Children's Home run by N H Care Limited in Birmingham

Inspection report children’s home: SC467264 1 SC467264 Registered provider: Nh Care Limited Interim inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A private company owns this home. It is registered for up to four young people aged eight to 17, who have social and/or emotional needs. The manager has been registered since June 2017. The manager is undertaking a level 5 diploma in leadership and management.

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Information about this children’s home

Judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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Information about this children’s home

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

This home was judged requires improvement to be good at the last full inspection. At the interim inspection, Ofsted judges that it has declined in effectiveness.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Since the last inspection, the registered manager has made several improvements to the home including redecoration and repairs. However, he has failed to address many of the regulatory shortfalls identified, including weaknesses relating to safeguarding, staff supervision and training, medication and recording. The registered individual suspended the registered manager in December and the service manager is currently covering the day-to-day management of the home. This inspection identified a lack of communication between managers and staff. Staff were unaware of the improvements required for the service to be good. Managers have not provided staff with regular supervision and training to address their practice. Two staff members have still not completed their level 3 diploma within the required Inspection report children’s home: SC467264 2 timescales. Safeguarding practice remains an issue. Several medication errors led to the responsible

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

individual needing to bring in staff from another home to ensure that medication is safely administered and recorded. Managerial overview of incidents, record-keeping and risks in the home remain poor. When one young person caused considerable damage to his bedroom, staff and managers failed to ensure that the bedroom was secured to prevent the young person from entering it and harming themselves. One young person pulled the spindles from the stair banister to use as weapons. This happened despite a risk assessment identifying that the spindles needed to be boarded. Risk assessments are not always updated with new information following incidents. The impact assessment for the most recent young person admitted lacked essential information. Consequently, the staff could not meet the young person’s needs. His placement has caused disruption to the other young people already living in the home. More positively, young people enjoy positive and trusting relationships with staff and

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

have benefited from a more welcoming and better-maintained home. However, one young person’s bedroom lacks personalisation and contains damaged furniture. Young people say that they are happy living here and that staff listen to them and involve them in their placement and behaviour management plans. They enjoy activities with staff and each other, including football, rugby and go karting. All the young people have made progress in attending and engaging in education. They also make significant progress in family contact, engaging in therapy, improved emotional and physical well-being, independence and social skills. One young person is particularly positive about the support that staff give him with his home education. Staff work closely with other agencies including education, social workers, mental health services and police. However, the manager has failed to consult with other professionals as part of the review of the service. This is a missed opportunity to learn from other

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

professionals and how to better understand how to drive up standards in the service.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/08/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good 07/02/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness 20/09/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good 12/01/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC467264 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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child. (Regulation 12(1)(2)(a)(i)) 31/01/2019

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that the registered person must ensure that staff understand their roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person. (Regulation 12(2)(a)(v)) 31/01/2019

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. 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, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12(1) and (2)(d)) 31/01/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines into the home. (Regulation 23(1)) 31/01/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that any individual who works in the home in a care role has achieved the appropriate qualification by the relevant date. The relevant date is, in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls 2 years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home. (Regulation 32(5)(a)) In particular, ensure that the two staff who have not achieved level 3 by the relevant date complete the level 3 diploma by the end of February 2019. 28/02/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(b)) 31/01/2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC467264 4 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)(c)) 31/01/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children ("a quality of care review") at least once every 6 months. In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating the quality of care provided for children and the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it. The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45(1)(2)(a)(b)(3)(5)) 31/01/2019

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Recommendations

 Managing medicines in care home (March 2014) is a guideline that applies across both health and social care. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 35, paragraph 7.17) This is with particular reference to using the guide to support the safe receipt, storage, administration and disposal of medicines.  Ensure that there is a workforce plan in place, which can fulfil the requirements of Regulation 16 Schedule 1. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)  All staff must have their performance and fitness to carry out their role formally appraised at least once annually. This appraisal should take into account, where reasonable and practical, the views of other professionals who have worked with the staff member over the year and children in the home’s care. As part of the performance management process, poor performance should be addressed by a

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Recommendations

timely plan to bring about improvement. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.5)  Staff should seek to meet the child’s basic needs in the way that a good parent would, recognising that many children in residential care have experienced environments where these needs have not been consistently met - doing so is an important aspect of demonstrating that the staff care for the child and value them as an individual. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.7) With particular reference to ensuring that children’s bedrooms are personalised and maintained to a good standard.

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Information about this inspection

Inspection report children’s home: SC467264 5 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. This inspection focused on the effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of children and young people since the most recent full inspection. Using the ‘Social care common inspection framework’, this inspection was carried out

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Information about this inspection

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’.

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 3 Shetland Close, Birmingham, Warwickshire B16 0RF

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Inspector

Louise Whittle, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC467264 6 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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