Children's home run by Atlas Healthcare Ltd in Cheshire East

Inspection report children’s home: SC429762 1 SC429762 Registered provider: Atlas Healthcare Limited

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a privately run children’s home which provides care, accommodation and short break services for up to nine children and young people who have learning and/or physical disabilities.

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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: outstanding

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

30/05/2017 Full Outstanding 20/02/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 09/05/2016 Full Good 30/12/2015 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC429762 2

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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; 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 staff treat each child with dignity and respect. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b)(2)(b)(iii)) 01/06/2018

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Requirement Due date

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 interests and skills.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff help each child to participate in activities that the child enjoys and which meet and expand the child’s interests and preferences. (Regulation 9 (1)(2)(a)(ii)) 01/06/2018

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Requirement Due date

The health and well-being standard is that the health and well- being needs of children are met; children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being; and children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff help each child to achieve the health and well-being outcomes that are recorded on the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 10(1)(a)(b)(c)(2)(a)(i)) 01/06/2018

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that each child’s relevant plans are followed. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(2)(c)) 01/06/2018 Inspection report children’s home: SC429762 3

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Recommendations

 For children’s homes to be nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of their children, they will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. Children’s homes must comply with relevant health and safety legislations (alarms, food hygiene etc.); however, in doing so, homes should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than ‘institutional’ impression. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations include the quality standards’ page 15, paragraph 3.9). In particular, bedroom doors need painting, the bathroom needs unused items removing, and the general environment needs to be at a level expected in a good standard family home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

This home has been adapted to meet the care needs of children and young people who have complex and/or life limiting health and developmental needs. The home provides both short-break services and long-term care. Some children and young people have lived in this home for many years. Care is provided to all the children and young people by the home’s experienced and stable staff group. Personalised care, planning and support is enhanced by an identified core team of staff for each child and young person.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work with other agencies to ensure that any long-term or immediate health concerns are addressed in a timely and effective manner. Staff are proactive in securing specialist services when these are needed. They do not wait for a local authority to take action. All the young people are supported by the staff to attend school. Professionals from a variety of services identify that the children and young people make progress in line with their individual complex needs. For some children and young people, the definition of progress is not regressing. For others, much more positive interaction and communication is taking place.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the importance of family, and children and young people are supported to spend time with their family members at home or another suitable venue. This is in line with the young person’s individual care plan.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff have created some nice areas in the home. The sensory room gives the children and young people the opportunity to enjoy time out of their chairs and experience different stimuli. Bath time is more fun, with coloured lighting and music to improve sensory experiences. Bedrooms have projectors so the children and young people who are unable to sit up can watch programmes projected onto the ceiling. Some areas of the home are in need of attention, and will feel more homely and warm following a programme of decorating and general maintenance.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are able to identify and speak positively about what the children and young people enjoy doing. Activity records are contained within the children and young people’s files. Inspection report children’s home: SC429762 4 Disappointingly, these do not tell a story of the children and young people being given regular opportunity to do the activities they enjoy. Goal and achievement records are significantly out of date. They fail to show how the children and young people are being supported to make achievements medically, developmentally or physically.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home’s recording systems are complex and can be difficult to follow. Updates to key documents are not always acknowledged by all staff members as having been read. For these children and young people, who cannot communicate, it is imperative that all documentation is up to date, acknowledged by staff members and easy to find and read.

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

The children and young people in this home are never in the community without a member of staff or a safe family member. These children and young people’s physical and cognitive development means that they are unable to engage in the types of behaviours that may create or increase risk. The risks for these children and young people relate to their absolute reliance on staff to meet all health and care needs.

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

The manager has addressed previous errors with the administering of medication. The implementation of robust and clear medication protocols will, if adhered to, prevent potentially harmful mistakes being made again in the future.

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

The manager takes action to reduce the risk of harm. There are clear expectations on the staff of how they provide personal care for the children and young people to protect them from abuse or harm. Monitoring systems used by waking night staff mean that they are able to respond to any emergency that occurs while the children and young people are in bed.

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

Staff understand their responsibility to the dependent children and young people in their care to keep them safe. They are aware of how to raise concerns, when to step in immediately to prevent harm, and what to do if they feel that matters are not being dealt with in the best interest of the children and young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home’s registered manager is correctly qualified for her role. Her practice is child- centred and she has high expectations of the staff team members to be effective in their care of the children and young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Recruitment is robust. All of the necessary documentation and checks are completed. This ensures that the care the children and young people receive is from safe and capable carers. When concerns about the practice of staff have occurred, the manager has intervened immediately to make sure that the children and young people are safe. When necessary, she has amended the duties of individual staff in the home to improve the quality of care provided to children and young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel supported and part of the development of the home. They feel able to discuss Inspection report children’s home: SC429762 5 what the home and the children and young people need with the manager, and state that they are listened to. Investment has been forthcoming under the current manager. If something is needed for the children and young people then the manager will endeavour to get this.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Any issues raised by the independent person during the regular monthly monitoring of the home are responded to. Quality of care reviews reflect the issues that have affected the home over the last six months. Goals and actions for the development of the home are identified.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is some sickness absence in the staff team currently. Although this is primarily short-term, it is impacting on what the staff are able to do with the children and young people. Recruitment is underway to increase the home’s staff. This will improve the children and young people’s opportunity for one-to-one care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

It is very positive that the individual training of staff is sourced to support children and young people when this is needed. Nevertheless, gaps in the training identified by the management team in January 2018 remain. There is always the minimum number of staff on shift with the necessary qualifications. Addressing the gaps will, however, increase the staff availability to support the children and young people.

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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: SC429762 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Atlas Healthcare Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Norcliffe House, Station Road, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 1BU

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Maureen Richardson

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Inspectors

Angela Norrie, social care inspector Susan Atkinson-Millmoor, regulatory inspection manager Inspection report children’s home: SC429762 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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