Ambient House Limited

Inspection report for residential family centre - monitoring visit: Ambient House Limited 1 Ambient House Limited 17 Nyewood Lane, Bognor Regis, Sussex PO21 2QB Monitoring visit

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this residential family centre

The centre is privately owned. It provides assessments of parenting on a residential basis and can accommodate up to four families. The building is staffed 24 hours a day. The centre is available for families from across the UK.

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Information about this residential family centre

At the time of the visit, there was no manager in post.

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Information about this residential family centre

Date of previous inspection: 17 September 2018

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This monitoring visit

Following the full inspection conducted on 17 September 2018, the centre was judged inadequate. Five compliance notices were made relating to the following regulations:

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This monitoring visit

Regulation 8: Registered person – general requirements

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This monitoring visit

Regulation 12: Arrangements for the protection of children

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This monitoring visit

A restriction of accommodation notice was also served.

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This monitoring visit

The compliance notice in relation to fire safety was served with a completion date of 5 October 2018. The remaining four compliance notices had a completion date of 30 November 2018. Following the restriction of accommodation notice being served, Ofsted received serious safeguarding allegations. Ofsted concluded that further Inspection report for residential family centre - monitoring visit: Ambient House Limited 2 protective action was required to ensure the safety of the residents, and, on 12 October 2018, Ofsted suspended the centre’s registration.

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This monitoring visit

Following inter-agency decision-making about the serious allegations that had been made, Ofsted lifted the suspension notice on 9 November 2018. The restriction of accommodation notice remained in place. No families have been accommodated at the centre since 12 October 2018.

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This monitoring visit

A monitoring inspection was carried out on 17 October 2018 to monitor compliance with the notice that was made under Regulation 22. Although some progress had been made, the notice was not met.

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Monitoring inspection findings

The purpose of this monitoring inspection, carried out on 5 and 6 December 2018, was to monitor compliance with the restriction notice, to assess whether the remaining required actions in relation to fire safety had been addressed, and to assess the responsible individual’s compliance in meeting the remaining four compliance notices, now due for completion.

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Monitoring inspection findings

The inspectors found that, since all the families moved out on 12 October 2018, no families had been accommodated. The responsible individual has therefore complied with the restriction notice.

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Monitoring inspection findings

The inspectors met with the responsible individual and the company secretary over the two days of the visit. The inspectors examined policies, procedures and records relating to the compliance notices.

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Compliance notice: Regulation 22: Fire precautions:

Through a tour of the premises, the reading of relevant records and an interview with the responsible individual, the inspectors judged that sufficient action had been taken to meet the areas of shortfall identified at the previous monitoring inspection.

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policies and practice:

The compliance notice identified serious shortfalls relating to: an inadequate child protection policy and lack of procedural guidance that is specific to a residential family centre; the absence of linking this to relevant legislation and guidance; poor staff training on the centre’s policy and guidance; and poor-quality records in respect of child protection concerns and allegations.

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policies and practice:

The responsible individual has reviewed the safeguarding and child protection policies, but significant gaps remain. These include: Inspection report for residential family centre - monitoring visit: Ambient House Limited 3  a lack of clarity about the role title for the designated safeguarding lead  insufficient guidance for staff on completing the forms developed for the recording of safeguarding incidents  a lack of clarity about the types and nature of concerns and events specifically relevant to a residential family centre  insufficient reference to, or consideration of, potential safeguarding matters and concerns relating to parents who are also children

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policies and practice:

 no acknowledgement that many of the children staying in residential family centres are babies and are therefore non-verbal.

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policies and practice:

Additionally, the familial relationships between the members of the senior leadership team are not included in the documentation. In the event of an allegation about one of these staff members, there is a risk that safeguarding professionals who are tasked with decision-making may not be aware of this potential conflict of interest.

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policies and practice:

The responsible individual has developed a plan for staff to be trained in general safeguarding by the local authority and online training. However, the plan does not include training in the implementation of the centre’s own policies and procedures. This omission fails to ensure that the new staff team will gain the knowledge and understanding about this setting’s specific policies and procedures in relation to safeguarding the children and vulnerable adults.

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policies and practice:

The responsible individual has developed a proforma for staff to use for record keeping in relation to safeguarding matters. There is little guidance and no plan for the training or support of staff to complete these. Although a ‘lessons learned’ tool has been developed to enable staff to reflect on their practice, there is no plan for the way in which monitoring should be used to evaluate staff competency. The responsible individual did not satisfy inspectors that she had considered the wider system necessary to ensure that comprehensive records are maintained.

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policies and practice:

The responsible individual has met one step. This is in relation to making sure that the references in the safeguarding policy and procedures to other legislation and guidance are correct and kept up to date.

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Compliance notice: Regulation 16 (1) (3)(d): Staff recruitment:

The steps in the compliance notice required the responsible individual to: review all staff files in respect of Schedule 2 and take action to rectify any gaps identified; carry out an assessment of risk if any concerning information came to light about any staff member; and update the recruitment policy, in line with the regulations. Inspection report for residential family centre - monitoring visit: Ambient House Limited 4 The responsible individual said that she has not competed the review as no staff are currently employed. The responsible individual has not considered that she, the company secretary and the other director are also staff members and therefore covered by this step. Additionally, the responsible individual has retained one member of staff, although this individual is not currently undertaking shifts at the centre. This member of staff’s recruitment file was viewed and it was found to

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Compliance notice: Regulation 16 (1) (3)(d): Staff recruitment:

contain an incomplete employment history. Although the responsible individual said that she has asked the member of staff to provide this information, she was not able to evidence this, and the gaps remain.

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Compliance notice: Regulation 16 (1) (3)(d): Staff recruitment:

From reviewing the current recruitment practice, inspectors became concerned about the appointment of the new manager. There had been a failure to explore a change in the applicant’s name. The appointed manager does not have the qualifications or experience in management, nor has the appointed manager worked in a residential setting. The interview records were brief and did not show that important issues had been discussed. For example:

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Compliance notice: Regulation 16 (1) (3)(d): Staff recruitment:

 the appointed manager’s lack of experience in management  the appointed manager’s lack of experience of working in a residential setting  the expectations of the appointed manager in relation to Ofsted registration, or the appointed manager’s understanding about what being registered means  the appointed manager’s understanding of the role of a residential family centre.

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Compliance notice: Regulation 16 (1) (3)(d): Staff recruitment:

No plan has been prepared to support this new inexperienced manager.

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Compliance notice: Regulation 16 (1) (3)(d): Staff recruitment:

The file for the non-operational director was viewed. This file only contained a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. This is despite the individual, on occasion, coming to the centre to carry out maintenance tasks and being named in the safeguarding policy as potentially having an operational role in safeguarding matters.

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Compliance notice: Regulation 16 (1) (3)(d): Staff recruitment:

The responsible individual has reviewed and amended the staff recruitment policy and procedure. It is now in line with the regulatory requirements in relation to the statutory vetting checks that are required. However, some further work is required to make it an effective policy. This includes detailing how shortlisting occurs, identifying the criteria against which staff are being recruited and clarifying the arrangements for the vetting and use of agency staff.

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Compliance notice: Regulation 16 (1) (3)(d): Staff recruitment:

The responsible individual was required to carry out an assessment, when concerns come to light about an applicant or member of staff, to consider whether it is safe to appoint them or to continue a member of staff’s employment. It was not possible to assess this step as no issues of this nature have arisen. Inspection report for residential family centre - monitoring visit: Ambient House Limited 5 This compliance notice is not met.

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supervision:

The steps in the compliance notice required the responsible individual to: review each staff member’s knowledge and understanding about matters that should have been covered during the induction process; implement a training programme to address any gaps identified; provide staff supervision at the frequency and of the quality as stated in the statement of purpose; develop a training plan that ensures that training covers all training legally required to operate a residential family centre and is relevant to the size of the service, the work undertaken, the needs of the staff and the residents; implement this training plan in order to prioritise staff having the key training required to ensure that the safety and well-being of the residents are promoted; and ensure that a review is carried out in relation to additional training or qualifications that staff may require to fulfil specific roles to an acceptable standard,

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supervision:

The responsible individual has not completed a review of each staff member’s knowledge and understanding about matters that should have been covered during the induction process. She has produced a revised schedule of induction, which she states will be used for all new staff who are currently being recruited. This process separates out a training plan for care staff and managers.

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supervision:

Some evidence was produced to demonstrate that the responsible individual and the company secretary have completed some relevant training, and that other courses are planned. However, the decisions that have been reached about the types and content of training they will attend are not based on the steps outlined in the compliance notice. The responsible individual has therefore failed to demonstrate a sufficient understanding of the significance of this required step.

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supervision:

For those staff who are still in place − the responsible individual, company secretary, director and one member of the care team (currently not working at the setting) − no such review of their knowledge and understanding has been completed.

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supervision:

The provision of a new, widely generic, training matrix does not address the concerns that were identified through the steps laid out in the compliance notice.

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with sufficient care, competence and skill:

The steps in the compliance notice required the responsible individual to: review and develop the job description for the manager, setting out clearly the roles and responsibilities of the post including the designated safeguarding lead and registered manager roles; develop a job description for the responsible individual; Inspection report for residential family centre - monitoring visit: Ambient House Limited 6 ensure that a job description for the practice supervisor is developed that sets out clearly the roles, responsibilities and accountabilities of the post; develop a system for keeping contemporaneous written records of all management meetings; develop links to professionals tasked with safeguarding children, such as the designated officer; review and develop all of the policies and procedures for the service to ensure that they are up to date and relevant to this service and provide staff with a

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with sufficient care, competence and skill:

clear framework to work in; ensure that incidents are subject to thorough reviews and ensure that any lessons to be learned are used to develop practice; ensure that all known risks are fully assessed, and that strategies and guidance for staff about how these can be reduced are clearly set out in writing; ensure the frequency and quality of supervision directly provided by the organisation to the manager are of such a frequency and quality as to support the manager in her role effectively; ensure that the supervision the manager has with an independent supervisor is used effectively to inform the support and supervision provided by the organisation; ensure that a robust system of monitoring is developed and implemented in relation to the expectations of regulation 23, the review of the quality of care; ensure that a robust system of monitoring is developed and implemented in relation to the expectations of regulation 25, visits by registered provider; formalise the planning

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with sufficient care, competence and skill:

for the development of the service; ensure that there is clear information about what the aims and objectives are hoped to achieve, who is responsible for their implementation, and how the progress in meeting the plan will be monitored; identify the timescales for completing each element in the plan and the criteria for success; review the role of the manager and use this to establish any gaps in respect of the individual’s current experience, training and skills in order to fulfil this role; and, following this review, ensure that the manager is provided with any identified training, commencing with designated safeguarding officer training.

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with sufficient care, competence and skill:

The registered provider has developed the job descriptions for the manager and the responsible individual roles. The revised job description for the manager does not set out the expectations of the roles as detailed in the step. The third job description, for the practice supervisor, has not been reviewed, as the post no longer exists in the new structure.

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with sufficient care, competence and skill:

None of the job descriptions for senior managers include some key tasks. For example, there is no clarity about who is responsible for: considering and decision- making about referrals and admissions; the recruitment of staff; and organising and chairing staff meetings. Additionally, not all job descriptions clearly set out the line- management arrangements for that member of staff. Therefore, there remains a lack of clarity about roles and responsibilities.

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with sufficient care, competence and skill:

The responsible individual has developed a template to record discussions during management meetings. This has not yet been tested, as the centre is not operational.

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with sufficient care, competence and skill:

The responsible individual evidenced one attempt to contact the designated officer for safeguarding within the local authority. She said that she had made other unsuccessful attempts, although no records were produced to demonstrate an audit Inspection report for residential family centre - monitoring visit: Ambient House Limited 7 trail. The responsible individual also spoke about some contact she has had with the local police community support officers. She stated that it is her intention to develop these relationships further. The responsible individual has not made determined and successful attempts to develop strong links with a full range of safeguarding professionals to benefit children and families should the centre become operational.

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with sufficient care, competence and skill:

The policies sampled had been reviewed and further developed. However, not all polices have been finalised in readiness for the centre to open. For example, the responsible individual said that CCTV and surveillance method policies are not finalised. While most of the policies and procedures viewed were more aligned to legislation and guidance, some were not aligned to this setting. While progress has been made in this area, not all of the policies and procedures are sufficient to guide staff to fulfil their duties including, most importantly, in safeguarding.

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with sufficient care, competence and skill:

The responsible individual has developed systems to review incidents. These include ensuring that staff have the opportunity to consider and discuss incidents. As the home is non-operational, this step could not be fully tested.

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with sufficient care, competence and skill:

The responsible individual has not sufficiently explored or understood the experience and development needs of the newly appointed manager. This is of significant concern due to the appointee’s inexperience in management and lack of a management qualification.

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with sufficient care, competence and skill:

The responsible individual has failed to develop clear systems or put in place clear arrangements for the external supervision of the new manager. There are no processes or systems to make sure that there are clear lines of accountability. Arrangements for aligning the operational and practice supervision or clarity about issues relating to confidentiality are absent.

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with sufficient care, competence and skill:

The responsible individual has divided the monitoring tasks between her own and the registered manager’s roles. She has also developed a range of surveys for residents and other stakeholders to provide their views about the service. However, there has been a failure to develop a procedure to underpin the various monitoring processes. Consequently, the expectations of the monitoring, the actions to be taken if shortfalls are found and information about how learning will be fed back into the system were not clear.

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with sufficient care, competence and skill:

The responsible individual has appointed a consultancy firm to carry out visits under Regulation 25. One visit has taken place. As there are no procedures for monitoring and a lack of clarity about who has responsibility for actioning recommendations made by the consultant, the monitoring arrangements remain disjointed and disorganised.

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with sufficient care, competence and skill:

The responsible individual has revised the job description for the registered manager’s post. The responsible individual did not subsequently consider the incoming manager’s gaps in her qualifications and experience against the standards or regulations. Inspection report for residential family centre - monitoring visit: Ambient House Limited 8 This compliance notice is not met.

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with sufficient care, competence and skill:

In addition to the compliance notices, requirements were also issued from the previous full inspection. These had due dates for completion after the date of this monitoring inspection; therefore, these were not assessed. One requirement relating to making notifications had been met, as the responsible individual had informed Ofsted about a police officer’s visit to the home. The remaining requirements will be assessed at the next inspection of the centre.

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Conclusion:

The failure of the provider to meet four of the five compliance notices, served from the full inspection is of serious concern to Ofsted. Despite the positive intentions of the responsible individual, insufficient progress has been made to successfully address the widespread failings identified. Consequently, a restriction of accommodation notice will be re-issued while Ofsted considers the next steps.

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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, Residential Family Centre Regulations 2002 and the national minimum standards. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider and the registered manager shall, having regard to the size of the residential family centre, the statement of purpose, and the number and needs of the residents, carry on or manage the centre (as the case may be) with sufficient care, competence and skill. The registered manager shall undertake from time to time such training as is appropriate to ensure that he has the skills necessary for managing the residential family centre. (Regulation 8(1)(3) The Residential Family Centres (Amendment) Regulations 2013) 25/01/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person shall prepare and implement a written child protection policy which is intended to safeguard children accommodated in the residential family centre from abuse or neglect; and sets out the procedure to be followed in the event of any allegation of abuse or neglect. The procedure under paragraph (1) (b) must in particular provide for liaison and co-operation with any local authority which is 25/01/2019 Inspection report for residential family centre - monitoring visit: Ambient House Limited 9 making child protection enquiries in relation to any child accommodated in the residential family centre; the prompt referral to the local authority in whose area the residential family centre is situated; and any allegations of abuse or neglect affecting any child accommodated in the residential family centre. Written records should be kept of any allegation of abuse or neglect, and of the action taken in

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Requirement Due date

response. Consideration should be given in each case to the measures which may be necessary to protect children in the residential family centre following an allegation of abuse or neglect. (Regulation 12(1)(a)(b)(2)(a)(b)(d)(e) The Residential Family Centres (Amendment) Regulations 2013) The registered person shall ensure that all permanent appointments are subject to the satisfactory completion of a period of probation; and the registered person shall ensure that all persons employed by him receive appropriate training, supervision and appraisal; and are enabled from time to time to obtain further qualifications appropriate to the work they perform. (Regulation 17(1)(a)(5)(a)(b) The Residential Family Centres (Amendment) Regulations 2013) 25/01/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person shall not allow a person to whom paragraph (2) applies to work at the residential family centre unless that person is fit to work at a residential family centre. For the purposes of paragraph (1), a person is not fit to work at a residential family centre unless full and satisfactory information is available in relation to him in respect of each of the matters specified in Schedule 2. (Regulation 16(1)(b)(3)(d) The Residential Family Centres (Amendment) Regulations 2013) 25/01/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person shall make arrangements for the recording, handling, safe keeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the residential family centre. (Regulation 11(2) The Residential Family Centres (Amendment) Regulations 2013)

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the medication policy is implemented in practice. 25/01/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person shall make suitable arrangements to prevent infection, toxic conditions and the spread of infection at the residential family centre. (Regulation 11(3) The Residential Family Centres (Amendment) Regulations 2013) 25/01/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person shall ensure that all parts of the residential family centre to which residents have access are so far as reasonably practicable free from hazards to their 25/01/2019 Inspection report for residential family centre - monitoring visit: Ambient House Limited 10 safety. (Regulation 11(4)(a) The Residential Family Centres (Amendment) Regulations 2013)

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that dangerous substances such as bleach and cleaning fluids are securely stored. Subject to regulation 4(6), the registered person shall not use premises for the purposes of a residential family centre unless the location of the premises is appropriate to the needs of residents. (Regulation 21(a)(b) The Residential Family Centres (Amendment) Regulations 2013) 25/01/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person shall make suitable arrangements to ensure that the residential family centre is conducted in a manner which respects the privacy and dignity of residents. (Regulation 10(3)(a) The Residential Family Centres (Amendment) Regulations 2013)

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the use of closed-circuit television (CCTV) or other surveillance methods is assessed and show that it is necessary for safeguarding the welfare of the residents or others or that it is assessed as being needed to support the assessment process to inform decision-making. 25/01/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person shall keep under review and where appropriate revise the statement of purpose and resident’s guide; and (b) notify the Commission within 28 days of any such revision. (Regulation 4(a)(b) The Residential Family Centres (Amendment) Regulations 2013) 25/01/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person shall ensure that there is, having regard to the statement of purpose of the residential family centre, its size and the numbers and needs of its residents and the need to safeguard and promote the health and welfare of residents, a sufficient number of suitably qualified, competent and experienced persons working for the residential family centre. (Regulation 15(a)(b) The Residential Family Centres (Amendment) Regulations 2013) 25/01/2019

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Recommendations

 The assessment and final report should be linked clearly to the court instruction and/or local authority requirements and should be delivered within the timescales specified. (‘Residential family centres national minimum standards 2002’, 1.4) Inspection report for residential family centre - monitoring visit: Ambient House Limited 11 In particular, provide effective challenge to local authorities that do not provide letters of instruction and other court documents in a timely way.  Where parents are being supported to develop parenting skills, they are enabled to build and sustain constructive relationships with staff so that, where possible, they are able to resolve conflicts themselves in a positive manner. (‘Residential family centres national minimum standards 2002’, 4.3) Ensure that all staff have the skills required to build relationships that residents can benefit from.  Ensure the centre has arrangements with specialist services such as mental

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Recommendations

and sexual health services, so that parents and their children have the services they need. (‘Residential family centres national minimum standards 2002’, 6.3) In particular, when appropriate, help parents to attend appointments with services offering help in relation to matters that have caused them distress.  Ensure staff induction and training cover health and safety issues. (‘Residential family centres national minimum standards 2002’) In particular, ensure the new staff team receives training on how to use the fire safety equipment.

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Information about this inspection

The purpose of this visit was to monitor the action taken and the progress made by the residential family centre since its last Ofsted inspection.

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Information about this inspection

This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000.

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Residential family centre details

Registered provider: Ambient House Limited

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Residential family centre details

Registered provider address: Moore Stephens Llp, City Gates 2−4, Southgate, Chichester, Sussex PO19 8DJ

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Residential family centre details

Responsible individual: Georgina Puttock

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Inspectors:

Sophie Wood: social care regulatory inspection manager Inspection report for residential family centre - monitoring visit: Ambient House Limited 12 to 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, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspectors:

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 . Inspection report for residential family centre - monitoring visit: Ambient House Limited 13 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 .

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Inspectors:

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

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Inspectors:

T: 0300 123 4234 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: http://www.gov.uk/ofsted

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