Children's Home run by PCT Care Services Limited in Norfolk

Interim inspection report children’s home: SC471856 1 SC471856 Registered provider: PCT Care Services Limited Interim inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home provides care and accommodation for up to six children who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties and/or learning disabilities. The home is owned by a private company.

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Information about this children’s home

Judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

Following the last inspection, Ofsted issued a compliance notice on 18 June 2017 requiring the responsible individual to appoint a manager. On 7 August 2017, the responsible individual confirmed that a manager had been appointed.

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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 sustained effectiveness.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

The full inspection in June 2017 identified eight regulatory breaches. Two of these regulatory breaches remain unmet, although the registered manager has made progress towards meeting them, and a further two breaches have been identified.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

The home was without a registered manager for a significant period of time. A new manager has been appointed and was registered in November 2017. She has the relevant qualifications, experience and skills. There have been clear signs of improvement since her arrival, and she encourages a child-focused approach. Interim inspection report children’s home: SC471856 2 The current staffing picture is similar to the one at the full inspection. There are 16 staff. Out of these, three of the staff are qualified and four of the staff are working towards a recognised qualification. Steps have been taken to ensure that all eligible staff are enrolled on the appropriate level 3 qualification. Despite this, the previous shortfall is not yet met and has been raised again.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

The managerial review of care remains overdue. The manager is working on this, and improvements in its presentation show that work has been done. The review shows responses to the children’s views and identifies plans for further work to improve the quality of care. This is work in progress and it has not been received by Ofsted. Therefore, it has been raised again as a shortfall.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

There is evidence that incidents in the home are generally managed well. Incidents in the home show that these are generally managed well. The staff show increasing skill at de-escalation. Calm responses that are well coordinated minimise some challenging behaviours. The registered manager shows good reflection and oversight. This helps to improve practice in the home. One serious incident involving a fire in a child’s bedroom was managed safely; however, it was not notified to Ofsted. This prevents Ofsted from having a transparent picture of the current events in the home.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

The staff are trained to use physical intervention where de-escalation techniques have failed. There is a new bound record that the staff have used effectively to capture the required details. The registered manager monitors and signs these records. They show a proportionate response to situations requiring physical intervention, which ensures the safety of the children and the staff.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

The standard of accommodation is poor in places. Textured wallpaper is extremely old, with several layers of paint, and in places this has been chipped. Colour schemes are cold and uninviting. There are unclipped telephone cables, frayed carpet edges and exposed pipework that has not been capped. Two bedrooms are in a state of disarray. One had food packets, fruit peelings and debris from smoking littered across the floor. The manager has made an effort to purchase soft furnishings and improve the home, but the current decor does not provide a homely or welcoming environment. In addition, there are parts of the house that are extremely cold. The heating is not working effectively, a problem that was identified in October 2017. A new boiler was installed, although this has not addressed the heating faults. This has left the house with some radiators that have not worked for a period of three months. There is some portable

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

heating, but the effectiveness of this is limited.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

The gas safety service certificate was due for renewal in December 2016. The gas company visited and identified a leak. They returned the next day to rectify this, but a new certificate has not been made available. Several certificates have been produced that fail to confirm the safety of the system. Despite the gas safety service being carried out, managers have not had sufficient oversight of the health and safety records. This does not demonstrate that the home is compliant with health and safety checks, and it shows that there is the potential for important issues to be missed. This in turn has the potential to reduce the safeguards for the children, which are needed to ensure that Interim inspection report children’s home: SC471856 3 they live in a safe environment.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

There have been two new admissions to the home since the last inspection. The registered manager uses group impact risk assessments to ensure that each new child’s needs can be met alongside those of the children currently placed in the home. The risks are identified and the rationale for making the decision is evaluated. The children are supported during moves in and out of the home to help them manage these potentially difficult transitions.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Children who are prone to drug misuse are given targeted support. The registered manager and staff use risk assessments to assess and reduce the level of risk. The staff undertake individual key-work sessions to help address this risk. The staff have helped a child access a drug support agency. These actions help to protect the children from the risks associated with drug use.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

The number of missing-from-home incidents has reduced and is currently low. The staff record these incidents in incident reports and managers monitor them. When the children leave the home, the staff are responsive and alert. The good deployment of staff and resources makes sure that the children’s safety has been monitored and has aided their return to the home.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

The children are all in education. Two are educated on site and one child is in school. There is clearly some level of commitment by both boys as, after having got up late, they agreed to do an extra half hour of education without any problems. This helps to encourage the children to value and make good use of their education.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Some staff have moved to this home from another one owned by the same company. One of these members of staff was moved to the home without the appropriate assessment of concerns that had been raised in his previous employment. Although an investigation was undertaken of the concerns, it failed to provide a conclusive assessment of the member of staff’s fitness to work. The registered manager ensures that appropriate pre-employment checks are carried out, but on one occasion the monitoring of these checks did not identify queries that needed to be followed up. The presence of other checks minimised the risk that this posed to the children.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Overall, while there are identified shortfalls there is a focused drive to address these and improve the quality of care provided.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/06/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

31/10/2016 Full Requires improvement Interim inspection report children’s home: SC471856 4 23/08/2016 Full Inadequate

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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 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 ensure that the premises used for the purpose of the home are designed and furnished so as to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b)(2)(c)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this relates to the standard of accommodation, the efficacy of the heating system and the monitoring of safety checks. 30/03/2018

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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 to 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 ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(c)) 31/05/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(e)) 09/03/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (‘a quality of care review’) at least once every 6 months. (Regulation 45 (1)) 09/03/2018 Interim inspection report children’s home: SC471856 5

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Recommendations

 Ensure that recruitment, supervision and performance management of staff safeguards children and minimises potential risks to them. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)

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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: PCT Care Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Old Hall Farm, Silfield Road, Silfield, Wymondham, Norfolk NR18 9NH

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Sally-Anne Slade-Watts

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Inspectors

Interim inspection report children’s home: SC471856 6 Clive Lucas, social care inspector Deirdra Keating, social care inspector Interim inspection report children’s home: SC471856 7 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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