Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report children’s home: 1225136 1 Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Ltd

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

Primrose House provides care for four young people, male or female, up to the age of 18. The home offers a holistic care package for young people who have individual complex needs.

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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 requires improvement to be good

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good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Date of last inspection: 30 January 2018

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: declined in effectiveness

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

Compliance notices were served in February 2018 in relation to safeguarding young people and care planning. The requirements of these notices were found to be met during a monitoring visit carried out on 27 February 2018. Inspection report children’s home: 1225136 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

30/01/2018 Interim Declined in effectiveness 11/05/2017 Full Good 12/10/2016 Full Requires improvement Inspection report children’s home: 1225136 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

13: The leadership and management standard In order to meet the leadership and management standard the registered person must enable, inspire and lead a culture in relation to the children’s home that— helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare. use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(h)) 08/06/2018

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Requirement Due date

40: Notification of a serious event The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if— a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation; an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious; there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(e)) 08/06/2018

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Recommendations

 When a child returns to the home after being missing from care or away from the home without permission, the responsible local authority must provide an opportunity for the child to have an independent return home interview. Homes should take account of information provided by such interviews when assessing risks and putting arrangements in place to protect each child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30)

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Recommendations

 The registered person must specify the procedures to be followed and the roles and responsibilities of staff when a child is missing from care or away from the home without permission. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.28) Inspection report children’s home: 1225136 4  Expectations of standards of behaviour should be high for all staff and children in the home. These standards should be clear and unambiguous. Positive behaviour and relationships should be reinforced, praised and encouraged; poor behaviour should be challenged and discussed. Clear strategies for managing behaviours should be agreed and included in individual behaviours support plans. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 39, paragraph 8.11)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people report that they like living in the home and recognise themselves that they are making good progress. Young people have developed very positive relationships with staff and speak highly of them. They enjoy spending time with staff in the home or when taking part in activities in the community.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A requirement in relation to young people’s views, wishes and feelings was made at the last inspection. At that time, there was evidence that young people did not always feel listened to and that appropriate action was not always taken in response to their concerns. This requirement has now been addressed. The acting manager has worked with the staff team and with young people, to establish ways in which young people can express their ideas or raise concerns. Positive direct work with all young people takes place regularly and helps ensure that they have the opportunity to discuss things that are important to them. All young people now have access to an independent advocate, to help them express their views.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff know young people well and have a good understanding about how to support them. They are able to recognise young people’s changing needs and ensure that young people have access to external services, where appropriate. A parent described how the acting manager had supported her son to access counselling following a bereavement. She felt that the acting manager and staff had cared for him very well during this difficult time.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All the young people have made good progress in education from their starting points. The acting manager has worked well with external professionals to secure appropriate provision for each young person, all of whom had been out of education for a significant period of time prior to their admission. Young people are engaging in education and developing routines of regular attendance.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support young people to regularly access routine health care as well as care for any individual needs. In addition, young people are educated about healthy lifestyles in individual and group work. Some positive work has been carried out with one young person to support him in managing a fear of dental treatment, although this could have been better evidenced in his care plan. Inspection report children’s home: 1225136 5 The acting manager has made good improvements to daily routines within the home. She has introduced a more structured approach to activities, which helps to ensure that young people’s personal preferences are taken into account. Young people have started to positively engage in activities both inside and outside the home. This has helped to increase their confidence and enhance their daily lives.

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

There is a much-improved approach to managing risks to young people’s safety and well-being. Staff are able to identify and assess risks effectively. Risk management plans contain clear guidance about maintaining young people’s safety, and are regularly updated to ensure that any new information is considered.

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

The young people who live at the home do not go missing on a regular basis. However, there are occasions when this situation does occur. There are individual protocols in place providing staff with clear guidance on the action they must take to safeguard young people when they are missing from care. In one example, this information could be clearer in terms of timescales for reporting the young person’s absence to external agencies. A recommendation is raised to support this improvement. A recommendation is also raised to ensure that independent return interviews are consistently carried out when young people return to the home.

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

At the last inspection, it was found that staff did not always manage young people’s relationships in a way that protected them from harm. During this inspection, there was evidence that significant improvements have been made in this area. Staff have received training in managing bullying. Any risks of bullying are carefully assessed and monitored. Positive work about bullying takes place with all young people on a regular basis, and young people have been provided with a number of ways in which they can report any concerns about being bullied.

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

Two requirements were made at the last inspection regarding behaviour support and physical restraint. As a result, all staff have received updated training and the home’s behaviour management policy had been reviewed. There has been a significant reduction in restraints since the last inspection, demonstrating that staff are now able to de-escalate challenging situations more effectively.

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

Young people’s behaviour support plans have improved and now include individualised strategies. Further development of these plans is still required to ensure that staff have clear guidance and are enabled to support young people’s behaviours in a consistent manner. A recommendation has been raised to support this improvement.

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

Young people live in a safe environment. Regular health and safety checks are in place to ensure that all areas of the home and facilities remain safe and fit for purpose. All staff are carefully recruited and required to undergo a range of background checks prior to starting their employment. This helps to ensure that employees are of suitable character. Inspection report children’s home: 1225136 6

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The home has experienced some disruption in management over recent months, with two managers leaving in quick succession. In the interim period, an acting manager took over the running of the home with increased support from senior managers. At the time of the inspection, a new manager had been appointed and has started the process of registration.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Following the last inspection of the home, a number of requirements were made. The acting manager provided a detailed action plan and during this inspection was able to provide evidence that the requirements have been suitably addressed. There have been a number of significant improvements made, which demonstrates the acting manager’s effective leadership. However, the disruption in the management team has had some impact. For example, one young person expressed frustration about what he perceived were changes in the rules in the home and the way things were done by staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff are positive about their roles and spoke highly of the support they receive. They recognise the improvements made and expressed pride in the home. All staff spoken with felt that they received a good standard of training and were supported to develop their skills.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Over the last year, the home has experienced changes in the staff team. This has had an impact on the numbers of qualified workers in the home. Action has been taken to ensure that all staff are enrolled on the NVQ training programme to address this shortfall. The acting manager has also ensured that additional training in line with young people’s needs is provided.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

A requirement was made at the last inspection in relation to monitoring standards of quality and safety in the home. There has been some action taken to address this requirement. However, further improvement is still required to ensure that young people benefit from a constantly improving service. For example, some records of incidents viewed during the inspection demonstrated that themes for future learning have not consistently been identified. Therefore, the requirement is repeated.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

At the last inspection of the home, it was found that Ofsted was not always notified about significant events that took place in the home, and a requirement was raised. While notifications of incidents are now consistently provided, recent notifications have lacked sufficient detail and in one example contained factually inaccurate information. Failure to fully inform Ofsted of the details around specific events undermines our ability to monitor the service. Therefore, this requirement will be repeated.

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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 Inspection report children’s home: 1225136 7 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: 1225136 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Cambian Group, 4th Floor Waterfront Building, Chancellors Road, Hammersmith Embankment, London W6 9RU

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Inspector

Marie Cordingley, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1225136 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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