Children's home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Hammersmith and Fulham

Inspection report children‟s home: SC457012 1 SC457012 Registered provider: The Cambian 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 of homes run by a large independent provider. It offers care for up to three children who have social, emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since May 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 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

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/10/2017 Full Good Inspection report children‟s home: SC457012 2 23/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 15/11/2016 Full Good 29/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children‟s home: SC457012 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

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Requirement Due date

promotes their welfare. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that staff receive regular supervision and are able to attend regular team meetings. 07/12/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may only use devices for the monitoring or surveillance of children if—

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Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is no more intrusive than necessary, having regard to the child‟s need for privacy. (Regulation 24 (1)(d)) 07/12/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c)) 19/11/2018

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Requirement Due date

Schedule 4 sets out the other information that the registered person must keep in relation to a children‟s home.

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Requirement Due date

maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4; and

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the records are kept up to date. (Regulation 37 (1)(2)(a)(b)) 19/11/2018 Inspection report children‟s home: SC457012 4 This is in respect of maintaining accurate staff rotas. The registered person must ensure that a record is made of any complaint, the action taken in response, and the outcome of any investigation. (Regulation 39 (3)) 19/11/2018

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Recommendations

 The design of the home should provide staff that sleep in the home overnight with appropriate accommodation and facilities to do so. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 17, paragraph 3.26)  A record must be kept of all observations in bedrooms to ensure that children are not subject to unnecessary invasions of their privacy. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 19, paragraph 3.36) In particular, give children the chance to comment on records of room searches.  Ensure that each child‟s day-to-day health and well-being needs are met. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 33, paragraph 7.3) In particular, ensure that children have varied and nutritious meals.  When a child returns to the home after being missing from care or away without permission, the responsible local authority must provide an opportunity for the

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Recommendations

child to have an independent return home interview. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 45, paragraph 9.30)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children‟s experiences and progress are good. The staff understand the children‟s complex backgrounds. The children find the staff helpful and supportive. Staff celebrate children‟s achievements, and children know that staff are proud of what they accomplish. Good interactions between children and the staff were observed throughout the inspection. A child said, „This home is excellent because of the staff.‟

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff understand the importance of education for the children. Staff are working hard to develop a routine for a child who has recently moved into the home, and to provide access to an education placement for her. There is good communication between the staff and education professionals for those children who are in education. Those children seeking further education opportunities are supported to gain college placements and work.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children can record their views, wishes and feelings in their individualised, child-centred placement plans These plans support the staff to work with the children. However, some information is not consistently clear, such as contact arrangements. This lack of clarity has the potential to cause confusion. Inspection report children‟s home: SC457012 5 Children are encouraged to develop their independence skills. A detailed plan has recently been introduced that covers a wide range of tasks, which helps to provide guidance and focus.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home arranges and facilitates contact with family and friends. Children have friends at the home to spend the day with them and they have sleepovers with siblings. Children have overnight stays at their friends‟ houses. This enables them to build their social skills and have the same opportunities as their peers.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home has a warm, nurturing feel. The children have been involved in choosing colours and furnishings, and have personalised their own bedrooms. The staff office doubles as a sleeping-in room, with a separate bathroom. However, the room needs cleaning to ensure that it is of an adequate standard to meet the staff‟s needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are not consistently provided with a nutritious diet. For example, over a period of four days, a child had two takeaways and two burgers. Another child ate crisps, doughnuts and pizza over a three-day period. Although the second child is on an independence plan, this does not show that the staff provide good oversight or support the children to eat healthily.

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

Children feel cared for and secure. They are confident about discussing their feelings with members of staff. Staff understand that the children are potentially vulnerable to child sexual exploitation. Comprehensive risk assessments support the staff to work effectively with children and keep them safe.

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

Positive behaviour is promoted. The staff regularly talk to children during key-work sessions. Physical interventions are rarely used. Positive and negative consequences are fair and proportionate, and children have the opportunity to reflect and comment on the records of any incidents. The restorative approach to behaviour management enables children to learn from incidents.

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

Staff undertake room searches when necessary, but they do not always make a record of these. Children do not consistently have the opportunity to comment on room searches. Staff record the occasions when children go missing. However, return home interviews are not being conducted. This means that opportunities to understand the risks to children when they are away from the home and their triggers for leaving the home are missed.

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

The home uses alarms on all of the bedroom doors to monitor the children‟s movements at night. Although there may be the need to use alarms for some children who may go missing at night, for others it is unclear why these are in use. Inspection report children‟s home: SC457012 6

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

The home is run by a suitability qualified and experienced manager. The home has been through a challenging time, during which there were a number of complaints from neighbours and a high turnover of staff. There was some delay in concluding the complaints and there was little information to demonstrate what investigation was undertaken.

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

Since the last inspection there have been some gaps in supervision and a lack of team meetings. These shortfalls have recently been addressed by the new manager. The staff are now supported through regular and focused supervision.

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

There is a new staff team and some team members are in their probationary periods. The staff work 24-hour shifts. However, due to the needs of one of the children, often the staff do not get to sleep through the night. It was difficult to ascertain the actual number of hours that staff have worked, as this information is not accurately recorded in the rotas and the daily logs are not consistently updated to show start and finish times for individual staff.

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

The staff benefit from comprehensive training arrangements, which include an eight-day residential induction programme that is followed by ongoing training. This training helps the staff to gain the knowledge, confidence and skills that they need to meet the children‟s needs.

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

Monthly external monitoring of the home generates recommendations for improvement that the manager acts on.

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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: SC457012 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Waterfront, Hammersmith Embankment, Chancellors Road, London W6 9RU

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Inspectors

Trish Palmer: social care inspector Kristen Judd: social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC457012 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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