Children's Home run by Aspris Children’s Services Limited in Worcestershire

Inspection report children‟s home: SC441514 1 SC441514 Registered provider: Priory Education Services Limited

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This home is owned by a private company. It is registered for up to three young people aged 11 to 19 who have complex needs, which may include autistic spectrum disorders and complex associated difficulties. There is no registered manager at this home.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

requires improvement to be good

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

p.1

requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

p.1

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.

p.1

requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 12 January 2018

p.1

requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not judged

p.1

requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children‟s home: SC441514 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/01/2018 Interim Not judged 04/07/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good 24/01/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 11/10/2016 Full Requires improvement Inspection report children‟s home: SC441514 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 leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children‟s home that helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare.

p.3

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child; ensure that the home‟s workforce provides continuity of care to each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(c)(d)(e)) 04/07/2018

p.3

Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that full and satisfactory information is available in relation to any individual employed to work in the children‟s home in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (3)(d))

p.3

Requirement Due date

This is with specific reference to the safe recruitment of agency staff. 04/07/2018

p.3

Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that each employee completes an appropriate induction and receives practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (1)(a)(4)(a))

p.3

Requirement Due date

This is with specific reference to the registered manager receiving supervision and an induction. 04/07/2018

p.3

Requirement Due date

Schedule 4 sets out the other information that the registered person must keep in relation to a children‟s home. The registered person must maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4 and ensure that the records are kept up to date; and retain the records for at least 15 years from the date of the last entry. (Regulation 37 (1)(2)(a)(b)(c)) 04/07/2018

p.3

Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months. In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating the quality of 04/07/2018 Inspection report children‟s home: SC441514 4 care provided for children; the feedback and opinions of children about the children‟s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children. After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review (“the quality of care review report”). The registered

p.3

Requirement Due date

person must supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed; and make a copy of the quality of care review report available on request to a placing authority, if the placing authority is not the parent of a child accommodated in the home. The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (1)(2)(a)(b)(c)(3)(4)(a)(b)(5))

p.4

Recommendations

 Ensure that the children‟s home is a nurturing, supportive environment that meets the needs of the children and is a homely, domestic environment. 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 including the quality standards‟, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

p.4

improvement to be good

In February, a new young person moved into the home. Prior to this, the home had been closed for three months. Since the home reopened, there has not been a full staff team. This has led to a high dependency on agency members of staff to provide essential cover. For example, there are only four core members of staff, which means shifts frequently require 50% of the staff to be from an external agency. The young person attends routine health appointments and takes part in a range of physical activities, including horse riding and visiting the local park. The young person told the inspector, „I can have fun here. I do activities, I am entertained here, and I am getting better every day. I have cut down on my restraints.‟ The home is clean, personalised and well maintained. However, the first-floor windows are fitted with external bars. These bars compromise the otherwise homely feel of the house. Inspection report children‟s home: SC441514 5

p.4

improvement to be good

The level of scrutiny applied to the safe recruitment of agency staff is weak. For example, there are gaps in the employment histories of some agency members of staff which go unchecked. Furthermore, references for some agency members of staff are missing. When references are obtained, they are not always verified. Staff work closely with the in-house therapist to ensure that the young person receives a consistent approach from all members of staff so that her social and emotional needs continue to be met. Although there is only a small permanent staff team, the staff make sure that the young person benefits from regular key-worker sessions. These sessions help the young person to understand the world around her so that she stays safe. Regular health and safety checks take place to ensure that the environment is safe to live in.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There has not been a registered manager in the home for 13 months. In this time, four managers have started and left without registering with Ofsted. There is now a new manager. He is preparing to submit his application to Ofsted. The new manager has not been supported in his role by the organisation. He started his post in February 2018. However, his induction and training did not start until April 2018. Furthermore, he has not received supervision in line with the organisation‟s own policy. The competence of the workforce is variable. This is because not all staff have completed their mandatory training and one member of staff has not obtained the level 3 diploma in residential childcare within the necessary timescale. During the period that the home was unoccupied, there were concerns surrounding the safe storage of young people‟s records. This has hindered the new manager‟s ability to write and submit his evaluation of the quality of care, in line with regulation.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The new manager is dedicated and keen to make improvements in the home. He ensures that the staff receive regular supervision so that they continue to receive support. Staff are child-focused and want to achieve positive outcomes for the young person.

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 Inspection report children‟s home: SC441514 6 making for the children and young people whom it is trying to help, protect and look after.

p.5

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: SC441514 7

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Priory Education Services Limited

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Priory Group, 80 Hammersmith Road, London W14 8UD

p.7

Inspector

Louise Battersby, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC441514 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 looked after children, 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: http://www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.8