Children's home run by Nottingham City Council

Inspection report children’s home: 1277041 1 Registered provider: Nottingham City Council

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This home is operated by a local authority. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to two young people.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 21 to 22 November 2018

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Date of last inspection: This home was registered in June 2018. This is the home’s first inspection.

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 1277041 2

p.1

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.

p.2

Requirement Due date

The children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

p.2

Requirement Due date

regularly consult children, and seek their feedback, about the quality of the home’s care.

p.2

Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

p.2

Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

p.2

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

p.2

Requirement Due date

that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose.

p.2

Requirement Due date

(Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b)(2)(a)) 18/12/2018

p.2

Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; and have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year.

p.2

Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure; a description of the measure and its duration; details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the 18/12/2018 Inspection report children’s home: 1277041 3 measure; the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure.

p.2

Requirement Due date

(Regulation 35 (3)(a)(ii)(iv)(v)(vii)(viii))

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There were no young people in placement at the time of the inspection. However, the home has accommodated young people since registration. This inspection looked at the experience and progress of the young people who have lived in this home.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Care planning arrangements for one young person have had an impact on young people and staff. Despite this shortfall, staff have delivered a good standard of care. They have supported young people through very challenging circumstances. This has resulted in young people enjoying positive experiences.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Progress has been variable, dependent on the young people’s starting points. However, for some young people, progress has been profound.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are effective in supporting young people to understand their identity. This has enabled young people to explore their ethnicity, family heritage, gender identity and sexual orientation. This promotes improved self-esteem and resilience.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Education plans have led to one young person starting mainstream school. This was a significant achievement for them. When young people do not have a school place, they benefit from one-to-one tuition. Young people do not always engage in education. Staff manage this with creativity and promote alternative educational activity throughout the day.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff place the well-being of young people at the centre of their practice, regardless of challenging behaviours. They work hard to support young people to build and sustain attachments. Young people have confirmed that they feel listened to and safe, and enjoy spending time with staff.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people have expressed their views about staff and their care experience through consultation documents. However, consultation has been infrequent and fails to ensure that young people have regular opportunities to comment on their care. Inspection report children’s home: 1277041 4

p.3

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

Robust safeguarding practice is evidenced well in this home. Staff have worked alongside the multi-disciplinary team to manage a high volume of safeguarding issues. Staff have been effective in keeping young people safe.

p.4

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

Complaints, allegations and safeguarding concerns have been managed in line with safeguarding procedures. There have been no complaints or allegations upheld. Several safeguarding incidents, when allegations were made, were found to be unsubstantiated.

p.4

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

Police and social workers have commended the staff for their creative practice, resilience and tenacity to keep young people safe. A social worker said: ‘They have gone above and beyond.’

p.4

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

Staff have excellent safeguarding knowledge. They benefit from a comprehensive training programme. This ensures that staff understand and can respond to a range of complex issues including self-harm and sexual exploitation.

p.4

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

Behaviour management is good. There has been one physical intervention. However, the record for the intervention is not detailed and omits key information.

p.4

good

Leaders and managers are skilled and knowledgeable, and have a history of delivering improved outcomes for young people.

p.4

good

However, this inspection found that leaders and managers have not ensured that there is robust care planning. A young person who required a specialist placement was admitted to the home following the breakdown of his previous placement. Despite extensive searches, an alternative placement could not be identified. Leaders provided additional resources to support the placement. Managers understand that these resources have not been effective and do not replicate specialist provision.

p.4

good

Staff received training from mental health practitioners. The aim of the training was to equip staff with specialist knowledge and skills. However, training arrangements were not effective. This is because not all staff received the full training. Some staff said that they did not find the training to be useful. The planned support from the mental health team was sporadic. This is because staff were dealing with daily safeguarding issues.

p.4

good

Staff have not had regular supervision. Annual appraisals are out of timescales. This means that staff are not monitored or supported in their professional performance. This does not ensure that staff are supported in their role. Care practice is not sufficiently monitored.

p.4

good

Internal and external quality assurance provides an in-depth analysis of the care Inspection report children’s home: 1277041 5 provision. Managers have a clear understanding of the home’s strengths and weaknesses. They have clear plans in place to promote improvement.

p.4

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.

p.5

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: 1277041 6

p.5

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Nottingham City Council

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Loxley House, Station Street, Nottingham NG2 3NG

p.6

Inspector:

Amanda Ellis, social care regulatory inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1277041 7 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.

p.6

Inspector:

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.7

Inspector:

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.7

Inspector:

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: http://www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.7