Children's home run by Birtenshaw in Bolton

Inspection report children‘s home: SC483533 1 SC483533 Registered provider: Birtenshaw – company number 02978546

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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 part of a large charitable organisation. It provides care and accommodation for up to three children and young people who have learning disabilities and/or sensory impairment. This home provides placements for children and young people of either sex up to 18 years old. The manager has been registered with Ofsted since January 2015. The manager has the necessary experience and the required level 5 management qualification.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children‘s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children‘s home: SC483533 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

26/07/2017 Full Good 06/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 20/09/2016 Full Outstanding 16/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children‘s home: SC483533 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 in the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

10: The health and well-being standard is that— (a) the health and well-being needs of children are met;

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Requirement Due date

(b) children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being; and (2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— (a) that staff help each child to— (b) have access to such dental, medical, nursing, psychiatric and psychological advice, treatment and other services as the child may require. 29/06/2018

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Requirement Due date

(1) In order to meet the protection of children standard, the registered person must ensure that children are protected from harm.

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Requirement Due date

(2) In particular, the standard requires the registered person to ensure that:

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Requirement Due date

(b) the home‘s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. In particular, ensure that there are clear risk management plans in place to identify how the staff will support, manage, supervise and monitor children and young people when there has been a significant incident. 29/06/2018

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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.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— 29/06/2018 Inspection report children‘s home: SC483533 4 that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child‘s health. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular ensure that repairs in the home are completed in a timely way and that the home is maintained to a clean and hygienic standard.

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Requirement Due date

13: (1) The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children‘s home that— (a) helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and (b) promotes their welfare.

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Requirement Due date

(2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— (a) 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; (c) ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; (d) ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child; (e) ensure that the home‘s workforce provides continuity of care to each child. 29/06/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children‘s home. (Regulation 23 (1))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that a record is kept in the home of all the prescribed medication. 29/06/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience and have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(b)(c)) 29/06/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy (―the missing child policy‖) setting out the procedures to be followed, and the roles and responsibilities of persons working at the home, in relation to a child who is, or has been, so 29/06/2018 Inspection report children‘s home: SC483533 5 absent. (Regulation 34 (4)(b))

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improvement to be good

Staff do not fully support children and young people to maintain good physical health. Care plans and risk assessments identify some of the potential risks for children and young people and include some strategies to manage and reduce the known risks. However, plans still do not identify all the strategies that staff should consider or follow during and after a significant incident. For example, there is still no reference to what action staff are required to take if an incident has included a child or young person banging their head. Furthermore, these plans do not direct staff in understanding when, and if, medical advice should be sought from a suitably qualified health professional. This means that medical advice is not sought. This was a requirement at the last inspection and is repeated.

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improvement to be good

The process for recording children and young people‘s prescribed medication requires improvement to be good. Not all prescribed medication that is kept in the home is recorded in the child or young person‘s medication record. For example, one young person‘s prescribed medication record did not concur with the actual prescribed medication that was kept in the home. As such, the manager cannot be assured that staff have the correct information about medication.

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improvement to be good

Children and young people are not provided with a warm, nurturing home environment that protects their privacy and dignity and is free from avoidable hazards. The home requires a large amount of maintenance work and repair to ensure that children and young people live in a home which is comfortable and safe. Furthermore, the home was not maintained to a clean and hygienic standard.

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improvement to be good

Children and young people benefit from a core staff team that provides a good level of care, support and supervision. This enables children and young people to build positive and trusting relationships with adults who understand their individual needs and areas of vulnerability. This good-quality individualised care and support helps children and young people with their development. However, since the last inspection there has been a number of changes in staff which affects the stability and consistency for children and young people.

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improvement to be good

The promotion of education is a key strength of the home. Children and young people attend school and make noticeable progress. Positive working relationships with educational professionals and parents has resulted in children and young people sustaining educational placements and achieving well. Staff understand the importance of education and supplement this with a variety of activities to promote informal education and learning. This includes supporting children and young people to develop their communication and writing skills. Inspection report children‘s home: SC483533 6 Staff support children and young people to develop their independent living skills. Children and young people have learned how to make snacks and drinks. They have been supported to manage their own personal care needs and staff encourage them to complete simple household chores. These opportunities help children and young people

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improvement to be good

Staff support children and young people to maintain regular, positive contact with their family members. Staff are flexible and supportive in their approach and ensure that the children and young people spend good-quality time with their families. Parents confirm that the support that staff offer during these times has enabled contact to take place safely and positively. As a result, children and young people‘s relationships with their families are nurtured and family ties are maintained and improved.

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improvement to be good

The staff provide a wide range of fun and interesting activities that are in line with children and young people‘s interests, talents and requests. Children and young people are encouraged to develop their understanding of the wider world and experience new opportunities in a safe and managed way. Staff help children and young people to take part in annual holidays as well as other activities such as swimming, visits to the local parks and day trips out. These experiences promote children and young people‘s confidence and self-esteem and provide opportunities to try new things.

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improvement to be good

The process for enhancing vulnerable children and young people‘s safety when they are away from the home requires improvement to be good.

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improvement to be good

Although the risks associated with children and young people absconding and leaving the home unsupervised are addressed in their risk assessments, the manager has failed to implement a clear and specific missing-from-home risk management plan which identifies the actions that staff must follow. Furthermore, children and young people‘s risk assessments are not updated quickly following these significant incidents. That said, on the whole, children and young people are supported and supervised very well so that the incidents of missing-from-home are extremely rare. On the one occasion when a young person evaded staff supervision, staff responded quickly to make sure that the young person returned quickly and safely.

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improvement to be good

Children and young people‘s safety and well-being is enhanced as complaints against the home are managed well. The provider investigates all complaints and concerns quickly and thoroughly. They share all relevant information with safeguarding agencies, such as the designated officer and HMCI.

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improvement to be good

Staff support children and young people to manage their emotional responses. When children and young people are unable to regulate their emotional responses, staff intervene appropriately to keep children, young people and others safe. The managers‘ improved monitoring and evaluation of these incidents helps staff to develop their care practice and understand the needs of children and young people. This and the early Inspection report children‘s home: SC483533 7 intervention of the staff team have resulted in a reduction in the number of physical interventions in this home.

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

The home is managed by a suitably experienced and qualified registered manager who has been in post since January 2015. Despite this, there are some weaknesses in the effectiveness of leadership and management that require improvement. The manager fully understands the strengths and weaknesses identified in this report and is committed to securing improvements.

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

Staffing arrangements are adequate. Poor staffing arrangements mean that children and young people are not cared for by a consistent, trained staff team. There are a number of core staff who are passionate and committed to providing a high level of care and support to children and young people. These staff are regularly supported to care for children and young people by other staff who work in the organisation‘s school and other children‘s home, and by agency care staff. This is because there is insufficient staff in the home to cover the number of shifts that are needed. While efforts have been made by the manager to address the staffing shortfalls, over time this cannot fail to impact on children and young people‘s sense of security and belonging.

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

The manager has failed to ensure that all of her staff are adequately trained and supported to meet the complex needs of children and young people. Arrangements to support staff through regular supervision sessions and appraisal has been lacking. Furthermore, not all staff are up to date with mandatory training in areas such as behaviour management, first aid and fire safety training. The manager acknowledged this during the inspection and quickly made appropriate arrangements to rectify this.

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

The statement of purpose and pictorial children‘s guide provide good information about the home‘s aims and objectives for children, young people, their families and placing authorities. This ensures that stakeholders are clear about what service they can expect to receive.

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

Parents and professionals provided positive feedback about the care and support that children and young people receive. Good collaborative working relationships support children and young people to achieve positive outcomes and enjoy the experiences that are on offer in their home.

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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 Inspection report children‘s home: SC483533 8 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: SC483533 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Birtenshaw – company number 02978546

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Birtenshaw Darwen Road, Bromley Cross, Bolton BL7 9AB

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Inspector

Janine Shortman-Thomas, social care inspector Inspection report children‘s home: SC483533 10 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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