Children's home run by Bright Futures Care Limited in Bolton

Inspection report children‟s home: SC456157 1 SC456157 Registered provider: Bright Futures Care Limited T/A Cornerstones

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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 registered to provide care and accommodation for up to four children who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties, learning disabilities and/or sensory impairments.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is part of a private organisation that also offers specialist educational provision and care and accommodation for adults who have learning disabilities.

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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

Date of last inspection: 20 September 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children‟s home: SC456157 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

20/09/2017 Full Good 15/02/2017 Full Outstanding 27/10/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 10/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children‟s home: SC456157 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 registered person must ensure that within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”) has spoken to the user about the measure. (Regulation 35(b)(i)) 29/11/2018

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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; are kept up to date; and are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36(1)(a)(b)) 29/11/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40(4)(e)) 29/11/2018

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 53, paragraph 10.11)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive well-planned care from a committed staff team that knows the children exceptionally well. This has resulted in children with very complex needs making exceptional progress from their starting points in all areas of their development.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Each child is cared for by an individual staff team to promote consistency and positive relationships. This is a unique approach, which ensures that the staff work consistently to ensure that children receive high-quality care. Each individual staff team meets Inspection report children‟s home: SC456157 4 regularly to review the plans for children. This work is underpinned by an assessment that is completed by a private multi-agency consultancy service. This service provides occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, and physiotherapy advice and support.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children attend education. Staff attend education with children when required to support them in the school environment. Children who had not attended school prior to moving to this home are now attending school due to this approach.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that children‟s health needs are met. Each child has a thorough healthcare passport on their case file, which gives a detailed oversight of their health needs. There is evidence of regular communication with health professionals, such as the child and adolescent mental health services. Staff follow clear medication procedures to ensure that children‟s medication is administered safely.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff excel at managing transitions. All transitions are carefully planned and thought out, with the child remaining at the heart of the process. This careful planning ensures that children settle into the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children‟s day-to-day experiences in the home are positive. Children with very complex needs are supported to access activities that they enjoy in the local community, such as swimming.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote children‟s contact with people who are important to them in line with their care plans. Staff transport children to contact and supervise this when necessary. The staff have shown commitment and flexibility in implementing local authority plans for children to return home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Professionals are complimentary about the level of care provided by staff and how well staff communicate with them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work hard to obtain children‟s views and wishes using each child‟s preferred method of communication. The management team has developed a new children‟s guide in video format to ensure that this information is more accessible for the children that they look after.

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

Risk management in the home is effective. Staff ensure that there are behaviour management plans and risk assessments in place for each child. These plans identify individual risks, vulnerabilities and actions for staff to follow to support the children and keep them safe. Professionals are satisfied that staff are taking action to ensure that children are kept safe.

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

Children do not go missing from this home due to the high levels of staff supervision. Staff, however, know what action they should take if a child goes missing from the home. Staff ensure that each child has a missing-from-home risk assessment in place. Inspection report children‟s home: SC456157 5 Staff‟s response to children who self-harm is effective. Staff have gone to great lengths to ensure that the environment is safe for one child who is at high risk of self-harm. Staff work well with agencies such as the child and adolescent mental health services to ensure that children receive specialist input when this is required.

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

Staff support children to manage their behaviour safely. Staff are consistent in their approach to managing children‟s behaviour. They seek advice from a private multi- agency consultancy service, when necessary, which provides guidance for staff on sensory strategies to assist in supporting children to manage their behaviour.

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

There has been a significant increase in the level of restraint used in the home since the last inspection. This is mainly related to one child who has been admitted to the home since the last inspection who displays challenging behaviour. For some children, the level of restraint required has decreased.

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

Staff are all trained in team teach, which is the model that they are expected to use to manage challenging behaviour. Staff are skilled at de-escalating situations of challenging behaviour and only use physical restraint as a last resort. Recording of restraint does not always contain sufficient detail of the incidents and staff actions during a restraint. Furthermore, not all staff involved in the restraint receive a debrief after they have been involved in a restraint, which does not give staff the opportunity to reflect on their practice.

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

Staff have all undertaken safeguarding training. The manager needs, however, to ensure that clear records are made of any actions taken following any allegations or complaints, particularly any communication that has taken place with the designated officer when an allegation is made. There has been a new safeguarding officer appointed within the organisation who has clear recording systems in place to address this issue.

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

The manager has not notified HMCI of significant incidents that have taken place in the home. This hinders Ofsted‟s monitoring role.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The members of the management team are proactive and ambitious for the children that they are looking after. They ensure that children receive the best possible care and opportunities. The manager knows the children exceptionally well and is committed to supporting them to reach their potential.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has reduced the time he works on shift since the last inspection. This has given him more opportunity to focus on leadership and management tasks.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The management team can identify the strengths and weaknesses of the home. For example, they had identified that external monitoring was not robust in supporting them continually developing the service. They have now commissioned another service to undertake these visits. Inspection report children‟s home: SC456157 6 The management team has reflected on the shortfalls highlighted during the last inspection and has taken effective action to address these. For example, the manager now challenges other professionals more effectively to ensure that children‟s needs are met.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff like working in the home and feel well supported in their roles. The management team has put in place clearer tracking systems for supervision to ensure that staff receive supervision in line with the company policy.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a strong focus on staff development and retention. All staff have a clear personal development plan in place and are supported to progress within the organisation. As a result, there is a culture of positivity in the home and the staff team is highly motivated.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

All new staff receive a good induction and complete the necessary training in a timely way. The management team has introduced a mentoring scheme for new staff to ensure that they are well supported in their new roles. Some staff are training to become mental health first aiders. This will offer an additional layer of support for the staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Since the last inspection, the organisation has introduced e-learning, which enables staff to access training on a range of relevant areas. The manager needs to ensure that all staff complete the training on understanding self-harming behaviours due to the needs of the children living in 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 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: SC456157 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Bright Futures Care Limited T/A Cornerstones

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Regency House, 45–51 Chorley New Road, Bolton, Lancashire BL1 4QR

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Inspector

Sarah Billett, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC456157 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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