Children's Home run by Sandcastle Care Limited in Blackpool

Inspection report children’s home: SC363398 1 SC363398 Registered provider: Sandcastle Care Ltd

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home provides care and accommodation for up to seven children or young people, who require care, and who may have a range of learning, emotional or physical 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 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: 15 November 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: improved effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC363398 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/11/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 26/04/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good 02/02/2017 Interim Declined in effectiveness 15/08/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC363398 3

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Recommendations

 Care must be taken to ensure prescribed medicines are only administered to the individual for whom they are prescribed. Medicines must be administered in line with a medically approved protocol. There must be clear guidance for staff regarding the criteria for administering medication that is prescribed on a ‘PRN’ basis. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 35, paragraph 7.15)

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Recommendations

 As the home will have a day-to-day understanding of young people’s capabilities and needs, children’s homes staff will have a valuable contribution to make to the pathway planning process. They should actively seek to make the fullest contribution, working with other relevant persons. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 17, paragraph 3.28)

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Recommendations

 Specifically relating to staff debriefing; the registered person should ensure that all incidents of control, discipline and restraint are subject to systems of regular scrutiny to ensure that their use is fair and the principles as set out in 9.35 are respected. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.36)

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Recommendations

 Staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62 paragraph 14.4)

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Recommendations

 Staff should continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)

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Recommendations

 In some cases, such as in children’s homes caring for children with complex care needs, restraint may be necessary as a consequence of a child’s impairment or disability. Details about planned and agreed approaches to restraint or restraint techniques to be applied in the day-to-day routine of the child must be included in their EHC plan, statement of special educational needs or within their care plans. This could include, for example the use of a device, such as outlined in paragraph 9.46. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 47, paragraph 9.43)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should have a workforce plan which can fulfil the workforce related requirements of regulation 16, schedule 1 (paragraphs 19 and 20). The plan should be updated to include any new training and qualifications completed by staff while working at the home, and used to record the ongoing training and continuing professional development needs of staff – including the Inspection report children’s home: SC363398 4 home’s manager and staff in supervisory positions. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Four young people currently live in the home and are all making good progress. Young people enjoy warm relationships with staff, are engaging well in education and have regular opportunities to take part in fun and fulfilling activities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are aware of each young person’s individual needs and provide responsive care and support. Staff understand young people’s individual methods of communication and support young people to express themselves. This means that young people are supported to make choices in their day-to-day lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Some young people who live at the home have complex healthcare needs. These needs are comprehensively addressed within their care plans, which ensures that staff understand how to support young people safely. There is good evidence of effective joint working with a variety of healthcare professionals, which helps to ensure that young people receive the care and support they need.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There have been good improvements in arrangements for managing young people’s medication. Robust procedures for the recording, storage and administration of medicines helps to promote young people’s health, safety and well-being. Clearer protocols in relation to young people’s ‘as and when required’ medicines would support further improvement.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There is a positive focus on promoting young people’s emotional well-being in this home. This ethos is underpinned by research and supported by an in-house therapist, who works alongside staff, assisting them to understand young people’s emotional responses and methods of communication.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All the young people attend education on a full-time basis and are engaging well. Staff work closely with education professionals to ensure that young people’s learning is well supported and enhanced by positive activities at home. Young people take part in a wide range of leisure and recreational pursuits, which promote their confidence and day-to- day enjoyment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One young person has left the home since the last inspection. This was a planned move on to adult services. Staff worked closely with this young person to help ensure that he was practically and emotionally prepared for his move. Some positive work also took place with the young person’s new service to ensure that it had a good understanding of his needs. Clearer planning for other young people approaching the age of transition would help to ensure that they receive good support when moving on. Inspection report children’s home: SC363398 5

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

Young people receive care that helps to keep them safe and protects their well-being. All staff receive safeguarding training at the start of their employment, which is regularly renewed. Safeguarding concerns are promptly identified and managed appropriately, in partnership with the relevant agencies.

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

Staff have good awareness of the risks to young people’s safety and well-being and work in accordance with agreed strategies to keep young people safe. There is understanding that positive risk-taking is an aid to growth and, where appropriate, this is supported in a planned way. Some aspects of risk assessments and written plans to manage risk could be more clearly recorded, particularly in circumstances where restrictive practices are necessary to maintain young people’s safety. A recommendation is raised to support this improvement.

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

The staff team has developed a good understanding of young people’s behaviour and emotional responses. The individualised guidance on supporting young people’s behaviour is much improved and helps to ensure that the staff team responds to challenging situations in a consistent and positive manner.

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

On occasion, incidents that require staff members to physically intervene or restrain a young person do occur. Any such incidents are recorded and reviewed by the registered manager. The process of debriefing staff following these incidents is inconsistent and not always clearly recorded. It is recommended that all staff who have been involved in an incident are provided with formal debriefing and are encouraged to reflect. This will support a consistent and professional approach, and help to safeguard young people from inappropriate or excessive restraint.

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

Because of their level of need, young people who live in the home receive constant support and supervision. As a result, incidents of young people being missing from home do not occur. There are, however, clear protocols in place for staff to follow in the event that a young person does leave the home without staff support. A safe area risk assessment is in place and reviewed on an annual basis, to help ensure that any risks specific to the location of the home are understood and addressed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a manager in post who has been registered with Ofsted since November 2017. The registered manager is suitably experienced and is in the process of completing her level 5 leadership and management qualification. The registered manager is closely supported by an experienced deputy manager and a number of team leaders. The home is very well resourced, recently being refurbished to a high standard for the benefit of young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager carefully considers the needs of young people before agreeing to offer them a place at the home. This helps to ensure that newly admitted young people’s needs can be met safely, and that their admission does not have a negative Inspection report children’s home: SC363398 6 impact on the young people who already live there. This means that young people benefit from stability as placement breakdowns are unlikely.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home has experienced some staff turnover since the last inspection. However, a full team is now in place and staff report feeling well settled and fully supported. Staff benefit from regular formal supervision as well as opportunities to meet as a team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

All team members are provided with a range of training at the start of their employment, as well as ongoing training related to the needs of the young people they support. In relation to training around specific complex care tasks, a clear process for checking each staff member’s competence on a periodic basis would help to ensure that young people continue to receive safe, effective care. In addition, an advanced training programme for staff carrying out senior roles would support the development of the management team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There are processes in place to enable the registered manager to monitor safety and quality across the home. This system has recently been reviewed and new monitoring tools have been implemented, which assist the registered manager in identifying and addressing areas for improvement. This helps to ensure that young people benefit from a constantly improving service.

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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: SC363398 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Sandcastle Care Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 49 Whitegate Drive, Blackpool, Lancashire FY3 9DG

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Inspector

Marie Cordingley, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC363398 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 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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