Children's home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Hammersmith and Fulham

Inspection report children’s home: SC480429 1 SC480429 Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Ltd 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 and accommodation for one young person who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The home is privately owned and managed.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 28 to 29 November 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 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: 6 December 2016

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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Key findings from this inspection

 Most young people make positive progress. This is because they enjoy stable placements and are supported by a consistent staff team. Inspection report children’s home: SC480429 2  Young people’s health and well-being are consistently promoted.  Staff promote the importance of education, and work effectively with education providers to help to ensure that young people receive appropriate support.  Young people receive effective support in maintaining relationships that are important to them.  Staff work effectively with partner agencies to promote young people’s safety and welfare.  Staff have a good understanding of risks to young people’s safety and well- being, and take appropriate action to protect them from harm.  As a result of the support that they receive, most young people learn to make safer choices and reduce their high-risk behaviours.  Consistently positive support assists young people to develop safe and

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Key findings from this inspection

appropriate behaviours.  Young people are cared for by well-trained and well-supported staff.  The registered manager makes good use of internal quality assurance systems, and this supports continuous improvement.

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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 process of providing a debriefing to young people following an incident of physical intervention or restraint should be reviewed to ensure that the process is beneficial to young people.  Risk assessments should be updated in a timely manner, so that staff have access to up-to-date and current information about how to maintain young people’s safety.  A clear log of safeguarding concerns would assist the registered manager to have effective oversight of safeguarding concerns and enable her to identify concerning patterns or trends.  The registered person must ensure that Ofsted is notified about significant events that occur at the home, to promote the well-being of young people.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/12/2016 Full Good 26/07/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 03/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 14/10/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC480429 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 notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if— (a) a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation; (b) an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious; (c) there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there; (d) a child protection enquiry involving a child — (i) is instigated; or (ii) concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or (e) there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40(4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e) 29/12/2017

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Recommendations

 Any child who has been restrained should be given the opportunity to express their feelings about their experience of the restraint as soon as is practicable, ideally within 24 hours of the restraint incident, taking the age of the child and the circumstances of the restraint into account. The child should be given the opportunity to speak with a staff member who was not involved in the restraint and the discussion should be held in appropriate circumstances. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 50, paragraph 9.6)  Specifically relating to the update of risk assessments, staff should 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) Specifically relating to safeguarding concerns, the home’s record of the concern

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Recommendations

must include a clear description of the action taken and the outcome of any resulting investigation. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.14) Inspection report children’s home: SC480429 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Most young people make good progress from their starting points. For example, after a long-term stay at the home, one young person recently achieved his goal of returning to his family. The current young person has settled well and has returned to education after a significant amount of time. He has made positive progress in reducing some high- risk behaviours, and is positively engaging with the youth offending team and young people’s alcohol services.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support young people to enjoy good health. On admission, young people are registered with a local general practitioner, optician and dental services, and are encouraged to attend their routine appointments. Young people are supported to learn about healthy lifestyles and encouraged to adopt them. The young person who currently lives at the home has been supported to follow a sensible diet and regular exercise, which has assisted him to reach a healthier weight. Access to the organisation’s therapy service, as well as external specialist support, promotes young people’s emotional well- being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers and staff have a good understanding of the importance of family contact, and they facilitate long-distance travel when required. They are flexible and accommodating to help to ensure that young people are able to maintain contact with people who are important to them. For example, plans are in place for staff to travel a significant distance with the young person and stay in a hotel to enable him to spend Christmas with his family.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager and staff actively promote young people’s education. They work well with external professionals to ensure that young people are supported to achieve in education, and are proactive in ensuring that young people have appropriate provision in place. The young person who currently lives at the home has made significant progress from his starting point. He is attending education on a full-time basis and is engaging well. He is now planning to take a number of GCSEs. He commented, ‘My biggest achievement is returning to school and doing my GCSEs.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are provided with a range of social and recreational experiences. They are encouraged to keep up existing hobbies and try new ones. The young person has joined a gym and also regularly attends a local library. He said, ‘I do lots of different activities, my favourite is trampolining. I am now really getting into playing pool and getting really good.’ Encouraging young people to engage in positive activities increases their opportunities to learn new skills and have fun.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are encouraged to express their views and, when they do, staff listen and take appropriate action. Staff spend time with young people to ensure that they understand processes such as their care reviews. Staff help young people to prepare for such occasions. This helps to ensure that young people are able to express their views and choices and have some influence over the care and support that they receive. Inspection report children’s home: SC480429 5 Individualised plans demonstrate that young people are assisted to develop their skills and learning in areas such as their finances, daily living skills and personal care. Staff work with external professionals to ensure that young people receive care in accordance with their pathway plans. This helps to ensure that young people are fully supported to prepare practically and emotionally for their transitions into adulthood.

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

There are effective procedures in place to help to ensure that appropriate action is taken to respond to any safeguarding concerns that are identified. All staff receive safeguarding training, which is constantly updated. Staff are confident in identifying safeguarding issues and demonstrate good knowledge of the action that they must take when such a concern is identified.

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

Records are maintained of any safeguarding concerns and the action taken in response to them. Records demonstrate that appropriate liaison takes place with relevant professionals. A clearer log of safeguarding concerns would provide the registered manager with an overall picture and, as such, assist in identifying any worrying patterns or trends.

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

The young person is supported by staff who understand his needs and are aware of the risks to his safety and well-being. Staff are vigilant and work closely with outside agencies to help to ensure that the young person is kept safe from harm.

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

The young person who currently lives at the home has made very good progress in terms of reducing high-risk behaviours, such as being missing from home and offending. From his starting point of regularly being missing from home, the young person has not been missing for several months. He is engaging well with youth offending workers and is not presenting any concerning behaviour in the community.

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

Individualised risk assessments identify specific concerns and provide staff with guidance on how to maintain young people’s safety. These are generally well detailed and updated on a regular basis. However, in one example it was noted that the young person’s risk assessment had not been updated for several weeks, despite there being some new information to consider. It is recommended that all risk assessments are updated in a timely manner so that staff have access to up-to-date, information.

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

Individualised behaviour support guidance is in place for the young person who lives at the home. This includes clear information about the young person’s behaviours and potential triggers, with well-detailed strategies to be followed by all staff. At times, young people may be asked to make reparation for a behaviour to help them to understand the impact that the behaviour has had. Records show that staff are fair and proportionate. The registered manager carefully monitors the use of consequences and takes appropriate action if they are found to be ineffective, for example by discussing alternative strategies with the staff team.

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

All staff receive training in physical intervention, which is regularly updated. Incidents of Inspection report children’s home: SC480429 6 restraint or physical intervention are minimal, which demonstrates the skills of staff in de-escalating potentially volatile situations. Records of significant incidents could be improved to provide more detail regarding the strategies that the staff have used to support young people when negative behaviours are heightened. As well as providing evidence of appropriate support, improved records would help to inform future behaviour support planning. It is also recommended that the processes for providing young people with an opportunity to comment on any restraints that they have been involved in are reviewed. It was noted that, on several occasions, the staff member speaking with the young person had been involved in the restraint. Further, in one example, the location and timing of the discussion were not appropriate. A

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

recommendation is raised in relation to this matter.

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

Young people are provided with safe, comfortable accommodation. A designated health and safety lead carries out regular audits to help to ensure that all areas of the home are fit for purpose and free from hazards. The registered manager ensures that careful recruitment procedures are followed, which helps to ensure that those employed at the home are of suitable character. This helps to safeguard young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is effectively managed by a suitably qualified and experienced registered manager. The registered manager has responsibility for another two homes within the organisation. There are suitable arrangements, including the presence of a full-time line manager, to ensure effective oversight and leadership.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager demonstrates a good understanding of young people’s needs. She has positive relationships with young people and staff, and demonstrates high expectations of standards at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers and staff work effectively with partner agencies to help to ensure that young people receive well-planned, coordinated care and support. The registered manager ensures that relevant information and significant incidents are communicated to the relevant professionals, and requests meetings to address significant issues when necessary. An external professional described the staff team as ‘resilient’ and ‘well led’, and was highly complimentary about the support provided to the young person who lives at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are well motivated, and they demonstrate a good understanding of their role and the needs of the young person whom they support. They report a good level of ongoing support and guidance, and express confidence in managers to provide a safe, effective service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A comprehensive training programme helps to ensure that all staff have the skills and knowledge required to carry out their roles. At the start of their employment, all staff are provided with a range of mandatory training in areas such as safeguarding and safe behaviour support. This training is regularly renewed to help to ensure that staff maintain their skills and knowledge. Regular one-to-one supervision gives all staff the Inspection report children’s home: SC480429 7 opportunity to meet with a member of the management team to discuss areas such as training, personal development and any concerns that either party may have. This supports staff development and promotes a positive culture at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager makes effective use of internal quality assurance processes, using these as a driver for constant improvement and development. Clear evidence of action taken in relation to independent visitor reports is maintained, and demonstrates that the registered manager addresses any matters identified in a prompt manner. Regular audits and weekly performance checks ensure that any issues are quickly identified, and this enables the registered manager to take immediate action to rectify them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Shortfalls in relation to notifying Ofsted about significant incidents were identified during the inspection. It was found that several incidents had occurred which were significant yet had not been reported to Ofsted. This undermines the ability of the regulator to carry out its monitoring function, because it is not kept appropriately informed. Consequently, the welfare of young people is not fully promoted. As such, a requirement is raised in relation to this matter.

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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.

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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: SC480429 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Cambian Group, 4th floor Waterfront Building, Chancellors Road, Hammersmith Embankment, London W6 9RU

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Inspector

Marie Cordingley, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC480429 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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