Children's home run by Wakefield Council in Wakefield

Inspection report children’s home: SC428084 1 SC428084 Registered provider: Wakefield Metropolitan District Council

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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 service provides short-breaks care for up to seven children and young people who have learning disabilities and/or physical disabilities and associated complex healthcare needs. In addition to meeting the children’s and young people’s social care needs, the service also provides nursing input and is registered with the Care Quality Commission. The service currently supports 39 children and young people, including one extended temporary placement to ensure the safety and welfare of a child. The registered manager has been in post since the home opened in 2011.

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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: outstanding

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC428084 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/01/2018 Full Outstanding 27/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 19/10/2016 Full Outstanding 30/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC428084 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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who— understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children; use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to— meet the needs of each child; and enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b)(2)(c)(i)(ii)) In particular, make sure that the middle door’s magnetic lock works properly to make it secure; the security lighting at the front of the building is fixed; and the tiling around the raised beds in the garden is repaired. 15/12/2018

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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. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(d)) 31/12/18 Inspection report children’s home: SC428084 4

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Recommendations

 Regulations 35-39 detail the records that must be kept in children’s homes. All children’s case records (regulation 36) must be kept up to date and stored securely whilst they remain in the home. Case records must be kept up-to-date and signed and dated by the author of each entry. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A high number of children and young people enjoy spending time at this welcoming and well-equipped short-breaks home. Staff also provide personalised longer-term care to one child. The diverse and complex health, disability and learning needs of the children and young people are well understood and clearly met by the highly experienced residential and nursing staff. Most of the staff team has worked at the home for many years, so children and young people have grown up in the care of the same staff. This adds to their sense of belonging and, consequently, trusting and secure relationships have been developed. Parents and carers have confidence in the quality of care provided to their children. One parent said, ‘I know I can leave [name of young person] here and he is safe. I know that they can deal with anything. Staff have a good knowledge of his needs.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people enjoy a range of activities, both in the home and through community events. Planned celebrations at the home, such as Yorkshire Day, the Royal Wedding and the World Cup, together with visits to local landmarks, educate children and young people. These are used to promote the identity and culture of the area. The careful matching process allows children and young people to stay together with friends. Peer relationships are nurtured and promoted between those with similar interests, such as visiting railways together.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A high staff ratio provides the opportunity for children and young people to attend community events to promote social inclusion. Group activities, such as trips out on the minibus, provide many with the chance to have new experiences, for example going to summer fairs and the local ‘It’s a knockout’ competition. For those children and young people who struggle with new environments, staff help them to become more accepting of change. Photographic evidence around the home shows the success of these activities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff team is attentive to children’s and young people’s needs, and the use of the ‘three houses’ model provides an effective way of ascertaining their wishes and feelings. Staff also recognise and nurture children’s and young people’s skills and abilities and support them in attending new activities, such as going to rugby or dancing. This boosts children’s and young people’s confidence alongside educating and promoting their health and well-being. Inspection report children’s home: SC428084 5 Children and young people make good continued progress in a whole range of areas, including going shopping, developing personal care skills and improved toileting skills. Staff consult with parents and carers to set small, achievable targets for their children. The individualised target ladder outlines to staff how they can help children and young people achieve their goals. For one young person, the staff’s intervention has led to him

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

agreeing to visit a school after many months of non-school attendance.

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

The managers and staff know the children’s and young people’s risks and vulnerabilities. These are outlined within the individualised risk assessments, so staff know how to respond to concerns. The inclusion of photographs of equipment used, such as how a child or young person should sit in their wheelchair, gives staff vital information and more clarity. Each child and young person also has an individualised healthcare plan. This makes sure that the staff are appraised with their complex health and medical needs. Staff are trained in a range of medical procedures and have good relationships with healthcare professionals, who provide extra on-site training and advice.

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

A number of the children and young people accessing the service are non-verbal and many need a high level of personal care. Therefore, effective planning ensures that staff ratios and skills match the needs of each child and young person. Staff work with the children and young people they know well and have a good relationship with. This makes staff highly intuitive, and able to respond quickly to children’s and young people’s non-verbal cues and gestures.

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

When children and young people present with self-injurious and other challenging behaviours, the individualised care management plans outline strategies for staff to use. Staff are adept at anticipating predictable behaviours. They are successful at using distraction and redirection, so restrictions of movement are rarely used. If this is needed, it is only to keep children and young people and others safe. Post-crisis response meetings support staff reflection on the root cause of children’s and young people’s angry and aggressive behaviour, enabling them to amend their practice and/or environmental issues. This is effective at reducing outbursts and improving behaviour.

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

Staff have excellent working relationships with professionals, which provides an important multi-disciplinary approach. The staff highlight concerns to social care colleagues and provide information and participate in child in need and child protection meetings.

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

The home environment has some safety features that restrict children’s and young people’s access to certain areas of the home and outdoors to keep them safe. These include the safety mechanism on doors that has led to two separate incidents, including one child leaving the home without supervision and support. Repairs to the outside security lighting will support the health and safety needs of the staff and the children and young people. Inspection report children’s home: SC428084 6

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager and the nursing manager both have extensive experience in residential care and of supporting children and young people who have complex health and medical needs. They provide a strong management team alongside the deputy managers, who provide important support. Collectively and individually, the managers have extensive knowledge of the children and young people through having a visible presence at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team is passionate and committed, which is evident from the low staff turnover. The staff members have worked together for a long time and work well as a team. The stability of the team means children and young people benefit from consistent staff, which is important for those who don’t manage change well.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team members are highly supportive of each other but speak of a difficult few months because of staff shortages. The resilient staff team has continued to deliver good-quality short breaks, although there is a waiting list of new children and young people wanting to access the service. The increase in work has had an impact on staff morale, given their frustration at having to undertake additional tasks such as cooking and driving. Staff spoke of not having enough time to get all tasks completed, particularly completing paperwork to their usual high standard. One staff member said, ‘There is a ban on overtime. Extra jobs are having a knock-on effect. Staff are driving and cooking, and people are trying to keep on top of things. There has been lots of change with external managers.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervisions and team meetings. They spoke about feeling comfortable to raise concerns with the managers, who have an open-door policy. However, they spoke of a lack of support from leaders, particularly the responsible individual who had not visited the home for many months. The annual surveys have not been sent to stakeholders, therefore the regulator has not been able to evaluate findings from this source.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Effective partnership working with health professionals, education professionals and parents ensures a consistent approach when caring for the children and young people. Parents spoke highly of the service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A detailed and evaluative quality of care review demonstrates that the manager has a good overview of the strengths and weaknesses of the home.

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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 Inspection report children’s home: SC428084 7 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: SC428084 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Wakefield Council, County Hall, Bond Street, Wakefield, West Yorkshire WF1 2QW

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Inspector

Tina Ruffles, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC428084 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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