John Greenwood Shipman Centre

Inspection report children’s home: SC465257 1 SC465257 Registered provider: Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

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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 home is a 12-bedded residential short-break service for children and young people who have learning disabilities and children and young people who have physical disabilities and associated healthcare needs. The service is managed by a healthcare foundation trust and is also registered with the Care Quality Commission, as care arrangements include regulated activities within the healthcare provision. The previous registered manager has left very recently and there is an acting manager in place.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC465257 2

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Inspection date

03/05/2017 12/01/2017 17/08/2016 26/02/2016

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Inspection judgement

Good Improved effectiveness Good Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC465257 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 leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13(2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this is in relation to healthcare training and competency for staff. 11/08/2018

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Requirement Due date

If the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005(a) applies to the home—

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Requirement Due date

the registered person must ensure that the requirements of that Order and any regulations made under it, except for article 23 (duties of employees), are complied with in respect of the home. (Regulation 25 (2)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this is in relation to checks on emergency lighting and fire extinguishers in the home. 11/08/2018

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Recommendations

 Ensure that staff are 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) Inspection report children’s home: SC465257 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Parents and carers say that their children and young people have a great time during their short-break stay. One parent said: ‘He has flourished there, they are fantastic with him.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The inspector observed children and young people’s responses to staff, which were always extremely positive. Some children’s facial expressions lit up when staff walked into the room. Every time one carer spoke, the child they were looking after smiled broadly. It is clear that children and young people like the staff and that everyone has a good time together.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people are happy, settled and directly benefit from their short break. The benefits associated with short breaks have a positive effect on other aspects of their lives. There are some real success stories and examples of exceptional progress. Progress is particularly strong in areas such as personal care, developing independence and in building relationships with friends. Children and young people are supported to go on outings and activities that they would not usually get the chance to do. They learn about what they enjoy and experience some activities for the first time.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people become more confident. They are supported very well to have their say. Staff are great advocates for them. They teach them that they can, and should, have their say about what is happening in their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Transitions into the home are carefully managed and placement matching is well organised. One member of staff and one young person have recently been given a special award for their work together. This was in relation to preparing the young person to move on to adult services. This work is so good that it is worthy of sharing with others.

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

Very vulnerable children and young people, with highly complex needs, are safe and feel safe during their short break. Parents, social workers, staff and managers are all very confident that children and young people are well protected. Risk assessments and care plans capture key information about safety. Staff know how to reduce risk.

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

Behaviour management is very good. Where a sense of calm is needed, staff are able to provide this. Praise and encouragement are given consistently. Young people’s behaviour is often significantly better in this setting than in other settings, such as their school. This is because staff respond positively and consistently. Staff are trained in behaviour management techniques. They only use physical intervention when it is absolutely necessary to keep the child or young person safe. Inspection report children’s home: SC465257 5 There is a very open safeguarding culture. Staff regularly and freely discuss their practice with each other and with their manager in supervision. They are the first to say if they make a mistake.

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

There are good relationships with safeguarding professionals and social workers. When a concern arises about a child or young person, the right professional swiftly gets to know about this.

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

There has recently been a serious medication error at the home, but action has been taken to ensure that the medication procedure is made more rigorous. Parents still have complete confidence that staff are able to look after their child or young person well, whether they have complex behaviour or particular healthcare needs.

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

The building presents as homely and scrupulously clean. There are plenty of accessible areas and activities for young people to enjoy, such as a sensory room and soft room and gardens and grounds equipped with specialised swings, a roundabout and play areas.

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

There are procedures in place to make sure that the building is safe and generally these work very well. However, checks on the fire alarm system have recently started to slip and the home’s fire risk assessment has not been reviewed as it should have been. A full picture of fire safety cannot be established because these checks have not taken place.

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

Some shortfalls in leadership have started to develop. Staff training has not been well organised and it is very difficult to evidence what training has taken place. Training could not be evidenced in relation to healthcare tasks such as gastrostomy feeding and epilepsy. Despite problems in recording, the acting manager and staff were confident that all staff are trained in the competencies required to meet the needs of the children and young people.

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

Gaps in the checking of fire equipment have started to emerge in recent weeks and this has gone unnoticed by leaders.

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

There has been a recent medication error in the home. This is still under investigation. The acting manager has taken appropriate action in response to this incident. However, the quality of her response has not been robust enough given the seriousness of the incident. There is a lack of planning, assessment and evaluation in response to this serious incident. Records in relation to the incident are not of a good quality. They do not ‘tell the story’ of the action taken and the action planned.

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

There are wonderful relationships between staff and children and young people. Staff are highly skilled and their skills are well matched to the children and young people whom they look after.

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

The new acting manager is enthusiastic, passionate and very proud of the service, as are Inspection report children’s home: SC465257 6 all the staff. At the time of the inspection, she had only been in this post for 18 days and is still in a transitional period. She acknowledges that improvements need to be made and is confident that she can address the shortfalls identified in this report in a short space of time. The requirement made at the last inspection about safety in the garden has been met.

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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: SC465257 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Sudborough House, St. Mary’s Hospital, 77 London Road, Kettering, Northamptonshire NN15 7PW

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Inspector

Caroline Brailsford, social care regulatory inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC465257 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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