Children's home run by Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust in Cornwall

Interim inspection report children’s home: SC429523 1 SC429523 Registered provider: Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust Interim inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home offers short-breaks care to children who have physical disabilities. Some children require care and support with health needs.

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Judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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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

Leaders and managers have taken action to address the shortfalls identified at the previous inspection. However, some requirements are not yet fully met and are reinstated as a result of this inspection.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

The outside space is not best suited to the children who use the service. The team spent some time improving the outdoor play area. It now looks fresh and offers an interesting and fun place for young children to play. However, the majority of children are older teenagers. There is no dedicated outdoor recreation space for these older children.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Children’s care plans do not include important information. Since the previous inspection, the range of activities on offer to children has been reviewed and expanded. Staff keep a journal for each child. These journals record in photographs the range of fun and Interim inspection report children’s home: SC429523 2 exciting activities that children are now involved in. The journals are taken to review meetings where activities are discussed as part of each child’s care package. A similar system is in place to agree the development targets and progress for each child. However, children’s care plans have not been updated to include these important aspects.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Record-keeping requires further attention. The registered manager has introduced a new system to demonstrate her monthly quality checks of the home’s operations. Some of the entries in the records are handwritten and illegible. This problem was also identified in the recruitment record for a new member of staff. As a result, effective auditing of the home’s systems is compromised.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Leaders and managers have updated the home’s statement of purpose and children’s guide. The children’s guide is a typed document that is not sufficiently child-friendly. Further work on the children’s guide is required to ensure that it is devised in a way that is accessible to children who use the service.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Since the previous inspection, the team members have attended training and have received support from external agencies to help them to understand children’s sexualised behaviours. The registered manager and the team do not feel that the training was fully effective. The registered manager has undertaken research to source training that is more suitable to the needs of the children who use the service and this is ongoing.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

The registered manager has engaged the services of an advocate to assist children to convey their views. The manager now needs to consider how to engage advocacy services on an ongoing basis to ensure that these very vulnerable children continue to have their views heard by someone who is independent of the home. In-house advocacy is very good and there are some positive examples of the team helping children to air their views. In one case, a child was helped to make a complaint to a supermarket when they were dissatisfied with the service that they had received.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Children have the benefit of being able to access the internet. Since the previous inspection, Wi-Fi has been installed and children are able to bring their phones and tablets with them when they stay over. Bedrooms have been personalised, improving the feel of the otherwise clinical space.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Since the previous inspection, the team has developed and improved care practices. It has worked creatively to ensure that children are not unnecessarily restrained. In one case, staff had struggled to prevent a child from removing his tubes. Distraction techniques are now used as an effective measure to prevent holding the child. In addition, children are now checked at night in line with their need and not routinely every 15 minutes as had been the case at the previous inspection.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

No safeguarding incidents have been reported since the previous inspection. Interim inspection report children’s home: SC429523 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/10/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good 07/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 04/07/2016 Full Requires improvement 29/02/2016 Interim Sustained 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

9: The enjoyment and achievement standard The enjoyment and achievement standard is that children take part in and benefit from a variety of activities that meet their needs and develop and reflect their creative, cultural, intellectual, physical and social activities and interests and skills. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— ensure that each child has access to a range of activities that enable the child to pursue the child’s interests and hobbies. (Regulation 9 (1)(2)(b)) In particular, provide suitable outdoor recreation space for older children. 15/07/2018

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Requirement Due date

13: The leadership and management standard (1) 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. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— 15/07/2018 Interim inspection report children’s home: SC429523 4 ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of 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; and use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(c)(f)(h)) In particular, ensure that the home’s records are legible and

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Requirement Due date

easy to audit. Ensure that care plans contain important details about the aims and progress that children make at the home and the activities that they engage in.

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Recommendations

 The children’s home must produce a children’s guide. The children’s guide must be made available to all children when their placement in the home is agreed and must be age appropriate, provided in an accessible format and explained to each child to ensure they understand it. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 24, paragraph 4.21)

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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 ‘he 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’. Interim inspection report children’s home: SC429523 5

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Trust Head Office, Carew House, Beacon Technology Park, Dunmere Road, Bodmin PL31 2QN

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Inspector

Michelle Oxley, social care inspector Interim inspection report children’s home: SC429523 6 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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