Children's home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in County Durham

Inspection report children’s home: SC066127 1 SC066127 Registered provider: Interact Care Limited

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home accommodates up to four young people who have emotional and behavioural difficulties and/or sensory impairment or learning disabilities. It is operated by a private company.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 19 to 20 February 2018

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected outstanding

p.1

outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

p.1

outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

p.1

outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC066127 2

p.1

Key findings from this inspection

This children’s home is outstanding because:

p.2

Key findings from this inspection

 The children and young people at this home are kept safe. The manager and staff team know them well. They have built up strong, supportive and nurturing relationships with them.  There are very good links with other professionals, which means that the children and young people get the best possible care.  The children and young people are able to access a range of stimulating activities. This offers them new leisure experiences, helping to improve emotional and physical well-being.  The staff are enthusiastic, affectionate and work hard to overcome barriers to progress.  Family contact is proactively supported. This improves the quality of relationships that the children and young people have with their families.  The children and young people benefit from individual and dedicated care which ensures that they are able to thrive and enhances their life chances.  The staff are innovative in their approach to helping the children and young

p.2

Key findings from this inspection

people to express their views and wishes.  Risks are comprehensively assessed, which allows the children and young people to undertake activities.  The manager encourages the staff to research new approaches to meeting the needs of the children and young people.  The manager and staff team have aspirations and are effective advocates for the children and young people.

p.2

Key findings from this inspection

The children’s home’s areas for development:

p.2

Key findings from this inspection

 A minority of staff are not yet qualified as required by regulation.

p.2

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

28/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 21/06/2016 Full Outstanding 22/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 27/10/2015 Full Outstanding Inspection report children’s home: SC066127 3

p.2

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.

p.3

Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification, the level 3 diploma for residential childcare (England) (‘the level 3 diploma’), or a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the level 3 diploma, by the relevant date. (Regulation 32 (4)(5))

p.3

Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that staff obtain the required qualifications in accordance with the workforce development plan. 01/08/2018

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The manager and staff team work exceptionally hard to build secure and trusting relationships with the children and young people. The excellent quality of relationships means that they feel valued and this helps them to thrive. The children and young people love to spend time with the staff. The atmosphere is calming. There is much hugging, singing and laughter. A young person said: ‘I love my home, it’s fantastic.’

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Education is highly valued. The staff promote educational attendance and attainment. Attendance is 100% for all of the children and young people. There are lots of educational games and toys to encourage learning. One young person has recently made the transition from primary to secondary school. Staff worked with new school staff and his family to help the move go smoothly. A headteacher said: ‘I can’t speak too highly of the support we have had in school from the staff.’

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The staff have received training to ensure that they have sufficient understanding to carry out healthcare tasks competently. This increases their confidence and promotes the children and young people’s well-being. The staff work closely with consultants and specialist nurses to provide high-quality individual care. A specialist epilepsy nurse said: ‘The staff are fabulous, really on the ball.’ One young person has been helped to gain greater independence with self-care tasks, including toileting. Healthy eating is promoted. The vegetable patches in the garden are well used, with the children and young people enjoying growing and eating their own produce, encouraging them to have exercise and to eat more fresh vegetables. The staff are innovative in their approach to Inspection report children’s home: SC066127 4 helping promote a healthy diet and lifestyle. Recently, the staff held an event in the home to promote awareness of healthy eating. This included a number of interactive fun

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

activities, which resulted in setting up a healthy tuck shop.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Care planning is robust. Records and risk assessments detail the needs, wishes and feelings of the children and young people well. ‘My plans’ are individually focused. They are completed using the children and young people’s preferred communication methods. A social worker said: ‘My young person has been supported to take an active part in his plans. He attends and participates in all reviews.’

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The children and young people’s guide is updated regularly and is in line with the statement of purpose. It outlines the boundaries and expectations of the home. Regular children and young people’s meetings are supported by the staff. The use of ‘my say’ consultation records ensures that views, wishes and feelings are sought on a regular basis. The staff are committed to enhancing participation. They are creative and resourceful in their approaches, ensuring that the children and young people feel listened to. An example of this is when a young person said that he would like some new cushions in the living room. He was able to go shopping with the staff to choose new ones.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Contact is supported and promoted. The staff are very proactive, providing transport and supervision, which helps parents to spend quality time with their children. This commitment is important in enabling the children and young people to maintain and strengthen family relationships.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The staff ensure that there are lots of different activities. Horse riding, swimming and going out for tea are all very popular. Community involvement is encouraged. Children and young people have participated in a number of charity walks and fun runs. One young person is supported to volunteer in a local charity shop.

p.4

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

Safeguarding practice within the home is extremely thorough. The staff are well aware of the additional vulnerabilities of the children and young people and have developed their practice accordingly.

p.4

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

The staff know the children and young people well and are highly skilled in communicating with them. Clear boundaries are in place that take into account individual abilities, competence and understanding. A high level of support, help and guidance is provided. Positive behaviour support plans ensure that the staff are able to de-escalate situations effectively at an early stage. This minimises the use of restraint. Restraints that do take place are comprehensively recorded. Each incident is evaluated by the manager, with a key factor being an assessment of the children and young people’s understanding of what happened and why.

p.4

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

Since the last inspection, there has only been one incident of a young person going missing. This was managed well, demonstrating a clear understanding of the actions that Inspection report children’s home: SC066127 5 needed to be taken, as well as effective partnership working with the police and parents.

p.4

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

The storage, administration and recording of medication is meticulous. Safe handling of medication is part of the staff induction programme. Senior staff all have a further certificated qualification and work closely with prescribing pharmacists. The system significantly reduces the likelihood of errors in administration. This attention to detail by the staff helps to keep the children and young people safe.

p.5

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

Generic health and safety is comprehensive. Risk assessments are carried out and reviewed regularly. Fire drills are carried out as required. All equipment in the home is well maintained and tested within timescales. This demonstrates that all aspects of the overall quality of care are given equal consideration. This ensures the safety of the children and young people.

p.5

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

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

p.5

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

The manager is highly effective and motivational. She leads a staff team whose members are knowledgeable, committed and loyal. The staff feel very well supported and a member of staff said:’ I love working here; the manager and senior staff are great. There is a lovely atmosphere and I think the manager is the reason for this.’

p.5

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

Monitoring systems are robust and are undertaken on a monthly basis. The manager is clear about the strengths and areas of development needed in the home and has a plan of how these can be achieved. She has used research to good effect in developing practice. This has enabled the staff to improve their individual effectiveness with the children and young people.

p.5

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

An additional strength is that the manager leads by example by working directly with the children and young people as part of the team. This enables her to see at first hand day- to day practice and to develop plans to address any issues during supervision or in team meetings.

p.5

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

Staff team meetings take place regularly and offer an opportunity for group learning and discussions on individual children and young people. The staff benefit from regular supervision, training and support, enabling personal and professional development. This has created a cohesive staff team that strives to look at ways of improving the service. A requirement with regards to staff qualifications remains to be implemented. A minority of staff have not yet completed the level of qualification required by regulation. This is due to a combination of circumstances outside of the control of the manager. All of the staff concerned are now working their way towards qualification and the manager has put in place a number of supports to enable them to gain their qualifications as soon as possible.

p.5

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

Recruitment and selection processes are thorough. Induction is comprehensive and uses a variety of methods to check the understanding of the staff before the plan is signed off by the manager.

p.5

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

The home is warm and welcoming and is maintained to a high standard throughout. The Inspection report children’s home: SC066127 6 external areas are well maintained and offer very pleasant surroundings for the children and young people to live in.

p.5

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.

p.6

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: SC066127 7

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Interact Care Limited

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 4th Floor, Waterfront Building, Chancellor’s Road, Hammersmith Embankment, London W6 9RU

p.7

Inspector:

Dot McGough, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC066127 8 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.

p.7

Inspector:

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.8

Inspector:

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.8

Inspector:

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.8