Coniston House

Inspection report children‟s home: SC379123 1 SC379123 Registered provider: Cove Care Residential Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned children‟s home offers care for up to four young people who may have a combination of mental health, psychological, emotional or complex care needs. The registered manager is currently undertaking his level 5 qualification in leadership and management and has been working for the company for 10 years.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 24 to 25 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 inadequate

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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: 27 February 2018

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: improved effectiveness

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children‟s home: SC379123 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

27/02/2018 Interim Improved effectiveness 23/05/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good 11/01/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 20/09/2016 Full Requires improvement Inspection report children‟s home: SC379123 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

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff, if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority‟s or a relevant person‟s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child‟s needs are met in accordance with the child‟s relevant plans. (Regulation 5 (c)) 28/12/2018

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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 that staff 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)(viii)) 28/12/2018

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Requirement Due date

The health and well-being standard is that children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well- being. (Regulation 10 (1)(b)) 28/12/2018

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard requires the registered person to ensure that staff help each child to develop the understanding and skills to recognise or withdraw from a damaging, exploitative or harmful relationship. (Regulation 11 (2)(a)(vii)) 28/12/2018

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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 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 lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the 28/12/2018 Inspection report children‟s home: SC379123 4 outcomes, set out in the home‟s statement of purpose and use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(a)(h)) The registered person must compile in relation to the children‟s home a statement (“the statement of purpose”) which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it and notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16 (1)(3)(a)(b)) 28/12/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children‟s home. (Regulation 23 (1)) 28/12/2018

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Requirement Due date

After consultation with the fire and rescue authority, the registered person must make arrangements for persons working at the home to receive suitable training in fire prevention. (Regulation 25 (1)(c)) 28/12/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children‟s safety.

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Requirement Due date

The requirements are that full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1)(3)(d)) 28/12/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(c)) 28/12/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child and are kept up to date. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)) 28/12/2018

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Requirement Due date

Subject to paragraph (6), the registered person must establish a procedure for considering complaints made by or on behalf of children.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that a record is made of any complaint, the action taken in response, and the outcome of any investigation.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must supply to HMCI, at HMCI‟s request, a statement containing a summary of any complaints made 28/12/2018 Inspection report children‟s home: SC379123 5 during the preceding twelve months and the action that was taken in response to each complaint. (Regulation 39 (1)(3)(5))

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Recommendations

 Ensure that the presentation and decor of the home is a nurturing and supportive environment that meet the needs of their children, they will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. Children‟s homes must comply with relevant health and safety legislations (alarms, food hygiene etc.); however, in doing so, homes should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than „institutional‟ impression. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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improvement to be good

The presentation and decor of the home requires improvement. One young person said that the home was „run down, you can tell it‟s a children‟s home‟ and they felt that the home needed to be brighter to make it have a homelier feel.

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improvement to be good

Young people report that they feel safe and have positive relationships with staff.

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improvement to be good

Young people are not accessing the in-house counselling service to promote their emotional health. This means that young people are missing out on the therapeutic input that they need, in line with their care plans.

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improvement to be good

Young people‟s complaints are not recorded appropriately. It is not clear if complaints are suitably addressed in accordance with the home‟s statement of purpose. It is not evident if young people are being provided with feedback about their complaints and if this is being undertaken in a timely manner.

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improvement to be good

The educational progress of young people varies. When young people have been unable to access any formal education provision, staff do not provide a structured routine within the home. They fail to effectively chase up or challenge placing authorities when there are delays in young people accessing alternative learning resources and educational support. This means that young people do not receive the support that they require to reach their full academic potential.

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improvement to be good

Staff promote family contact for young people. This helps young people to maintain contact with people who are important to them. Inspection report children‟s home: SC379123 6

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improvement to be good

Staff use physical restraint as a last resort and use de-escalation strategies instead.

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improvement to be good

Young people report that they are happy. Young people can identify a member of staff they can talk to about any concerns and report that they feel listened to. Young people are aware of their right to advocacy. This means that young people can seek independent support to help them raise issues about their care.

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improvement to be good

The risk assessments of young people require improvement. For example, a young person had not been taking their medication as prescribed. Although new processes were put in place by the home to ensure that staff observed the young person taking their medication, this was not detailed within their most recent risk assessment. This means that it is not clear what strategies have been put in place to reduce and manage these risks.

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improvement to be good

Young people are in receipt of regular key working. One young person has a history of being vulnerable to child sexual exploitation. However, it is unclear what direct work is being undertaken with the young person to help them have a better understanding in keeping themselves safe.

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improvement to be good

During the inspection, a member of staff required the assistance of a young person to reset the home‟s fire alarm. This means that staff working in the home are not familiar or adequately trained with using essential equipment in the home to keep young people safe.

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improvement to be good

When young people go missing, staff react appropriately. They work closely with the placing authorities and the police to ensure that young people are found and safely returned.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Half of the staff team have not received an annual appraisal. This means that not all the staff team members are having their performance formally appraised or are in receipt of feedback on their practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Not all staff within the home are up to date with training as per the organisation‟s requirements. For example, the organisation requires staff to annually complete first aid training in respect of mental health, which explores areas such as self-harm, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. However, only three members of staff have recently completed this training. In addition, not all staff have completed training in child sexual exploitation awareness, fire safety, medication and health and safety. This impacts on the ability of staff to keep young people safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Young people‟s case files do not contain all required information. Inspection report children‟s home: SC379123 7 The organisation fails to ensure that suitable recruitment checks for agency workers are completed. The failure to complete adequate checks means that young people‟s safety is potentially compromised.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Managers‟ monitoring systems are in place to evaluate and assess the quality of care. However, when errors have occurred in respect of medication, the registered manager has failed to review how these have occurred. This is a missed opportunity to evaluate processes within the home to inform and improve service delivery.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

When the home‟s statement of purpose has been reviewed and updated, this has not always been sent to Ofsted as required.

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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: SC379123 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cove Care Residential Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 16 Waterloo Road, Wolverhampton, West Midlands WV1 4BL

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Inspector

Sarah Junor-Fitzpatrick: social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC379123 9 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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