Children's home run by Unity Residential Care Services Limited in Newcastle-under-Lyme

Inspection report children’s home: SC488710 1 SC488710 Registered provider: Unity Residential Care Services

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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 provide care for up to two young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The home is owned by a private organisation.

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inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

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inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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inadequate

There are serious and widespread failures. These mean that children are not protected and their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded. The care and experiences of children are poor and they are not making progress.

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: improved effectiveness

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Enforcement action since last inspection

None Inspection report children’s home: SC488710 2

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Key findings from this inspection

This children’s home is inadequate because:

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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff physically restrain children inappropriately and unnecessarily.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff do not follow young people’s care plans.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Managers and staff do not protect children who self-harm.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff do not promote children’s health or identity needs.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Managers and staff do not listen to what children have to say about their care.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff do not provide children with nurturing care.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff do not manage children’s behaviour appropriately.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Management is poor. Monitoring systems are ineffective.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

20/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 14/11/2016 Full Good 26/01/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC488710 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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who protect and promote each child’s welfare and treat each child with dignity and respect. (Regulation 6 (1) and (2 ) (b) (ii) (iii)) 17/10/2017

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Requirement Due date

The children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who help each child to express views, wishes and feelings. (Regulation 7 (1) and (2) (a) (ii)) 17/10/2017

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Requirement Due date

The enjoyment and achievement standard is that children take part in and benefit from a variety of activities that meet their needs and develop and reflect their creative, cultural, intellectual, physical and social interests and skills. (Regulation 9 (1)) 17/10/2017

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Requirement Due date

The health and well-being standard is that the health and well- being needs of children are met and that children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well- being. (Regulation 10 (1) (a)(b)) 17/10/2017

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that–

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Requirement Due date

staff strive to gain each child’s respect and trust. (Regulation (11) (1) and (2) (a) (viii)) 17/10/2017

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff–

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Requirement Due date

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;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm; 17/09/2017 Inspection report children’s home: SC488710 4 take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. (Regulation 12 (2) (a) (i)* (iii) (vi)) The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to–

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1) (a) (b) (2) (c) (h)*) 17/09/2017

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure–

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Requirement Due date

that each child’s relevant plans are followed. (Regulation 14 (2) (c)) 17/10/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that restraint in relation to a child is only permitted for the purpose of preventing injury to any person (including the child) and/or serious damage to the property of any person (including the child). Restraint in relation to a child must be necessary and proportionate. (Regulation 20 (1) (a) (b) and (2)) 17/10/2017

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Requirement Due date

If the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005(a) applies to the home the registered person must ensure that the requirements of that Order and any regulations made under it, except for article 23 (duties of employees), are complied with in respect of the home. (Regulation 25 (2)(b)) 17/10/2017

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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; and have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4) (b) (c)) 17/10/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes the date, time and location of the use of the measure and details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure. (Regulation 35 (3) (a) (iii) (v)) 17/10/2017 Inspection report children’s home: SC488710 5 * These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children do not enjoy positive experiences or make progress. They are not safe living in this home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Since the last inspection, one child has successful moved back to their home area. Another child moved into the home, then moved out two months later as no suitable education placement could be found. At the time of the inspection, one child was living at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff fail to provide children with basic care and nurturing. This is in direct contradiction to the home’s statement of purpose that states, ‘Our overall purpose is to provide first and foremost a high level of nurturing care, which ensures all [children’s] basic needs are met.’ Staff do not engage positively with children to develop positive relationships or gain their respect and trust. For example, when a ten year-old child asked a member of staff to play with him, the member of staff refused because he had played with him already. Staff also told the same child to run his own bath, without the support of staff, even though the child had been upset. This does not indicate that staff are providing nurturing care. Children are not being offered a range of activities and staff do not develop supportive, meaningful relationships with children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children’s files do not contain enough information to make sure that their needs are met. For example, appropriate written consent for medical treatment is not always available. This has the potential to hinder staff from providing appropriate health care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff are not provided with the training, skills and knowledge that they need so that they can meet some children’s individual needs. For example, specialist health appointments have been cancelled due to a lack of understanding by staff of the significance of such appointments for a child. This does not treat the child with dignity and respect or provide them with the services that they need. Staff do not help children to make healthy choices about their diet. One child ate chips and convenience food every day while he was living in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Consultation by staff with children is poor. Staff do not consistently seek feedback or children’s views, wishes and feelings about the home or their individual care planning. As a result, children do not influence the running of the home or their plans.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Staff successfully helped one child to move to an alternative placement within their home town and closer to their school. This move was completed in a child-focused manner. As a result, the child has settled in her new placement. Inspection report children’s home: SC488710 6

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

Poor oversight by managers and poor staff practice place children at risk.

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

Staff do not protect children from harm or promote their well-being and safety. Children do not enjoy positive relationships with staff and behaviour management strategies are ineffective. Staff do not respond to incidents early enough. They do not take appropriate action to prevent incidents from escalating to the point where physical restraint is required. On one occasion, staff physically restrained a child after the child picked up a television remote control and threatened to throw it. This is not a proportionate response. One child was restrained 16 times over a two-month period. Some of these restraints were inappropriate.

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

The recording of restraints does not provide an adequate account of the rationale for staff using them. Staff do not always record the measures that they have taken to try to de-escalate the situation or to record the time and location of the restraint. The manager has not challenged staff about this poor practice. The manager has not followed the home’s procedures for reviewing physical interventions. Additionally, the deputy manager has reviewed restraints undertaken by the manager. This is inappropriate, as the deputy manager is not in a position to challenge the manager’s actions formally should this be required. One member of staff has undertaken a physical restraint without any training. Managers are not gathering information to enable them to track incidents, evaluate staff responses and improve plans to protect children.

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

Staff place children at risk of harm. For example, one child was allowed to cook with hot fat despite the child previously informing staff that he had heard voices telling him to burn himself by placing his hands in boiling water. This demonstrates a lack of awareness from staff about how to manage risk and places the young person at risk of injury.

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

Staff do not make sure that children in the home are kept safe. For example, a child who had previously threatened to hang himself had a long cable in his bedroom that could have been used as a ligature. This does not protect his welfare and safety.

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

Staff do not follow children’s care plans provided by their placing authorities. For example, staff do not remove sharp and dangerous objects from the home, despite the fact that a child is known to harm themselves using these objects. This has resulted in a child attending the accident and emergency department on numerous occasions. Doctors are now concerned about the amount of radiation the child is being subjected to from X- rays. Staff do not have the skills to recognise and reduce known risks or to take effective action to protect children from harm. On one occasion, staff failed to supervise a child appropriately during a trip to the cinema. The child left the cinema and was able to drink a bottle of vodka before staff located him.

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

Fire safety procedures are weak. Records of incidents are incomplete or do not exist at all. For example, a child has been smoking in his bedroom. Staff have made no record of Inspection report children’s home: SC488710 7 this, nor have they shared the information with their colleagues or managers. Smoking on the premises is a breach of the home’s smoking policy and puts children, staff and visitors at risk. The home’s fire assessment does not take this into account or outline suitable strategies to reduce this risk.

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

Children rarely go missing from the home. For some children this is a significant reduction. However, risk assessments are weak. They do not clearly identify risks or outline effective strategies for staff to follow. Risk assessments are not kept up to date so do not reflect children’s changing needs. As a result, there is a lack of preventative work to minimise future risks.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leadership and management are poor. There has been no registered manager for over 26 weeks. A manager was appointed but later dismissed. A new experienced manager has now been appointed. However, she has only been in post for three weeks.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

This home lacks strong, proactive and effective management. At times, staff have been chaotic in the way that they have managed safeguarding situations and have lacked direction. Boundaries set for children are inconsistent.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Managers do not provide staff with enough formal supervision or record these sessions effectively. Poor practice, including times when staff have not followed risk assessments, has not been challenged. Some staff have had no supervision recorded since November 2016. Some staff do not have records of appraisals. As a result, staff are not receiving adequate support and guidance.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Management oversight is weak. Managers do not adequately monitor or review practice or take steps to improve it. They do not understand the impact that the poor quality of care has on children. Consequently, children do not receive the support that they need to make progress. Managers have failed to ensure that plans are tailored to children’s individuals needs or reflect risks adequately.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Managers have been ineffective in identifying areas where the service has not met regulations or where there are areas of greatest risk. Managers’ monitoring and scrutiny of serious incidents, unnecessary and inappropriate physical restraints, the safety of the home and the actions of staff are all ineffective. As a result, children are not being protected.

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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: SC488710 8 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: SC488710 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Unity Residential Care Services

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unity Residential Care Services Ltd, 98 Lancaster Road, Newcastle-under-Lyme ST5 1DS

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Inspector

Sandra King, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC488710 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 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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