Children's home run by Bristol City Council

Inspection report children’s home: SC067151 1 SC067151 Registered provider: Bristol City Council Interim inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a local authority children’s home registered to provide care and accommodation for up to five children at any one time. The children may have physical and/or learning disabilities. The home is registered to provide short breaks only.

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Information about this children’s home

Judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

This home was judged requires improvement to be good at the last full inspection. At the interim inspection, Ofsted judges that it has declined in effectiveness.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

The home has now been without a registered manager for 56 weeks. The new prospective registered manager started in post on 30 October 2017. She has submitted an application to Ofsted, but it was returned because it was incomplete. The manager has taken action to remedy the deficit, and a new application is ready to be submitted. The requirement to appoint a manager has been met, and the need to register the new manager is now included in the repeated requirement under the leadership and management quality standard.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

The lack of a registered manager has affected the home’s development and progress for over a year. As a result, very few of the requirements from the last inspection have been met in full. Six requirements and four recommendations have been made at this Inspection report children’s home: SC067151 2 inspection. Four of the requirements were also made at the last inspection.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

The manager has approached a major task with enthusiasm and commitment. She made a decision, when faced with a large number of inspection requirements and additional recommendations from the independent visitor, to start working on a number of areas simultaneously. As a result, there is evidence of improvement in most areas, but there has been insufficient time to resolve every regulatory shortfall.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

The interim manager holds a degree in early education and a professional qualification in children’s centre leadership.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

The requirement made under the leadership and management quality standard concerned the need for improved management monitoring, staffing levels, fire safety checks, staff supervision and team meeting minutes.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Staff supervision is now taking place regularly, in order to maintain standards of practice and professional development. The interim manager is supervising the three deputy managers. The deputy managers, who are all qualified registered nurses for children with learning disabilities, each supervise three care staff. All staff have now received supervision for the month of December, so supervision is back on track. The interim manager recognises the importance of team meetings. These are now properly recorded, with action points noted. These two elements of the requirement have been met.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Further work is required to resolve the home’s continuing shortage of staff. There are currently three vacant posts. This has meant that the manager has to help cover shifts at busy times. As a result, the interim manager is short of time for scrutiny and oversight of the home. Consequently, fire safety checks and some other management tasks have not been adequately monitored.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

The requirement made under the quality of care standard has also been repeated. This was made with particular reference to the home being decorated and furnished in a homely manner. The requirement also specified that the remaining refurbishment work must be completed. The deadline for this work was 11 August 2017. The requirement has also been made at previous inspections.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Some good work has been started to improve the quality of the environment. There is a very colourful new mural on an outside wall overlooking the children’s play area. A new kitchen was being fitted during the inspection. Some of the furniture in the lounge has been replaced. The room looks much more homely and attractive.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

The inspector has questioned the need for a very institutional-looking metal shutter between the kitchen and the dining area. The health and safety advisor has said that this is required for fire safety. The local fire and rescue service should be asked to clarify the status of this shutter in terms of fire safety.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

There is much still to be done to bring the children’s bedrooms and the outside space up to the required standard. One bedroom has been nicely decorated in a child-friendly Inspection report children’s home: SC067151 3 manner, but some are still very institutional in appearance.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

The interim manager has already given this matter considerable thought. She plans to retain one or two reduced-stimulation rooms for children who find it difficult to cope with lots of colour and decoration. She has plans to redecorate the other rooms and remove the protective wooden boxes from around some of the televisions. This means that children who do not need this level of restriction can have homely accommodation.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

The sensory garden, which is described in the statement of purpose as though it is fully in place, has not yet been developed. It is now six months past the home’s own target date for completion. The main reason for this is that there has been a technical difficulty with the water feature, but there is also a lack of clarity about the purpose of this area and how it will be used.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

The interim manager has already identified other areas for development. Some areas of the garden will have raised beds to help children who use wheelchairs to become involved in planting and caring for plants, and in growing vegetables and flowers. When complete, this will really enhance the home.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Some of the equipment in the play area, for example the climbing frame and the raised sand pit, requires a professional assessment and possible adaptation to ensure that it is safe and inclusive for children who are wheelchair users, as well as those who are fully mobile.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

The inspector was told that the premises have not been assessed by an occupational therapist for many years. In light of the changes taking place and those planned, such an assessment would be advisable. This would ensure that the planned changes are suitable for children who have a very wide range of disabilities. A recommendation has been made.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

In October 2017, before the new manager arrived in post, there was a child protection concern. This matter is still under investigation. Staff followed what they thought was the correct child protection protocol, but made a procedural mistake as they were given conflicting procedures to follow.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

One procedure, removed during the inspection, was written for staff who work in hospitals. This is a children’s home and the local authority is the lead agency for child protection. Its safeguarding procedures, which are based on Working Together to Safeguard Children 2015, must be followed at all times. There should be only one protocol for managing child protection concerns.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Furthermore, a child’s risk assessment had not been updated to reflect a child protection matter. A new requirement has been made under the protection of children quality standard, to ensure that risk assessments are updated in the future.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

The home does not have a system for safe storage of safeguarding documentation, for example child protection conference minutes. Some of the recording on the incident Inspection report children’s home: SC067151 4 described above had already been archived. Information which could potentially be required as evidence must be fully and accurately recorded and retained on a separate, confidential file. A recommendation has been made about recording.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Discussion took place about the need for regular child protection discussions for the staff team, perhaps in team meetings, so that everyone understands the limits of their role and follows the same procedure.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

At the last inspection, a requirement was made that the children must be staffed at all times in line with their risk assessments. This has been met, and there have been no further incidents of unsafe working practices.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

The requirement made at the last inspection regarding the home’s statement of purpose was because this document did not cover all the areas in Schedule 1 of the Children’s Homes Regulations 2015. The statement of purpose has now been reviewed, so that aspect of the requirement is met. A new requirement has been made under the same regulation, because the revised statement of purpose contains a description of the home that is not accurate. For example, it describes the garden as though the planned work is complete. Also, it states that the home carries out 16-week assessments under a specific assessment framework. The home’s conditions of registration restrict admissions to short breaks only, so this would not be permitted. A new requirement has been made to ensure that the home operates in line with its own statement of purpose.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Another new requirement has been made regarding fire safety. There are two reasons for this. Firstly, the deficits in fire alarm checks found at the last inspection have continued. There are a number of gaps in the records. This fails to ensure that all the home’s fire protection equipment is working properly. Secondly, the local authority’s health and safety advisor has carried out a detailed fire risk assessment. This raises a number of serious concerns about the layout of the home, the provision of fire doors and the evacuation plan. The manager has already started to take action to resolve the recommendations made.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Advice should be sought from the local fire and rescue service to clarify the evacuation procedure and required modifications to the building. For example, one area of concern is that there could be as many as five children and young people who have no independent mobility in the home at any one time.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

The fire service’s previous advice about leaving children and young people in a protected space to await help has changed, in light of recent tragic events in another part of the country. The manager has been told that the children and young people now have to be evacuated. It follows that the two staff on duty at night would not be able to evacuate five children quickly enough.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

The location of the fire assembly point may also be need to be reviewed. The current assembly point is very close to the building, and is often taken up by cars and minibuses. There would be very little space for the children and young people to wait there in an emergency. Inspection report children’s home: SC067151 5 The manager has not yet been able to carry out a full file audit of the staff files in the home. Therefore, no progress has yet been made in ensuring that the files contain all the necessary information required by regulation. This requirement has been repeated.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

There have been no restraints and no incidents of children and young people going missing since the last inspection. The previous requirement made about recording restraints has not been repeated.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

The second requirement that has been met in full concerns the independent visitor’s reports. At the time of the last inspection, these had not reached Ofsted. This was acted on immediately after the last inspection. The reports are now received every month.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

In addition to the efforts made to take action on the requirements, the interim manager has started work on improving the quality of recording. Although there is much work to be done to bring the children’s files up to the same standard, the manager has made a good start. The new file format is clear and detailed. This helps the staff to care for children and young people in the most sensitive and safe manner.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

The manager has also given considerable thought to improving the ways in which children and young people are consulted. There has been some confusion about how this is done. Some attempts to consult with children and young people have turned into routine activities.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Children and young people should be offered a wide range of interesting things to do, which provide fun and stimulation. This may be combined with a consultation exercise, but with children who have such varied special needs, consultation may be achieved more sensitively in pairs, or individually with each child. A recommendation has been made.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/06/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good 19/01/2017 Interim Declined in effectiveness 23/08/2016 Full Good 02/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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What does the children’s home need to do to improve?

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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

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children and use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to provide to children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably; provide to children personal items that are appropriate for their age and understanding; make decisions about the day-to-day arrangements for each child, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans, which give the child an appropriate degree of freedom and choice; ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to meet the needs of each child; and enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home. (Regulation 6 (1)(a) and (b), (2)(b)(vii)(viii) and (c)(i) and (ii))

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Requirement Due date

This is with particular reference to ensuring that the home is decorated and furnished in a homely manner and that the remaining refurbishment work is completed. 28/02/2018

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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. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that 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; have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm; understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person; take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies; and that the effectiveness of the home’s 31/01/2018 Inspection report children’s home: SC067151 7 child protection policies is monitored regularly.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 12 (1) and (2)(a)(i)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii) and (e) and ‘Working together to safeguard children’ 2015 (page 37, section 2))

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Requirement Due date

This is with particular reference to ensuring that the home has a single, clear and transparent child protection policy which reflects the guidance contained in ‘Working together to safeguard children’ 2015. The registered person should ensure that all staff follow the local authority’s child protection procedures when they have a concern that a child may have been harmed. The registered person should also ensure that when there is an identified risk to a child, that their individual risk assessment is updated promptly. The leadership and management standard

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Requirement Due date

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 lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose; ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child; understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home; use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(2)(a)(d)(f) and (h))

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Requirement Due date

This is with particular reference to the recently-appointed manager submitting a valid application to Ofsted. The management monitoring of the home and staffing require further improvement. The registered person should recruit staff to the vacant posts and, in consultation with the local fire and rescue service, review staffing levels at night. 28/02/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must compile in relation to the children’s home a statement ("the statement of purpose") which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1. Subject to paragraph (6), the registered person must ensure that the home is at all times conducted in a manner which is consistent with its statement of 31/01/2018 Inspection report children’s home: SC067151 8 purpose. Nothing in paragraph (5) or regulation 46 (review of premises) requires or authorises the registered person to contravene or not comply with any other provision of these Regulations; or any conditions in relation to the registration of the registered person under Part 2 of the Care Standards Act 2000. (Regulation 16 (1)(5) and (6))

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Requirement Due date

This is with particular reference to ensuring that the statement of purpose accurately describes the home and complies with its conditions of registration. Fire precautions

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Requirement Due date

If the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005(1) 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))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, consult with the local fire and rescue service to ensure that effective fire safety measures are in place. Ensure that fire safety checks, including fire alarm tests, are carried out at the intervals recommended by the fire and rescue service. 28/02/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety. The registered person may only employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home, if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3). The requirements are that the individual is of integrity and good character; the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform; the individual is mentally and physically fit for the purposes of the work that the individual is to perform; and full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that all staff files have a full employment history, photograph, two written references and identity information. 28/02/2018 Inspection report children’s home: SC067151 9

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Recommendations

 Ensure that the design of the home includes any necessary adaptation to meet the needs of children with disabilities or specific health issues. In particular, obtain an assessment by a qualified occupational therapist to inform the changes to the building and grounds. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, April 2015, page 17, paragraph 3.24)

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Recommendations

 Ensure that children’s homes are nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of their children. They will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. Children’s homes must comply with relevant health and safety legislations (alarms, food hygiene etc.); however in doing so, homes should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than ‘institutional’ impression. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, April 2015, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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Recommendations

 Ensure that children are consulted regularly on their views about the home’s care, to inform and support continued improvement in the quality of care provided. Due consideration should be given to the child’s cognitive ability in the development and implementation of any consultation processes. Children should be able to see the results of their views being listened to and acted upon. In particular, ensure that the staff are clear about the difference between consulting children, which may be on an individual basis, and the children’s access to a programme of activities. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, April 2015, page 15, paragraph 4.11)

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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. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, April 2015, page 15, paragraph 14.4)

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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. Inspection report children’s home: SC067151 10 This inspection focused on the effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of children and young people since the most recent full inspection.

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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’.

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Bristol City Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Director of Legal Services, City Hall, College Green, Bristol BS1 5TR

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Inspector(s)

Heather Chaplin, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC067151 11 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)

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: http://www.gov.uk/ofsted

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