Children's home run by Altum Residential Care Ltd

Inspection report for children‟s home - monitoring visit: 1241656 1

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Altum Residential Care Ltd

Monitoring visit Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to three children who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. It is owned by a private company.

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This monitoring visit

The last monitoring visit was conducted on 6 February 2018. As result of shortfalls identified at that visit, a restriction of accommodation notice was served on the home. This means that the home is currently unable to admit any new children. In addition, two compliance notices were served. These related to care planning and leadership and management. In total, 14 requirements were made (including the two compliance notices) and three recommendations.

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This monitoring visit

This monitoring visit was conducted in order to monitor the actions taken by the registered provider to meet the compliance notices, requirements and recommendations made at the last visit. This was also a visit to identify if the home is ready to admit children when the restriction notice ends in April 2018.

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This monitoring visit

This visit found that one compliance notice, relating to leadership and management, remains unmet.

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This monitoring visit

In total, 10 of the 14 requirements made at the last visit are met. All three recommendations are met. However, as a result of this visit, four requirements (including the compliance notice) are repeated, three new requirements are made and one new recommendation.

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This monitoring visit

Although the registered provider has made some progress and has met 10 of the 14 requirements previously made, it is extremely concerning that the compliance notice regarding how the home is led and managed is not met. This calls into question the Inspection report for children‟s home - monitoring visit: 1241656 2 provider‟s ability to work within statutory regulation. The registered provider does not have a firm enough understanding of how well the home is functioning. The registered provider was not able to demonstrate whether staff have the skill, experience and ability to care for children as set out in the home‟s statement of purpose.

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This monitoring visit

The home has been without a registered manager for over 26 weeks. A new manager is in post, but he has not submitted his application to register within the recommended six-week timescale.

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This monitoring visit

The acting manager does not have a sound understanding of the skills, qualifications, training or experience levels of the staff team. He was not able to provide an accurate record of the training that staff have undertaken since they started working at the home. For example, information about the number of staff who have undertaken first aid training was not supplied to the inspector until the day after the visit. The manager did not know how many staff have the required level 3 childcare qualification or how many staff are enrolled on the course.

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This monitoring visit

Safeguarding practice continues to be weak. The provider has not been robust enough in ensuring that all members of staff have the skills to be able to recognise and take appropriate action should they witness poor practice by another staff member. In addition, the provider has not taken robust enough action to ensure that the responsible individual understands how to manage allegations against staff. This puts children at risk and was a specific requirement of the compliance notice.

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This monitoring visit

Established members of staff and staff in their probationary period have not received regular supervision in line with the home‟s statement of purpose. This was a specific requirement of the compliance notice. Some new staff have not received any practice supervision since they started working at the home two months ago. An established member of staff has not received practice supervision since September 2017. This means that the manager does not have a secure overview of practice, or of the strengths and weaknesses of the staff team. This is a missed opportunity to develop the staff team and to provide cohesive leadership and management. The lack of professional supervision does not give staff the opportunity to discuss their own learning and development needs.

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This monitoring visit

The staff team is made up of a large proportion of staff who are new to the home and are in their probationary period. There is no workforce development plan to demonstrate that staff members‟ skills have been considered in relation to the care the home proposes to provide to children. As a result, when the manager is considering new admissions to the home, he is not able to make an informed judgement about whether staff will be able to meet the child‟s needs.

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This monitoring visit

Since the last monitoring visit, two children have moved out of the home in an unplanned manner. The home has a recent history of providing placements for children who have needs that staff have been unable to meet. This has led to Inspection report for children‟s home - monitoring visit: 1241656 3 placements breaking down. There is one child who remains at the home. There is a transition plan in place for this child to move imminently. The provider has not demonstrated that it has taken robust steps to ensure that inappropriate placement matching does not happen again.

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This monitoring visit

Since the last monitoring visit, there has been significant use of agency staff to care for children. The registered provider understood that high levels of staffing would be needed for children when they were admitted to the home. However, there were not enough permanently employed members of staff to provide the right level of consistent care. Such high use of agency staff does not promote continuity of care for children. Now that there is just one child in placement, the use of agency staff has ended.

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This monitoring visit

Basic organisational systems require further development. An example of this was evident during the monitoring visit. Managers were unable to provide the inspector with an accurate historical staffing rota, instead providing the inspector with two copies of a rota with inaccurate details. It is extremely concerning that this information could not be provided as, in the event of an allegation, it is not clear that the registered provider could supply safeguarding agencies with accurate information. This could hinder safeguarding investigations.

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This monitoring visit

To date, no quality of care report has been submitted to the regulator. This was required by regulation six months after the home‟s opening in January 2017, and another report was due six months after that. To date, no quality of care report has been submitted to the regulator. This seriously hampers the regulator‟s ability to monitor the functioning of the home.

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This monitoring visit

The manager has reviewed the home‟s location risk assessment. The report still fails to include the views of relevant people about the home‟s location, such as the local authority the home is situated in or the local police. This means that the provider does not have an accurate analysis of the appropriateness and suitability of the home‟s location, and therefore is only partially aware of the risks.

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This monitoring visit

The inspector noted that there were areas of improvement. These included:  sanctions for poor behaviour are now used appropriately  information is available for staff about what to do should a child refuse to take their prescribed medication  maintenance in the home has improved  better care planning systems are now in place. Staff have up-to-date guidance on how to manage risk and how to manage each child‟s complex needs  signed local authority documentation is now on file  fire safety systems are improved. A previously faulty fire door now closes Inspection report for children‟s home - monitoring visit: 1241656 4 correctly  records of restraint are now clearer and are in line with regulation  the registered provider now has a system in place to alert the local authority where the home is situated when a new child moves in to the home  children and young people who are not in education have better access to

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This monitoring visit

structured activities  the manager is now trained in the same principles of restraint as the other staff members.

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This monitoring visit

The registered provider has plans in place to deliver a new model of care to members of staff. This will incorporate aspects of trauma and attachment theory, behaviour management, and includes input from a psychologist. These plans are very positive, as the provider has acknowledged that the model of care the home currently provides is not consistent. However, this training has not yet been rolled out to staff, so the impact cannot be judged. Another improvement the provider intends to make is changing the computerised recording system. Plans to further improve the home are positive, and, if implemented well, they should improve the quality of care provided. However, at this time significant shortfalls remain.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 06/12/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 03/05/2017 Full Good Inspection report for children‟s home - monitoring visit: 1241656 5

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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 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 are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home‟s child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(vii)) 08/05/2018

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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 promotes their welfare. (Regulation 13 (1)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that there are sufficiently robust and effective monitoring and recording systems in place to allow the registered person to identify shortfalls in practice and make suitable improvements in the quality of care. 08/05/2018

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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 aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare. 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. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(a)) 08/05/2018

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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. (Regulation 16 (1)) In particular, ensure the details of the experience and qualifications of all staff employed to work in the home are included. 08/05/2018

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Requirement Due date

Schedule 4 sets out the other information that the registered person must keep in relation to a children‟s home. The registered person must maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4; ensure that the records are kept up to date; and retain the records for at least 15 years from the 08/05/2018 Inspection report for children‟s home - monitoring visit: 1241656 6 date of the last entry. (Regulation 37 (2)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to a copy of the staff duty roster of persons working at the home, and a record of the actual rosters worked. 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 and supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed. (Regulation 45 (1)(4)(a)) 08/05/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must review the appropriateness and suitability of the location of the premises used for the purposes of the children‟s home at least once in each calendar year. When conducting the review, the registered person must consult, and take into account the views of, each relevant person. (Regulation 46 (2)) 08/05/2018

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Requirement Due date

*These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should have a workforce plan which can fulfil the workforce related requirements of regulation 16, schedule 1 (paragraphs 19 and 20) The plan should: – detail the necessary management and staffing structure, (including any staff commissioned to provide health and education), the experience and qualifications of staff currently working within the staffing structure and any further training required for those staff, to enable the delivery of the homes Statement of Purpose; – detail the processes and agreed timescales for staff to achieve induction, probation and any core training (such as safeguarding and health and safety and mandatory qualifications); – detail the process for managing and improving poor performance; – detail the process and timescales for supervision of practice (see regulation 33 (4) (b)) and keep appropriate records for staff in the home. The plan should be updated to include any new training and qualifications

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Recommendations

completed by staff while working at the home, and used to record the ongoing training and continuing professional development needs of staff – including the home‟s manager. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 53, paragraph 10.8) Inspection report for children‟s home - monitoring visit: 1241656 7

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Information about this inspection

The purpose of this visit was to monitor the action taken and the progress made by the children‟s home since its last Ofsted inspection.

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Information about this inspection

This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000. Inspection report for children‟s home - monitoring visit: 1241656 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Altum Residential Care Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 550 Valley Road, Nottingham NG5 1JJ

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Inspector(s)

Catherine Honey, social care regulatory inspector Inspection report for children‟s home - monitoring visit: 1241656 9 to 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)

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