Children's home run by Sheffield City Council in Sheffield

Inspection report children’s home: SC036009 1 SC036009 Registered provider: Sheffield City 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 is a local authority short-break service. It can accommodate up to six children and young people who have physical and/or learning difficulties . Children and young people enjoy overnight stays at the home and this provides support to their parents.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager and a stable staff team have a wealth of experience in caring for the children and young people in their care.

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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 Inspection report children’s home: SC036009 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

31/07/2017 Full Good 20/02/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 03/05/2016 Full Good 17/02/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC036009 3

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’. The registered persons 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 promotes their welfare.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 13 (1) (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the home accommodates children and young people in accordance with the conditions of registration and the statement of purpose. 28/01/2019

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Recommendations

 When a child needs additional health or well-being support, staff should work with the child’s placing authority to enable proper and immediate access to any specialist medical, psychological or psychiatric support required, and challenge them through regulation 5 - engaging with the wider system to ensure children’s needs are met, if this doesn’t happen. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 34, paragraph 7.10) In particular, ensure that staff access advice and guidance from a dietician to support children and young people with their health conditions and to ensure that they maintain an appropriate body mass index (BMI).  Staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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Recommendations

In particular, staff should routinely report in the daily recordings about the Inspection report children’s home: SC036009 4 children’s and young people’s progress relating to the goals set for them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children and young people make progress as they develop daily life skills, build confidence, and improve their social skills. The children and young people enjoy new experiences that include routinely accessing activities in the community. The staff team provides individualised care to the children and young people. The children and young people benefit greatly from a staff team which is child-centred, determined and dedicated to ensuring that the children and young people have enjoyable childhoods and make progress in a nurturing environment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children and young people respond positively to having clear routines. They benefit immensely from the strong and enduring relationships that they have built with the staff. This makes the children and young people feel safe and secure, and this assists them to thrive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

For those children and young people who attend this short-break service, parents retain responsibility for their child’s health and educational needs. The staff work in close partnership with the parents, and with educational and health professionals. This ensures that all children and young people remain in good health and attend school. The staff are trained to support the special health needs of the children and young people. Dietician advice and guidance has not yet been accessed for one young person to support a health condition and maintain a healthy weight.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is well equipped, spacious and designed to meet the needs of the children and young people who have complex needs. The home is clean, well decorated and furnished to a very good standard. The children and young people enjoy a comfortable and homely environment. A recently refurbished kitchen area ensures that all children and young people can use the facilities, including those who use wheelchairs. This is achieved with adjustable work surface levels that allow the children and young people to develop daily life skills, for example making drinks and snacks, and baking, with staff support and supervision.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There is a great focus on ensuring that the children and young people broaden their life experiences. They benefit from meeting up with their peers and forming new friendships. The staff make sure that they support children and young people with social activities and interests that promote positive social engagement. The children and young people engage in a wide range of activities in the home and externally. These include playing, arts and crafts, games, sensory play, trips out including visiting the Yorkshire Wildlife Park, local parks, the cinema, visits to the seaside and going cycling.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Importance is given to meaningful consultation with the children and young people, to make sure that their voices are heard. This occurs through daily interaction with staff, and Inspection report children’s home: SC036009 5 by using each child’s or young person’s specific communication medium. The children and young people have access to an advocate. In addition, the children and young people actively take part in young people’s chat meetings. They express their views about the care they receive and learn about the things that are important to them. The advocate said: ‘The staff ensure that the young person’s voice is heard. They do listen and act on the child’s wishes.’

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

The staff are noticeably aware of the individual vulnerabilities and the potential risks to the health, well-being and safety for each child and young person in their care. They implement safety measures, including following individual risk assessments, to keep children and young people safe. A parent said: ‘I trust the staff to care for my son and they do this very well. He is safe.’

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

High staffing levels provide children and young people with constant supervision, care and support, which protects them and keeps them safe.

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

The children and young people visibly benefit from being cared for by a well-trained team of staff which has positive links with health professionals and works well with them. The administration of medication and health procedures is undertaken carefully in line with the doctor’s instructions. This close oversight and robust monitoring of medication administration, safe storage and recording further support the children’s and young people’s well-being and safety.

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

The registered manager has been in post since 2010 and has extensive experience of working with children and young people with learning and physical disabilities.

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

The management team leads the staff and aspires for the children and young people to enjoy their stay and make continual progress. The manager has a good knowledge of the home’s strengths and areas of development. In the main, children and young people with disabilities access the home and receive a short-break service in line with the home’s registration. However, one of the home’s conditions of registration has not been adhered to. One young person has been admitted to the home and stayed for several months. This is a serious breach of the regulations and the home’s statement of purpose. Ofsted has communicated with the local authority on this matter.

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

The staff team has a wealth of experience, and it has a strong child-focused approach. The staff receive suitable support and guidance through the established communication systems of daily shift handovers, regular staff meetings and monthly formal supervision. Most of the staff hold the level 3 qualification in caring for children and young people. In addition, they receive more specialised training in specialised areas, such as visual impairment, epilepsy, moving and handling, medication, gastro tube feeding, first aid and child protection. This ensures that the staff can meet the needs of the children and young people in their care very well. Inspection report children’s home: SC036009 6 Professionals consistently report that there are tremendous working relationships, with first-rate communication, to best support and care for the children and young people. A social worker said: ‘The staff keep me up to date with how [name of child] is doing when

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

she visits the home. The staff are working with the visual impairment team and are doing excellent work to support [name of child].’

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

The requirement made at the last inspection has been met. External fencing has been fitted in the grounds to ensure that the building is secure and keeps the children and young people safe.

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

There are comprehensive internal and external monitoring systems. The regulation 44 monthly monitoring reports routinely identify shortfalls and recommend areas for improvement. This assists the home in maintaining the quality of care to a good standard. However, monitoring systems have not detected that the staff are not routinely reporting and recording information on the goals set for each child and young person. As a result of this shortfall, the great achievements that the children and young people have accomplished are not fully evidenced.

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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: SC036009 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Sheffield City Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Town Hall, Pinstone Street, Sheffield S1 2HH

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Inspector

Debbie Foster: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC036009 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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