Children's Home run by Quality Care Homes (UK) Limited in Slough

Inspection report children’s home: 1183799 1 Registered provider: Quality Care Homes (uk) 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 was re-registered in November 2016, due to relocating and changing the occupancy from six to four. The home is privately owned and is able to accommodate four young people, up to the age of 18 years, who have learning disabilities.

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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 good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be 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: 27 January 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people with complex needs receive good quality care from the staff.  The staff are patient and nurturing in their approach, and have developed Inspection report children’s home: 1183799 2 positive relationships with young people, who trust them.  The staff maintain current information, keep up to date with training and have good engagement with external professionals and specialists. This enables them to meet the complex health needs of the young people.  Through providing transport to school, attending review meetings and having quality communication with school personnel, staff ensure that the young people have their educational needs met.  The young people have a wide range of activities available to them, to help them develop their social awareness and learn to take appropriate risks.  The ability of staff to engage with parents has provided consistent care and contact arrangements for young people.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The young people are kept safe, with no safeguarding concerns on record that need to be referred to the designated officer.

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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 sensory room for the home has not been completed, despite the home having being open for over a year.  The registered manager do not have sufficient presence and impact in the home.  The independent visitor should provide the home with an unbiased view that scrutinises the strengths and weaknesses of the home.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

27/01/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 26/04/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 1183799 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

6: Quality and purpose of care standard In order to meet the quality and purpose of care standard, the registered person is required to (2)(c) ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to (i) meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 6(2)(c)(i)) In particular, make the sensory room available to children. 27 Feb 2018

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Requirement Due date

If the registered provider is an individual, the individual must undertake such continuing professional development as is necessary to ensure that the individual has the skills needed for carrying on the children’s home. (Regulation 29(1)) 27 Feb 2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered manager must undertake such continuing professional development as is necessary to ensure that the registered manager has the skills needed for managing the home. (Regulation 29(4)) 27 Feb 2018

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Recommendations

 A record of supervision should be kept for staff, including the manager. The record should provide evidence that supervision is being delivered in line with regulation 33(4) (b). (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.3)

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Recommendations

 Staff should be familiar with the home’s polices on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, clear recording. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should actively seek independent scrutiny of the home and make best use of the information from independent and internal monitoring to ensure continuous improvement. They should be skilled in anticipating difficulties and reviewing incidents, such as learning from disruptions and placement breakdowns. They are responsible for proactively implementing lessons learned and sustaining good practice. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality Inspection report children’s home: 1183799 4 standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people, who have learning and physical disabilities, make reasonable progress, and benefit from specialised care which meets their complex needs. At the time of inspection, there were two young people living in the home full-time, with another having been recently discharged after successful periods of respite care. Records demonstrate that their experiences were positive due to quality engagement by the staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A strength of the children’s home is that all young people are treated with respect and dignity by the staff. Most of the young people have difficulty communicating; the staff are skilful in obtaining their views in a calm, patient and nurturing manner. The young people observed during the inspection presented as happy, and responded well to guidance from the staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

With staff assistance, a young person transitioned to semi-independent living. There was effective engagement with staff from the new placement, consisting of prearranged visits. The transition was documented in a child-friendly transition plan which was easily understood by the young person. This practice eased the anxiety of the young person, allowing the planned move to take place without any issues.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff support the educational needs of the young people. The majority of the young people attend special education provisions that require routine daily engagement from the staff. The staff ensure that young people make it safely to school by means of their designated transport, and attend regular meetings to review young people’s progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people have their complex medical needs met by the staff. Information about their pre-existing medical conditions is on file. The staff acquaint themselves with this information and consult with specialists as needed. Medication is safely stored and administered through a process that promotes accountability with no mistakes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The positive, supportive relationships developed by the staff with parents has benefited the young people. Parents are kept well informed, and are involved in some decision- making when needed. The positive interactions have contributed to consistent contact arrangements for the young people.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

With the assistance of staff, the young people engage in meaningful and purposeful activities, such as day trips to the airport. The lack of a sensory room on site means that young people do not have access to that valuable resource for stimulation, when needed. This has been a work in progress for some time, with no end result yet. Inspection report children’s home: 1183799 5

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

Overall, the safeguarding of young people is of a good quality. The staff keep young people safe from harm by understanding their needs and limitations. The staff have a clear understanding of the safeguarding policy and procedures of the home, should an incident arise.

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

The young people do not go missing, nor have they been exposed to child sexual exploitation or radicalisation. Established links with local professionals and police are in place should a concern arise. There have been no referrals made to the designated officer that needed consultation.

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

The staff knowledge of the young people allows them to manage the behaviour of the young people effectively. Concerning incidents rarely occur, and physical interventions have never been needed.

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

Risks associated with the complex needs of the young people are managed well by the staff. The risk assessments offer guidance, and are updated as young people progress in their individual behaviours. One-to-one staffing levels enable the young people to be closely monitored, and provide opportunities for them to be active without significant restrictions.

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

The physical environment of the home is well maintained to ensure that the young people are safe. All health and safety checks are up to date for electricity, gas and fire. The location risk assessment adequately captures concerns for the local area, and potential impact on the young people.

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

There have been no new staff recruited to work directly with the young people in this inspection period, resulting in consistent and safe care arrangements by staff who are familiar to the young people.

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

The responsibilities of the registered manager, who is also the responsible individual, and her impact on the day-to-day operation of the home, are unclear. She has not made herself available during the last two full inspections, therefore her input has been non- existent. This has resulted in some shortfalls that need to be addressed. The team manager is responsible for the daily functioning of the home.

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

Lacklustre challenges by the team manager to placing authorities have resulted in delays in decisions regarding the young people. A young person has resided in the home for some time without a signed contract of care arrangements on file. The team manager admits that he limited his challenges due to his belief that only the registered manager should undertake this task.

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

Several documents, such as daily logs, behaviour incidents and other documents Inspection report children’s home: 1183799 6 reviewed on inspection, were difficult to comprehend due to poor formatting and staff handwriting. The team manager has accepted that some forms restricted the staff’s ability to document correctly, and this is something he would like to correct going forward.

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

External monitoring of the home is weak. The monthly reports submitted following the independent person’s visits have failed to make a difference in the development of the home. The strengths and weaknesses of the home are not correctly identified, therefore a critical analysis from an unbiased perspective is not available to managers. This has inhibited the managers from developing a suitable development plan of action that promotes positive change.

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

The staff are an experienced group who communicate well with each other. The majority have the appropriate qualification to work in a children’s home, and a small number are in the process of completing the qualification. They are committed to the young people, and understand their roles and responsibilities in terms of caring for them. The staff are able to develop their practice with essential and bespoke training.

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

The staff are provided with regular supervision and appraisals by the registered manager. The majority of these records were handwritten and not legible, making it difficult to understand the context. In addition, the supervision arrangements for the registered manager are unknown; therefore, it is not possible to evaluate her discussions about the young people, staff or her own development.

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

The children’s home is operating in line with its statement of purpose in relation to the services and care provided to the young people.

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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 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: 1183799 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Quality Care Homes (uk) Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 6th Floor, Amp House, Croydon CR0 2LX

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Balwinder Randhawa

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Inspector(s)

James Harmon, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1183799 8 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(s)

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Inspector(s)

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Inspector(s)

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