Children's home run by North Yorkshire Council

Inspection report children’s home: 1256500 1 Registered provider: North Yorkshire County Council

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This service is run by the local authority. It is registered to provide care and accommodation under short-break arrangements for up to six children and young people at any one time. The children and young people who are cared for have sensory impairment, and/or learning and/or physical disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 21 to 22 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: This is the home’s first inspection.

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: None

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Key findings from this inspection

 Children and young people have a carefully planned admission and staff are trained and competent to care for them. Inspection report children’s home: 1256500 2  The nurturing staff team provides highly personalised care, working closely with medical professionals to meet children’s and young people’s complex needs.  Children and young people have fun and a relaxing time at the home. Parents feel confident that their children are safely cared for so that they can fully benefit from the short break.  Staff are aware of the children’s and young people’s vulnerabilities due to the highly individualised and detailed risk assessments.  The manager and staff are enthusiastic and committed to providing the best care possible for children and young people.  Staff are trained in a variety of communication techniques to understand children’s and young people’s wishes and feelings.

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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 manager does not have a system for gathering the opinions of stakeholders, parents and young people about the quality of care provided for children to feed into the six-monthly review of the home. Inspection report children’s home: 1256500 3

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person 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 must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating the quality of care provided for children. The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45(5)) 30/01/2018

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people enjoy their short breaks in this bright, colourful and well- adapted home. They have access to a whole range of stimulating facilities and activities, such as a riser television and well-equipped sensory room. From the time that they arrive at the home, children and young people are made to feel welcome by the warm, friendly and nurturing staff team. This helps them settle quickly. This hospitality extends to the children’s and young people’s families, who have the opportunity of attending six- weekly coffee mornings with staff. This brings support from other parents in a similar situation. One parent said: ‘Staff are always very welcoming to us all. [Name of child’s] sister is as important to staff as he is.’ An excellent admissions process introduces children, young people and their families to the home. This also ensures that the staff team fully understands the children’s and

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

young people’s complex needs and that staff have the necessary experience to offer safe care. Parents and professionals involved with the child or young person are fully consulted during this process. A social worker said: ‘It was critical that we got together, as it wouldn’t be in [name of young person’s] interests to start coming to the home until everything was thoroughly checked through and planned.’ Staff receive bespoke training, such as oxygen administration, and necessary medical equipment and aids are at the home prior to a young person’s arrival. This gives parents the security of knowing that their children are safely cared for so that they can relax and benefit from the respite this brings them. One parent said: ‘Staff can provide a completely bespoke package of care. They are second to none, which gives me reassurance.’ Inspection report children’s home: 1256500 4 Staff work closely with medical professionals. Highly personalised healthcare plans are

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

working documents and outline the children’s and young people’s complex health, medication, emotional and/or behavioural needs. Children and young people receive high-quality care, which is tailored to their individual needs, from a stable staff team that has extensive experience of caring for children and young people with disabilities. Children and young people participate in activities that they may not ordinarily be able to do, while having fun and a relaxing time at the home. They have the chance to socialise with their peers in a safe environment which promotes their social skills and increases confidence. As a short-break service, parents are responsible for their children’s education. However, the staff team has a close working relationship with schools, which sometimes includes joint training about a child’s or young person’s medical procedure or equipment. This offers consistency of care across the different settings. As children and young people are

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

often transported to and from school, staff pass on vital information. Consequently, school staff are more vigilant during the day if they are made aware of a child or young person having an unsettled night. Staff receive training in a variety of communication techniques and there are pictorial aids around the home. Staff know the children and young people well and recognise how they express their likes and dislikes and communicate their needs. This includes those children and young people with nonverbal communication. Individualised care plans provide staff with further clarity, such as, ‘Loves to laugh and smile when he finds something amusing or is feeling happy or excited. Will smack lips when it is time for breakfast.’ Staff provide stimulation and children and young people are helped to communicate their choices.

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

The children and young people that have short breaks at the home have a high level of staff supervision due to their individual vulnerabilities. Risk assessments are individualised and extremely detailed. This is necessary to ensure that staff are fully aware of the complexities of the children’s and young people’s care, especially as some rely on staff for full support in all areas. For some children and young people with life- threatening conditions, staff’s close adherence to plans is essential. Written details are enhanced by photographs, such as showing how a child should be positioned at night, or how they should be fed. Staff are highly competent and need to know how to respond quickly and calmly in an emergency. This includes the safe administration of medication. Staff regularly practise their skills and external nurses check their competence. This allows children and young people to safely enjoy their

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

short breaks. Staff have received safeguarding training and have a good understanding of safeguarding children with disabilities. There is a good awareness of whistleblowing procedures. The use of body mapping to record bruising on children and young people provides extra protection as staff are vigilant and check the cause of unexplained marks. This is particularly important, as most of the children and young people are unable to verbally express themselves. Inspection report children’s home: 1256500 5 The staff team has the skills to contribute and attend child protection meetings. Their excellent knowledge of children and young people allows them to recognise when they are exhibiting different worrying behaviours. The manager challenges professionals to take action if she has concerns about a child’s or young person’s home situation. This has resulted in further observations and extra scrutiny of one child.

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

Children and young people do not receive sanctions or consequences, as they would find them hard to understand. They respond well to clear boundaries and routines. Behaviour management plans, summarised on laminated sheets, provide staff with clear instructions on how to manage challenging behaviour. Staff recognise a change in demeanour in children and young people and are consistent in their approach, avoiding triggers that lead to negative behaviours escalating. This results in a reduction in challenging behaviour. When children and young people need to be held or guided by staff, interventions are only used as a last resort to keep them safe. The staff team has a good understanding about deprivation of liberty safeguards. This ensures that children and young people are not being unnecessarily restricted by aids, adaptions, and medication used.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has been in post since the home opened in June 2017. Prior to this, she managed the home when another provider owned it. She has the necessary managerial experience. The manager holds a master’s degree in social work and has extensive experience working as a social worker, including in safeguarding teams, as well as working in residential care settings. She is enthusiastic, committed and highly energised and this filters down to the staff team. Staff receive a full and detailed induction to the home. New recruits shadow experienced staff on all shifts and get to know all children and young people. The manager observes practice, gets feedback from others, and will only allow new staff to work on shift when she feels they are ready. This helps to ensure that staff are fully trained and competent to work with all the children and young people. The manager said: ‘During induction staff get constant feedback, direction and support.’ Staff fed back that they could ask for

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

additional training or support until they felt confident to work on shift. Staff receive ongoing training in specialised health areas such as gastrostomy and moving and handling. This keeps them up to date and fully experienced to meet the complex needs of the children and young people. Professional development is important and staff receive good-quality, regular and reflective supervision. Team meetings focus on the children and young people and staff have the opportunity to evaluate the care that they are providing. Systems in place, such as care plans, have improved and are now more child friendly, clearly reflecting the progress that children and young people are making. The close-knit staff speak of enjoying working at the home and support each other. One member of staff said when she started working: ‘The manager and staff would constantly check in with me to see how things were going.’ Feedback from professionals and families is positive and they talk about staff’s

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Inspection report children’s home: 1256500 6 outstanding care and the effective changes made since the new ownership and management of the home. A detailed independent monthly report and evaluative six- monthly manager’s report look at improvements to the quality of care provided. However, the manager’s failure to consult with stakeholders, staff and parents is a lost opportunity to obtain external feedback.

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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: 1256500 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: North Yorkshire County Council, County Hall, Northallerton DL7 8AD

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Inspector

Tina Ruffles, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1256500 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 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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