Children's home run by Lytham Care Limited in Knowsley

Inspection report children’s home: 1234432 1 Registered provider: Lytham Care Limited

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A private company owns this home. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for two young people who may have social and/or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The current manager was registered with Ofsted in June 2016.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 20 to 21 September 2018

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 15 February 2018

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 1234432 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/02/2018 17/05/2017 Interim Full Sustained Good

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/09/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 1234432 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 education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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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

help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

support each child’s learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study;

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Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment;

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally;

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Requirement Due date

help a child who is excluded from school or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible. (Regulation 8(1)(2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(viii))

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Requirement Due date

Further to this, ensure that a good routine and structure are maintained in the home for encouraging young people to be ready for their school day. 30/11/2018

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Requirement Due date

The health and well-being standard is that— 30/11/2018 Inspection report children’s home: 1234432 4 the health and well-being needs of children are met;

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Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being. (Regulation 10(1)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that all health information is recorded clearly in the young person’s plan. 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 young people’s risk assessments give staff clear guidance on the strategies to help diffuse a situation and on the action to take in the event of an incident. 30/11/2018

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered 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

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children. (Regulation 45(1)(2)(a)(b)(c)) 30/11/2018

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Recommendations

 Ensure that the registered person has a system in place so that all serious events are notified, within 24 hours, to the appropriate people. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.13)

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Recommendations

 Ensure that when established routines are implemented that allow for health and safety checks to be undertaken in a young person’s bedroom, any items found are recorded. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.20) Inspection report children’s home: 1234432 5

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improvement to be good

The registered manager conscientiously ensures that she has all the necessary documents when young people come to live at the home. She uses this information to assess whether the home can meet the young person’s needs. In addition to this, the manager ensures that the needs of the young person are compatible with those of the young person already living in the home and that the home is a safe location for them.

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improvement to be good

Currently, two young people are living in this home. One young person has been at the home for some time and the other is relatively new to the home. Both young people said that they were happy, safe and well cared for. However, there was a mixed response from the social workers who oversee the young people’s care. One social worker said that he felt that the home was not as proactive as it could be. In contrast to this, another social worker said that the home offers a nurturing environment and that their young person had responded to this well.

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improvement to be good

The young people are registered and have attended appointments with the doctor, dentist and optician. However, one young person’s health plan does not record what the outcomes were of these appointments or whether further treatment is needed. In addition to this, one young person’s health plan states that he has a history of using substances, such as alcohol and cannabis. The manager said that the young person has been working with the youth offending service on these issues. However, there is no information recorded in his health plan to show the outcome of these sessions or how staff are subsequently supporting him in these areas.

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improvement to be good

One young person has recently started college. There was an incident on the first day and staff thought that he had been excluded. The young person’s social worker said, ‘The staff did not check with the college and this led to a lack of communication between us all that meant that he missed a week of college, but he is now attending.’ Since being placed at this home, the other young person has refused to attend school. The school has provided work to be completed at the home with the staff’s support, but the young person has refused to do this. In addition, the manager does not have any information about the young person’s education, such as his last school report or his personal education plan. Therefore, she did not know what level he was functioning at academically. Also, there is not a good routine at the home that encourages participation in education. For example, there is no timetable to help the young person know what

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improvement to be good

the plan is for the day and what the expectations are for that day. The young person also stays in bed until late morning or the afternoon, when he then goes out with friends. This lack of structure hampers the young person’s ability to re-engage in education.

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improvement to be good

Young people are offered a range of activities, but they often choose to go out with their friends. One young person has recently had a birthday. He told staff that in the past his birthday has come and gone without much recognition. For example, he had never had a Inspection report children’s home: 1234432 6 birthday cake, so the staff set about ensuring that the young person fully celebrated his birthday with cards, balloons, presents and a big birthday cake. He also went paintballing. The young person was very appreciative of this.

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improvement to be good

Good transition plans show how young people are helped and supported to prepare for moving on, and whose responsibility it is to execute each stage of the plan. One young person needed a school that could meet her needs. A school was identified and several visits to the school went well. However, this school was a considerable distance from the home. The local authority wanted her to travel by taxi each day. The manager challenged this, as it would have meant an extremely long day for the young person. Because of this challenge on behalf of the young person, a plan was put in place for her to move to a new home nearer the school. The staff team worked closely with the new placement to ensure a smooth transition that fully involved the young person. The young person’s mother sent the home a bouquet of flowers to say thank you. The young person is doing well in her new home and school, and is still in touch with the staff

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improvement to be good

At the last inspection, the manager was asked to ensure that the decoration of the home was finished, that internal doors were fixed and that the bathroom was well-maintained. These issues have been addressed, which means that the home environment is warm and welcoming.

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improvement to be good

Young people said that they felt safe and protected in the home. They said that staff cared for them well and that they all got on with each other. Young people also said that they could talk to any member of staff, and that staff would listen to them and do what they could to resolve the problem or pass on their concerns to the appropriate person. Therefore, young people felt that they had built good, trusting relationships with the staff team.

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improvement to be good

Young people who go missing are protected in line with agreed protocols. Records show that staff try to maintain phone contact with those young people who are unsupervised in the community, and that staff make determined efforts to look for them if they fail to return on time. On one occasion, a member of staff was so concerned about a young person’s safety that he travelled on all the bus routes that he knew the young person used. Both young people recognise the commitment that staff have shown to caring for them and subsequently the young people’s episodes of being reported as missing have significantly reduced in number. The manager said that one young person has never had firm roots and has moved between family members. For example, he has never had his own bedroom. He now considers this as his home, and is making good progress in being home on time.

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improvement to be good

The home works closely with safeguarding professionals to ensure that young people are safe. One young person is known to the police and there are concerns about his safety Inspection report children’s home: 1234432 7 and involvement in criminal activity when he is away from the home. After a period of missing, a multi-disciplinary meeting is held to ensure that all professionals are aware, and that suitable strategies and actions can be discussed. However, when incidents have happened, the manager has not always formally notified Ofsted within 24 hours.

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improvement to be good

Risk assessments are undertaken regarding each young person’s history or emerging issues whereby they may be placing themselves at risk. However, the risk assessments do not give staff clear guidance on what strategies to use to de-escalate a situation or what action to take if an incident were to occur. For example, both young people have a history of carrying weapons and more recently different types of weapons have been found at the home. However, the risk assessment does not adequately cover what action the staff need to take to keep the other young person and themselves safe should a situation arise whereby a weapon is found. This does not ensure that risks are minimised.

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improvement to be good

The young people have not been restrained at this setting, although staff receive regular training in this area and are able to show their knowledge and what action they would take if an incident were to occur.

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improvement to be good

The young people have agreed that staff can complete health and safety checks on their bedrooms. On one occasion, during a check, staff found a Stanley knife on a young person’s bed. The staff subsequently undertook a full room search. Although staff followed procedure and reported the incident to the police and professionals, they did not record the room search or whether any other items were found and removed. Because no record was made of the search, it is not clear if the young person was aware that their private things were searched and that items may have been removed for safety reasons.

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improvement to be good

The recruitment process for staff is thorough and ensures that all staff are suitable to work with the young people. Safeguarding training is provided for staff and this is regularly updated to ensure that their knowledge remains up to date with current practice. As a result, safeguarding procedures are robust, and are clearly understood by all staff.

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

An experienced and qualified manager manages this home. A deputy manager supports her. There have been some changes in staffing, as some staff have left or moved to other homes in the company. However, the recruitment of new staff has been effective and there is now a full staff team in place. This means that young people receive continuity of care from adults who know them well.

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

Staff either hold or are working towards a relevant childcare qualification. They have regular supervision, which means that they have regular opportunities to reflect on their practice and to discuss or identify new training courses for their future development. Inspection report children’s home: 1234432 8 Staff regularly discuss research, practice, training, and social trends during staff meetings. For example, several members of staff have attended training on ‘county lines’, and this has been shared in a staff meeting. Therefore, staff understand terms such as ‘cuckooing’, and can identify possible patterns of behaviour that might suggest that the young people are being exploited.

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

The manager and staff work collaboratively with a range of agencies and professionals who are involved in the young people’s care, to secure positive outcomes for them. However, this is not always recorded within their plans, for example within education and health plans. Therefore, the manager and staff cannot demonstrate that they have taken effective action and that they understand the next steps for the young people in their care.

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

External monitoring of the home is very good. The independent visitor highlights areas for improvement. For example, she alerted the manager that a notification had not been sent to Ofsted regarding a serious incident. As a result, the manager was able to rectify this omission. In contrast to this, the manager’s six-monthly monitoring report requires improvement. Currently, the manager reflects on the independent visitor’s findings rather than doing her own internal monitoring. In addition to this, she has not identified any actions to develop the service. Therefore, there is not a critical, reflective view driving the service forward.

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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: 1234432 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Lytham Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Lytham Care, 400 Longmoor Lane, Fazakerley, Liverpool L9 9DB

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Pamela Constance

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Inspector

Pam Nuckley: social care regulatory inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1234432 10 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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