Children's home run by London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in Hammersmith and Fulham

Inspection report children’s home: SC443337 1 SC443337 Registered provider: London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham

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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 children’s home provides care for up to seven young people. The home’s statement of purpose states that it provides care for young people who have learning disabilities and/or physical disabilities. The home provides a mix of permanent placements, shared care placements and some short-break placements.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been registered since 2012.

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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: 19 September 2017

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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: SC443337 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/09/2017 Full Good 06/12/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 20/07/2016 Full Good 14/12/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC443337 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

Ensure that the statement of purpose is kept under review, and where appropriate, revised;

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Requirement Due date

and that a copy of the revised statement of purpose is sent to Ofsted within 28 days of the revision. Regulation 16 (3)(a)(b)) 04/09/2018

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Recommendations

 Ensure that staff have the safeguarding knowledge and skills to recognise and be alert for any signs that might indicate that a disabled young person is in any way at risk of harm. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.12) This relates to staff being aware of the particular safeguarding needs of disabled young people.  Ensure that there is a system in place to monitor the matters set out in Regulation 45 at least once every six months, and to send this report to Ofsted and the placing local authority of all young people in the home who are looked after. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, pages 64 and 65, paragraphs 15.2 and 15.3)  Ensure that all staff have their performance and fitness to carry out their role formally appraised at least annually. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.5)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Some young people are now living in the home on a full-time basis. Their particularly complex needs are very well met using bespoke solutions, such as a dedicated living Inspection report children’s home: SC443337 4 space and specialist training for all staff. This excellent care package is enabling young people to continue living in their community.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people benefit strongly from highly individualised one-to-one care. This focused attention means that they build trust and a sense of security. Generally, this enables them to thrive, and their health and in particular their emotional well-being improve as a result.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Some young people have complex healthcare needs and staff are adept at dealing with these. Staff are tenacious at following up issues such as worrying changes in young people’s behaviour, and are successful advocates for obtaining appropriate resources, for example a back brace. Medication practice is sound, with good monitoring and appropriate training for staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Some young people play an active part in the life of the home by, for example, creating visual displays showing which staff are on duty. Other young people show staff what their needs are using picture symbols and by leading staff to their favoured activity. Staff respond well to these cues, and where it may not be possible to follow them immediately, they use ‘now’ and ‘then’ visual prompts to reassure young people.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff facilitate contact for young people with family members, and this can help maintain fragile but important bonds. Staff are responsive to parental wishes concerning food choices, and one young person at bedtime listens to a tape of chanting from the Koran, which replicates her home experience. These thoughtful measures all help young people to relax and feel cared for.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Parents recognise that young people develop their independence skills in the home, and this helps young people move on to the least restrictive environment possible. Transition work is a strength, and careful consideration is given to appropriately supporting young people both in leaving and in joining the home. Young people leaving the home benefit from a personalised social story book to help them to understand their move, and they go on to their new placement with an individual memory book of their time in the home.

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

Risk assessments, especially for those young people who live permanently in the home, are appropriately completed and cover a good range of key environmental risks. Staff are vigilant about ensuring the safety of young people, and local authority colleagues do not have any safeguarding concerns about the home. There have not been any occasions of young people going missing from the home.

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

Staff routinely attend safeguarding training that is appropriately geared to their levels of responsibility. However, safeguarding training does not yet focus on the particular safeguarding needs and risks of disabled young people. So, while the current training helps to ensure appropriate levels of knowledge and understanding, it could be further enhanced. Inspection report children’s home: SC443337 5 The home is on a secure campus, and this, together with appropriate staff ratios, means that young people are kept safe. This safe environment is underpinned by regularly reviewed risk assessments, and routine fire evacuations. Robust written risk assessments are completed before young people go out of the home with staff, and staff ratios are appropriately increased to match the risk.

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

Staff’s strong knowledge about each young person’s preferences and needs ensures that, generally, there is a positive atmosphere in the home. Staff ably use avoidance and distraction to de-escalate conflicts but are competent in using physical intervention when absolutely necessary. There has been an escalation in the use of physical interventions recently, but this relates to the lowest level of intervention, such as guiding and physically redirecting young people.

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

Recruitment practice is appropriately robust, in that applicants are carefully vetted and assessed before starting work. The home does use agency workers, and some of this vetting is done by the local authority-approved agency. The home supplements this approach with an appropriate induction, and supervision and training for those agency workers who are regularly used.

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

There have not been any child protection concerns reported to the local authority, nor have there been any allegations or suspicions of harm. However, should such events happen, the management team in the home is fully aware of the necessary steps to take.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a highly effective, appropriately trained and very experienced management team in place. External colleagues and staff alike express their total confidence in the registered manager’s leadership. The registered manager’s priority is to enable young people to have the best experience that they can and, to this end, he ensures that he always attends key meetings and is available, even at weekends, to discuss any issues with staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager’s approach is shared by the deputy manager, who is frequently on shift and offers a high level of practical experience to staff. Both managers know young people extremely well and work proactively and positively with other agencies to secure the best outcomes for young people. However, the ongoing monitoring of young people’s progress is not sufficiently captured within the required management review report.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

All staff receive regular supervision sessions and said that they feel supported by these and by the young person-focused weekly team meetings. However, staff appraisals are not yet planned for this year, and were not fully completed last year. Training is a strength of this home, and staff described it as stimulating and helpful.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home now cares on a long-term basis for more young people who have complex behaviour patterns. The registered manager has strongly supported his staff in this by Inspection report children’s home: SC443337 6 arranging intensive direct training in both behaviour support and understanding the needs of such young people. This has worked well, in that staff morale remains high and there is enthusiasm about their changing task.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

As the home is in the process of change, the statement of purpose becomes an even more important document to clarify the home’s priorities. However, the statement is both out of date and contains inaccurate legal references. This does not help to clarify the roles and responsibilities in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The physical environment of the home is well suited to the combination of young people who are cared for. There is a mix of cosy rooms and large spaces, and the small outside area is well designed to give the widest possible range of experiences to young people. Improvements to the building are ongoing and the registered manager is a strong and successful advocate for improvements that will benefit young people, for example by ensuring that wi-fi is accessible upstairs.

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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: SC443337 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Town Hall, King Street, London W6 9JU

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Inspector

Bridget Goddard, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC443337 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.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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