prioritises the welfare of the young people and focuses on improving outcomes for them, in line with the aims and objectives of the home’s statement of purpose and the young people’s individual care plans. He ensures that the young people receive a good standard of care in a positive and nurturing home environment. The stable and experienced staff team helps the young people to make good progress. The registered manager and staff have developed good working relationships with the young people’s

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

families, social workers and education and healthcare professionals. They work together effectively to ensure that the young people get the support and services they require to promote their welfare.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team feels supported by the registered manager and enjoys working with him. Team meetings take place monthly and are reflective in nature, discussing each young person’s progress and plans. Furthermore, team meetings allow the staff team to discuss current issues and provide the staff team with information to raise their awareness and understanding of issues such as radicalisation. Although staff receive regular supervision, supervision records do not demonstrate that this is always reflective in nature. A member of staff said, ‘The manager is very supportive and will ‘pull us up’ on things if they are not right. I understand the reason for this. He supports us to consider how we can improve our practice and praises us for good practice.’ Consequently, the staff team is supported and encouraged to provide a good quality of care to the young people living in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

All staff working at the home are suitably qualified or working towards gaining their qualification. Staff receive regular training and development opportunities to ensure their continuous professional development. A member of staff was able to outline how recent training in safeguarding has improved her practice. Training records demonstrate that the staff team completes the company’s mandatory training but also have the opportunity to attend more specialist training, such as terrorism, female genital mutilation and transgender and autism awareness. The training and development opportunities in place for staff ensures their continuous professional development and helps them to provide a good quality of care to the young people they care for. Subsequently, outcomes for the young people are improved.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Monitoring and review systems in the home enable the manager to review the quality of care provided to the young people living in the home. The monitoring systems within the home are an integral function that occur on a regular basis, internally and externally, by Inspection report children’s home: SC064663 10 an independent person. This person undertakes monthly independent reviews of safeguarding practice in the home and the home’s conduct in relation to promoting young people’s well-being. However, the independent person does not always send the completed reports to HMCI in line with regulations. The regular monitoring and review systems in place enable the manager to identify areas for development, and take action to address any minor shortfalls identified, thus ensuring that dips in the quality of care are quickly rectified, practice is strengthened and young people’s continuing progress is central to the home’s practice. The registered manager provides strong leadership and

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

has a clear commitment to the continued development and sustained improvement in the home. Consequently, the care delivered to the young people is of a good standard.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home’s statement of purpose clearly outlines the ethos and principles of the home, which are demonstrated in the professional practice of the registered manager and staff in the home. ‘The home believes that every young person has the right to be treated as an individual that each individual has the right to have their needs met within an environment that balances care with control, and that provides stability and consistency. The home provides a nurturing, holistic environment to the young people placed. A social worker said, ‘The registered manager and staff are very much actively involved with the young people, and they are very child-focused. The home are meeting the young person’s needs and safeguarding him.’ Consequently, the home is working in line with their statement of purpose and meeting each young person’s individual needs well.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a noticeable improvement in the records and plans in the home. Records include detailed and relevant information relating to the young people. Records provide a comprehensive picture of the young person’s current situation, and clearly demonstrate their experiences and progress and the support and guidance they receive. Furthermore, records are generally signed and dated by the author and other staff members to acknowledge that they have read and understood them. The registered manger regularly reviews records as part of the internal monitoring systems. Generally, he includes his comments and evaluation of records such as missing from home records. However, he does not always complete the comments/evaluation section of the records relating to room searches. A new placement plan has been implemented for one young person in the home, which is extremely detailed and incorporates all plans and assessments for

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

the young person including the education plan, healthcare plan, contact plan, behaviour management plan and risk assessment. The registered manager is currently working on implementing the improved placement plans for all of the young people living in the home.

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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 differences 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 Inspection report children’s home: SC064663 11 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: SC064663 12

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Eastfield Group, 6d Reyground House, 6b Ryeground Lane, Formby, Merseyside L37 7EQ

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Inspector

Lisa Mulcahy, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC064663 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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