Children's Home run by London Borough of Hillingdon in Hillingdon

Inspection report children‟s home: SC068789 1 SC068789 Registered provider: London Borough of Hillingdon

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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 local authority home provides a short-breaks service and full-time care on a permanent and emergency basis for up to eight children and young people who have learning difficulties and physical disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The current manager was registered with Ofsted on 7 February 2017.

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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 Inspection report children‟s home: SC068789 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/06/2017 Full Outstanding 16/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 02/11/2016 Full Good 17/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children‟s home: SC068789 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

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—

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Requirement Due date

that 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. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that risk assessments identify known risks for children and confirm the procedures that are in place to minimise these. 31/07/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this refers to the statutory provision (if any) under which the child is provided with accommodation. 31/07/2018

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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.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered 31/07/2018 Inspection report children‟s home: SC068789 4 person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

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.

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Requirement Due date

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)(5))

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Recommendations

 Records must be kept of the administration of all medication. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 35, paragraph 7.15) In particular, the home must ensure that signatures used by staff who administrator medication to children are legible.  The registered person must ensure that staff have the relevant knowledge to be able to: respond to the health needs of children; and where necessary meet specific individual health needs arising from a disability, chronic condition or other complex needs. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 34, paragraph 7.12) In particular, the home should record the moving and handling procedures for each individual child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who access this service have a variety of care arrangements. Some live at the home while undergoing long-term assessments to enable informed decisions on their permanent care needs to be made. Other children stay under short-breaks arrangements. This flexibility enables children to receive a good level of support to meet their individual needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children experience positive stays and make good progress while living in or staying at this home, because of receiving personalised and individualised care from a skilled and committed staff team. Staff are sensitive to any signs of distress in children and respond appropriately. Inspection report children‟s home: SC068789 5 Children are encouraged to express their feelings and are helped to understand these. Staff set clear boundaries, and children benefit from a team of staff who follow through on any commitments made to them. For example, a young person who expressed a wish to ride a bike out of the home was helped to take part in a cycle proficiency course to ensure that they were able to ride safely.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children who live in the home make good progress in terms of their education. The service has a clear value of the importance of education both at school and in the home. There is strong evidence of the staff team working in partnership with schools. An example of this is the registered manager advocating to delay a child‟s transition plan, to enable her to sit exams.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children observed and spoken with during the inspection were relaxed and at ease. Children spoke about how well they get on with staff and how well they are doing. The home is warm and inviting and presented in a homely manner.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are in good health and are supported by staff through day-to-day care, role modelling and the teaching of independent living skills based on their individual understanding. Consequently, they grow in confidence and reduce their behavioural concerns. A parent commented, „My son has developed trust in this staff team, he listens and is more understanding of the impact his behaviour has on his family and others.‟

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children‟s care plans are individualised and detailed. Children‟s health, communication and emotional needs are identified, along with cultural and dietary needs. This enables staff to be confident in their understanding of each child‟s support needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home makes good use of local and wider leisure activities. Activities are varied and planned to ensure that children have the best possible experience.

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

The staff team is highly effective at providing safety for children and protecting them from potential sources of harm. Staff show that they understand the unique risk for each child and are effective at developing approaches to reduce these. However, these approaches are not consistently reflected in the quality of written risk assessments.

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

Young people benefit from clear and consistent routines, and effective behaviour support and management plan and techniques. As a result, there are low levels of physical intervention.

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

Staff training is of a good standard, including safeguarding and medication; this is further enhanced with training on the roles and responsibilities for children looked after. All children have individual evacuation plans, with regular fire drills ensuring that staff understand what to do in the event of an emergency.

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

Since the last inspection, Ofsted received an allegation regarding the home. The local Inspection report children‟s home: SC068789 6 authority is dealing with the matter in an appropriate and transparent manner and there are no concerns for the safety of children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is „hands on‟ and, by continuing with her professional development, remains up to date with research and practice. Since her appointment, the registered manager has driven improvements, resulting in positive experiences for all children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The strong leadership in place works well to support the staff to develop and improve their skills. The registered manager makes good use of her own internal monitoring process and the feedback received from the independent person‟s visits. However, the internal monitoring reports fail to capture the views of children, parents and professionals.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager engages appropriately with other care professionals involved with each child. A school‟s safeguarding officer spoke highly of the whole staff team‟s communication, which results in all parties feeling very well informed of the children‟s needs. However, care plans do not always reflect the up-to-date legal status of individual children. Consequently, there is a lack of clarity on procedures to follow to safeguard children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Parents reported good relationships and communication with the staff team. Parents spoken with by the inspector all said that staff are approachable, supportive of them and ensure that they form part of a strong team around their children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Transitions out of the home are sensitively planned and well managed. Since the last inspection, two children who have complex needs have successfully moved to permanent placements.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is appropriately staffed and resourced to meet its statement of purpose. Staff come from a variety of backgrounds and are able to meet the needs of children who have diverse and complex needs.

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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. Inspection report children‟s home: SC068789 7 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

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Information about this inspection

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: SC068789 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: London Borough of Hillingdon

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Civic Centre, High Street, Uxbridge, Middlesex UB8 1UW

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Inspector

Juanita Mayers, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC068789 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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