Children's Home run by Bramley Care Limited in West Sussex

Inspection report children’s home: SC484133 1 SC484133 Registered provider: Bramley Care 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 a privately owned therapeutic unit and provides care and accommodation for up to six boys who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account good

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Overall experiences and progress of

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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Overall experiences and progress of

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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Overall experiences and progress of

Date of last inspection: 15 February 2017

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Overall experiences and progress of

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people benefit from having a staff group that is dedicated to keeping them safe and improving their outcomes.  Managers offer good-quality support and guidance to the staff team and young people. Inspection report children’s home: SC484133 2  Young people enjoy warm and supportive relationships with the adults who care for them.  Members of staff work closely with other professionals to ensure that the young people make progress and that their needs are met to a very good standard.  The group meetings held by the young people help to resolve issues and differences swiftly. They foster a strong feeling of community living and mutual respect for each other.  The settled atmosphere and smooth-running routines help the young people to feel safe and to relax.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 04/10/2016 Full Good 15/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 14/10/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC484133 3

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must 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 a record is kept of the administration of medicine to each child. (Regulation 23(2)(c)) This is in relation to ensuring that the dose of medication administered is recorded. 30/10/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees undertake appropriate professional development. (Regulation 33(4)(a)) This is with reference to ensuring that all members of staff receive training in managing and supporting young people who self-harm. 30/10/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy and procedure to be followed in the event of an allegation of abuse or neglect and to provide for the prompt referral of an allegation about past abuse or neglect in relation to a child, to the placing authority and, if different the local authority in whose area the alleged abuse or neglect occurred. (Regulation 34(2)(c)) 30/10/2017

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Recommendations

 The registered person must ensure that there are procedures in place for welcoming and introducing each child to the home and that they are sensitive to the needs of the child at the time of arrival. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 57, paragraph 11.7) This is with particular reference to ensuring that the young person’s records are up to date when a young person is admitted from another home within the organisation.  It is good practice for a note of the content and/or outcomes of supervision sessions to be kept and to ensure that both the person giving the supervision and staff member have a copy of the record. (‘Guide to the children’s homes Inspection report children’s home: SC484133 4 regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.4)  Ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. (‘Guide to

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Recommendations

the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4) In particular, signatures of members of staff should be legible so that the identity of the author is clear.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people

Young people living in this home make significant progress. They have the opportunity to develop safe and meaningful relationships with the adults who care for them as well as their peers, often for the first time in their lives. One young person said, ‘This home has taught me loads about my independence and controlling my temper.’ The open and trusting relationships ensure that young people can share their concerns and worries, and approach staff and therapists for guidance. This approach, which also includes young people sharing their feelings in community meetings, means that formal complaints are rare and issues are resolved promptly and at a low level. The process of admitting young people to the home is carefully thought through and ensures that the young people want to live there and to take up the therapy and support that they are offered. It is not uncommon for young people to move to this home from

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people

other homes run by the organisation. When this occurs, a young person’s achievements up to the point of their admission are not recorded clearly. This is a missed opportunity to have an understanding of the progress that the young person has made and to have a contemporaneous plan in place at the point of admission. While members of staff have a full understanding of each young person’s needs, the written record of their progress at the point of admission is not up to date. All young people attend full-time education. Attendance is embedded and accepted as part of the routine of living at the home. As a result, young people make very good progress and take advantage of the support given to them. The young people’s independence is increased if this is seen as appropriate and their risks and vulnerabilities can be managed safely. Free time, with the opportunity to test the young people’s independence and self-management skills, is gradually increased in line with their ability

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people

to cope with this transition and extra responsibility. This process is monitored closely and decisions taken involve all interested stakeholders, including social workers, therapists, members of staff and, importantly, the young person. This ensures cohesive planning and a strong sense of collaboration in order to improve each young person’s life chances. All young people are encouraged to eat healthy diets and to exercise. Specialist support from therapists is readily available so that young people’s emotional health is nurtured and their resilience strengthened. Inspection report children’s home: SC484133 5 On occasion, young people have received non-prescribed medication and the dose given has not been recorded accurately. For example, a record stated that two tablets had been administered, but the size of the dose was not included. Although these mistakes did not harm the young people, the recording lacks the detail required.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people

Members of staff strive to ensure that the young people enjoy varied and enriching activities. Despite some of the restrictions that they may have, especially in relation to having unsupervised free time, the staff plan and endeavour to ensure that the young people are able to enjoy their leisure time constructively and enjoyably. As a result, the young people are able to socialise and not become isolated, despite some of the restrictions placed on them.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected

Staff hold the safety of the young people at the heart of their practice. There is an acute awareness of the vulnerabilities of the young people and practice focuses on ensuring that everyone is safe. Consequently, there is a very settled atmosphere in this home and young people speak of feeling safe and respected. All young people have members of staff, including therapists, with whom they can discuss any issues or concerns. There is an emphasis of using group meetings to address any behaviours which are having an impact on the group dynamics and the atmosphere. The use of sanctions is also rare, there being three imposed since the last inspection in February 2017. Instead, emphasis is placed on restorative practice and the opportunity is given to the young people to put right their behaviours rather than being punished. This approach strengthens the sense of living in a community, where the norm is to

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How well children and young people are helped and protected

respect each other and to value each other’s beliefs and opinions. If sanctions are imposed, the reasons are clearly recorded and young people’s comments made in the records show that they understand why the sanctions have been imposed. While all members of staff have been trained in the use of physical restraint, there have been no instances of this measure needing to be used for over a year. This is a positive reflection on the settled behaviour of the young people and the calm and respectful culture which pervades the home. All members of staff have received training in safeguarding and child protection. They all know who to contact and who to inform if they have concerns about a young person’s safety or behaviour. On one occasion, the local safeguarding child protection team was not informed of a historic allegation made by a young person in the home. The young person’s own placing authority was informed and steps were taken to keep him safe, but

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How well children and young people are helped and protected

the correct procedures were not followed in this case. Although this shortfall had no impact on a young person’s wellbeing or safety, managers should have followed the established procedures to ensure that the local child protection team are aware of incidents in their area. Since the last inspection, an improvement to the recruitment process has ensured that members of staff provide proof of their qualifications. Additionally, all necessary checks are carried out to ensure that only adults with appropriate backgrounds are employed. Inspection report children’s home: SC484133 6 Systems are in place to check all health and safety matters. Appropriate fire safety checks are routinely carried out. These include regular fire drills to ensure that the young people know what to do in the event of an emergency.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

This is a well-managed and settled home. The registered manager and her deputy provide excellent role models for other members of staff and the young people. As a result of this cohesive working, there is consistency in practice and a strong sense of community which helps to establish a positive and caring culture. It is clear that the staff and the young people respect and trust the registered manager and her deputy. Since the last inspection, the staff team is more settled and there is less reliance on agency staff. This means that the young people have familiar adults around to support and guide them. This also enables the young people to develop stable, trusting and consistent relationships. The staff are unanimous in saying that they are very well supported and that there is good morale and a feeling that the team works closely and effectively together. While all members of staff receive regular supervision, not all receive the records of these

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

sessions promptly. The delay in staff being able to review their own supervision notes means that issues around performance or the impact of their work are not necessarily resolved or discussed in a timely manner. In one example, there had been two supervision sessions which had not been recorded appropriately and the supervisee then had another session with another manager. Members of staff receive varied training in key areas such as child protection, first aid and restraint. Not all have had formal training in supporting young people who self- harm. While this has not had an impact on the young people, there are young people for whom this behaviour is a risk. Developing staff skills in this area will enable comprehensive support to be in place and increase staff knowledge and understanding. Managers and staff review the young people’s progress regularly and submit reports to placing social workers to keep them up to date. Communication is very good with other

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

professionals, such as teaching staff and therapists. Consequently, care plans and strategies are developed using different disciplines working in a united way for the benefit of each young person. The quality of monitoring of records has improved since the last inspection. Records are of a better quality and are checked by managers to ensure that the majority are up to date and accurate. Some records are signed by members of staff, but the signatures are illegible and it can, therefore, be difficult to identify who wrote the record.

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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 Inspection report children’s home: SC484133 7 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: SC484133 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Bramley Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Bramley Care Limited, Nicholas House, Riverfront, Enfield, Essex EN1 3FG

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Inspector

Paul Taylor, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC484133 9 achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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