Children's home run by Aspris Children’s Service in Hammersmith and Fulham

Inspection report children‘s home: 1234621 1 Registered provider: The Priory Group

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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 one of a group run by a national organisation. The home‘s overall aim is to ensure that children‘s daily living experiences and activities are meaningful and memorable and are designed to meet their individual needs in areas that are personal to them.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been in post since 10 September 2018.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 13 to 14 September 2018

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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: declined in effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children‘s home: 1234621 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/08/2017 Interim Declined in effectiveness 31/05/2017 Full Good 23/11/2016 Full Good Inspection report children‘s home: 1234621 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

within 48 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (―the authorised person‖)—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(b)(i)(ii)(c)) 31/10/2018

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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

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. (Regulation 45 (1)(4)(a)) 31/10/2018

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Recommendations

 Staff must help each child to prepare for any moves from the home, whether they are returning home, moving to another placement or adult care, or to live independently. This includes supporting the child to develop emotional and mental resilience to cope without the home‘s support and, when the child is moving to live independently, practical skills such as cooking, housework, budgeting and personal self-care. (‗Guide to the children‘s homes regulations including the quality standards‘, page 17, paragraph 3.27)

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Recommendations

 Children must be consulted regularly on their views about the home‘s care, to Inspection report children‘s home: 1234621 4 inform and support continued improvement in the quality of care provided. (‗Guide to the children‘s homes regulations including the quality standards‘, page 22, paragraph 4.11) In particular, fully use existing systems to gather children‘s views effectively.  As set out in regulations 31–33, the registered person is responsible for maintaining good employment practice. They must ensure that recruitment, supervision and performance management of staff safeguards children and minimises potential risks to them. (‗Guide to the children‘s homes regulations including the quality standards‘, page 61, paragraph 13.1) In particular, ensure that all safe recruitment checks are easily accessible.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make progress, considering their starting points, across most aspects of their welfare and their physical, social, emotional and behavioural development. The children benefit from a manager and staff who care and promote their needs. Children benefit from support that contributes to change and improvement in their lives. A social worker for one of the children said, ‗[The child] has got stability here. He is starting to feel really settled. His episodes of going missing have ceased, which is marvellous.‘

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children observed during the inspection relate and respond to staff positively because of the special relationships forged. These relationships empower and support children to communicate with staff, bringing about a clear understanding of the children‘s wishes and feelings. There are some good systems to gather children‘s views, although they are not currently being used effectively.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children thrive because of the regular visits, outings and interactions that they have with their families and friends. These activities support children to maintain good relationships with those who are important to them. A child spoken to during inspection said, ‗You should judge this home outstanding, because it is.‘

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from carefully planned introductions and visits to the home. The managers and staff team have made great efforts and paid particular attention to detail for each child‘s admission. Consequently, children‘s individual needs are very well met and they soon settle into their new home. However, transition plans for children who are moving on require further development, to ensure that children experience a well- planned move from the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff understand the importance of creating a warm and nurturing environment for children and enabling them to influence and shape their home. The home is spacious, and decorated and furnished to a very high standard. Inspection report children‘s home: 1234621 5

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

Daily routines are strongly adhered to and provide stability and structure for the children. Positive behaviour plans and strategies are known and understood by the children. As a result, children are safe, secure and protected both in and outside the home. These plans help children to develop an understanding of their behaviours and underpin opportunities to develop positive coping strategies.

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

Individual placement plans, behaviour plans, risk assessments and health plans are of good quality. Documentation gives a clear description of the work undertaken towards meeting health, behavioural and care needs. Any potential risks are swiftly identified and plans are updated.

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

There is a comprehensive protocol in place for staff to follow in the event that a child goes missing from the home. The high level of supervision afforded to each child means that there has only been one incident of a child going missing. Physical restraint is only used when necessary to protect the children or the staff from harm. All members of the staff team are trained in the method of restraint used, although there have been no restraints since the last inspection. Children respond well to positive behaviour management and often develop positive behaviour strategies.

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

Sanctions are used infrequently and are proportionate to the children‘s behaviour and understanding. However, the debriefing sessions between the staff and the children to reflect on sanctions have not been monitored, evaluated or recorded. This does not promote effective working practices.

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

Safeguarding issues are promptly investigated and recorded and are resolved in a timely manner. All members of staff attend safeguarding training and demonstrated that they know what to do if they have a concern about a child‘s well-being.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A culture of continuous improvement is ingrained in the manager‘s leadership style. The manager is working on a development plan to set out aims for the home that identify areas for change.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has good insight into the children‘s strengths, vulnerabilities and progress from their starting points. She offers good support to staff through her daily presence at the home, and she leads a staff team that is dedicated to and experienced in caring for children who have complex needs. The manager is accessible and approachable and, when necessary, offers practical support to the staff. Regular team meetings ensure that children are discussed in detail and that they remain the focus of practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Care and support planning is well organised, detailed and helpful. Records contain good information and provide a unique picture of each child. Regular audits and reviews ensure that the plans and assessments reflect the current and changing needs of each child. The staff have high aspirations for the children and work collaboratively to ensure Inspection report children‘s home: 1234621 6 that children‘s needs are known and met.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The procedures for the recruitment and selection of staff are adequate and prevent unsuitable adults from being recruited to work with children. However, all necessary checks are not reflected in the records retained at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Comprehensive and meaningful quality assurance is conducted through monthly visits by the independent visitor, along with oversight from the manager. When shortfalls in service provision are identified, prompt action and the inclusive management style ensure that staff work collectively to make continual adjustments to improve the care and service provided for the children. However, the manager has not undertaken a review of the quality of care within the required timeframe. This has no impact on the children but means that opportunities to identify strengths and weaknesses are missed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has met the six requirements raised at the last inspection to good effect.

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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: 1234621 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Priory Education Services Limited, 80 Hammersmith Road, London W14 8UD

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Inspector

Cathy Russell: social care inspector Inspection report children‘s home: 1234621 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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