Children's home run by Total Care Matters Limited in Nottingham

Inspection report children’s home: SC378600 1 SC378600 Registered provider: Total Care Matters Limited Interim inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned and provides care and accommodation for four young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

This home was judged good at the last full inspection. At the interim inspection, Ofsted judges that it has sustained effectiveness.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

This home is still providing good-quality care to young people. Staff support young people well, particularly with their complex educational needs. Young people are encouraged to have a say and a choice about their education provision. This means that the choice of education is right for each young person and this is improving outcomes. Any difficulties for young people are addressed by staff at an early stage. This enables young people to get the best from their education. Staff are very positive about the progress that all young people have made educationally, and say that this is one of the home’s best achievements since the last inspection. The incidents of some young people going missing from the home have drastically reduced. They are safer than they were before. One member of staff said: ‘A young person who used to go missing 20 times each month has only gone missing three times since the summer.’ A young person said: ‘I used to run off a lot. Now I have only been

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Inspection report children’s home: SC378600 2 gone for two days in two months.’ When young people go missing from the home, staff respond immediately. Multi-agency partnership working is good. Staff work in partnership with the police to ensure that young people return quickly and safely.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

The previous inspection found that young people were not being offered independent return home interviews after an incident of going missing from the home. A recommendation was made to address this. This inspection found that practice has improved. In addition to independent return home interviews, staff speak to young people about the incident of going missing. Young people are happy to discuss concerns about safety with staff. One young person reported that, when she returned after a period of being missing from the home, she felt that the staff were ‘glad to see her’. Relationships between staff and young people are very positive. Staff are kind and nurturing towards young people. They clearly value each young person for their individuality, personality and achievements. A member of staff referred to one young person as ‘a little gem’. Staff are highly committed to the young people in their care. An

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

example of this is staff visiting young people in the home on Christmas day and on their birthdays, even if they may not be working at the home that day. Young people feel that they always have someone to confide in. Regular key-work sessions support the home’s highly nurturing ethos. This approach suits the young people in placement very well. They are able to talk openly about their problems and they receive high-quality support from staff. Young people say that they get on very well with some staff, but have mixed feelings about others. Young people have raised some practice issues, but there is evidence that managers deal with young people’s concerns as they arise. Staff say that they feel well supported, and that they can raise concerns with the manager at any time. There is a formal supervision process for staff; however, the inspection found that some supervision notes were missing. In addition, some

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

supervision recording was very basic. This was particularly concerning in relation to new staff who need a lot of support and direction. This needs to be improved, with better management oversight of the support provided to staff. Staff use restraint to manage behaviour when there is a risk to the young person or to others. Records indicated that the use of restraint was both reasonable and proportionate, given the situation and level of risk. Young people reported that staff are ‘kind of good’ at managing behaviour. One restraint record did not contain the full details of the incident. There is a current safeguarding investigation in relation to this incident, and the full details cannot be established from the records. Despite this, the inspection found that the recording of restraints is improving. The organisation’s own monitoring process has been instrumental in this. A recommendation made at the last inspection, namely to make

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

sure that young people involved in restraints are asked about each restraint afterwards, has been met. While there are some shortfalls in recording, managers keep a very close eye on the operational running of the home. Some management monitoring tools are very robust. Inspection report children’s home: SC378600 3 Management monitoring is used to help young people to make progress. Managers are aware of any emerging patterns and trends. Managers and staff discuss strategies to ensure that young people always get the help and support that they need. The home environment is particularly pleasant. It is well maintained and has good- quality furnishings and fittings. It is particularly nice to see a baby photograph for each young person hanging on the wall. The environment is likely to give young people a sense of belonging and pride in their surroundings.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/07/2017 Full Good 11/01/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 21/06/2016 Full Requires improvement 18/02/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness

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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 ensure that within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes all the elements (i) to (viii). (Regulation 35(3)(a)) This requirement has been made in relation to a restraint record which did not give full details of the measure of restraint. 14/02/2018

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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) This recommendation has been made in relation to supervision records which were unavailable or missing, and the quality of supervision records. These records do not always show a high level of support to staff or effective Inspection report children’s home: SC378600 4 monitoring of their performance.

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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

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: Total Care Matters Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 230 Bathley Street, Nottingham NG2 2ER

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Inspector

Caroline Brailsford, social care regulatory inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC378600 5 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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