Children's home run by Oldham Children’s Social Care in Oldham

Inspection report children’s home: SC387671 1 SC387671 Registered provider: Oldham Metropolitan Borough 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

 The home is a six-bedded short-break service for disabled children between the ages of six and 17. The home is within the Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council boundary and is for children from the Oldham and Rochdale area.  In addition to the six beds available for planned admissions, another bed is retained for emergency accommodation for children with additional and complex need to help families through real crisis periods or for safeguarding reasons.  The duration of short breaks can vary from day care-type provision up to a maximum of 17 days.  Referrals must be assessed as requiring such a service via the respective children with disabilities social work teams and ratified through the referral and admissions processes of Oldham and Rochdale  The registered manager has been registered since March 2018.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: Good Inspection report children’s home: SC387671 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/08/2017 Full Good 01/02/2017 Full Good 25/10/2016 Full Inadequate 30/08/2016 Interim Declined in effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC387671 3

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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 provide a copy of the statement of purpose to HMCI. The registered person must keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of revision. (Regulation 16 (2)(3)(a)(b)) 11/05/2018

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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)) 11/05/2018

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Recommendations

 The registered person should have a workforce plan which should be updated to include any new training and qualifications completed by staff while working at the home, and used to record the ongoing training and professional development needs of staff. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8) Inspection report children’s home: SC387671 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receiving a short-break stay have detailed care plans in place. These are developed in conjunction with parents, carers and other professionals involved in the care of the children. These plans support the staff to meet the children’s individual needs effectively during their stay. Plans are reviewed on a regular basis to ensure that they accurately reflect each child’s current care needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are able to visit the home on a number of occasions for tea and for day visits, prior to any planned overnight stays. This helps them to build relationships with staff and other children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers consider the individual needs of each child and the compatibility with other children as part of the plan for overnight stays. This is to ensure that each child’s stay supports them to develop good relationships with their peers and provides positive experiences. In addition, the home has an emergency bed for children with additional and complex needs to help families through real crisis periods or for safeguarding reasons. When the emergency placement is required, the manager considers the impact that it will have on children already in placement and requests as much information as possible to enable the appropriate level of care to be provided.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health is supported through working in partnership with parents and healthcare professionals. Staff receive training from healthcare professionals to be able to support specific healthcare needs, for example the administration of specialist medication for young people with epilepsy. Previously, there have been some errors in medication administration and recording. This has been independently investigated and recommendations have been made. The manager has acted on these and implemented the recommendations made.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Education remains the responsibility of the parents and placing authority. However, staff work in partnership with schools, communicating effectively to ensure that there is consistency in care and support provided.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support all children attending the short-break service to actively participate in all aspects of their care and stay. A wide range of communication methods are used to enable the children to contribute their views and wishes during their stay. This includes what activities they’d like to do, both within the home and the community. Inspection report children’s home: SC387671 5

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

Staff demonstrate a strong commitment to maintaining the safety and well-being of children during their short-break stay at the home. However, there have been errors made in the administration of medication. Senior managers commissioned an independent investigation, and action has been taken to address the recommendations made.

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

All children have individual risk assessments to underpin the care and support that they receive. These are reviewed regularly to ensure that any changes are fully detailed. The information is then shared as part of the staff communication handovers. This ensures that all staff are fully aware of the updated assessments.

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

There was an incident in which a child left the building and was reported as missing. Procedures were followed, but the incident raised concerns in relation to the activation of door alarm systems. The manager has taken action in relation to this and all staff make sure the door alarms are in working order as part of their health and safety checks when commencing each shift.

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

All staff receive training in managing behaviours and the use of de-escalation techniques. As a result, since the last inspection, there have been no incidents of physical intervention. Sanctions are rarely used. Where they are, they are recorded and are proportionate. If a child requires additional equipment to keep them safe, this is used only when a full occupational assessment has been completed to make sure that the equipment is suitable for their use.

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

The home is warm and welcoming, providing children with space to play and socialise during their stay. Health and safety checks are completed on a daily basis to ensure that the environment is safe and free from hazards.

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

Recruitment of staff is in accordance with safer recruitment procedures. All staff complete induction training to familiarise themselves with policies, procedures and practice within the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has experience, knowledge and qualifications to enable him to fulfil the management role. Improved stability of staffing provides children with continuity of care, which contributes to their overall experience and progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team are experienced and all staff members have the relevant qualifications. Further training and development of staff, along with team building days, have enabled all staff to contribute to the home’s ongoing development. However, the manager does Inspection report children’s home: SC387671 6 not have a comprehensive up-to-date workforce development plan that contains the details of all staff training. Therefore, oversight of future development needs for staff is unclear.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

All staff have a good knowledge and understanding of the individual needs of the children. This helps to monitor the progress that children are making, including what is working well for them and identifies any changes that may be needed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager undertakes regular monitoring of the service. This is evaluative and contributes to the plans for the service. However, a recent significant event, although responded to appropriately, was not notified to Ofsted as required and this impacts on the regulator’s oversight of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Parents and carers feel that they are fully involved in and consulted about the care and support their child receives when attending their short-break stay. This is through individual discussions, questionnaires and open days. Parents and carers confirm that they feel able to raise any concerns or complaints and appropriate action is taken in response.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home’s statement of purpose sets out the aims and objectives of the service. A copy has not been supplied to Ofsted, as required by regulations, to enable the regulator to have a good understanding and oversight of the service. Inspection report children’s home: SC387671 7

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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: SC387671 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council, Civic Centre, West Street, Oldham OL1 1UT

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Inspector

Sarah Oldham, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC387671 9 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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