Wood View

Inspection report children‟s home: SC008274 1 SC008274 Registered provider: Searchlight Care Services Ltd

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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 children‟s home is registered to provide care and accommodation for one young person who has social and/or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is operated by a private company. The current manager has been registered with Ofsted since August 2017 and holds a level 5 qualification in leadership and management. The home had no children on role from October 2017 until March 2018.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children‟s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 29 January 2018

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not judged

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children‟s home: SC008274 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

29/01/2018 Interim Not judged 20/01/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 12/07/2016 Full Outstanding 19/02/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children‟s home: SC008274 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.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person and are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home‟s child protection policies. (Regulation 12(1)(2)(a)(ii)(v)(vii)) 10/03/2019

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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 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

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13(1)(b)(2) (c)(f)) 10/03/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must compile in relation to the children‟s home a statement (“the statement of purpose”) which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16(1)(3)(a)(b)) 10/03/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that within 24 hours of the 10/03/2019 Inspection report children‟s home: SC008274 4 use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes all necessary information; and 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; and has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35(3)(a)(i-viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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improvement to be good

The young person‟s progress and experiences are variable. Although the young person has made some progress, this has not been maintained. For example, the young person commenced work experience at a local trampoline centre and has engaged in some constructive activities. However, he has struggled to maintain his attendance at these activities.

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improvement to be good

The young person engages in risky behaviours such as going missing from home, getting involved in criminal activity and misusing drugs. Although there have been some periods of improvement, for example a reduction in missing from home incidents, this progress has not been sustained.

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improvement to be good

The young person receives education at the home from a tutor. Although the young person is making some progress towards obtaining qualifications, his levels of engagement are inconsistent and may prevent him from reaching his potential.

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improvement to be good

The relationships that the young person has with staff are largely positive. The young person told the inspector that „staff are happy to see me‟. The young person generally gets on well with staff and the young person said he feels cared for.

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improvement to be good

The home has been refurbished since the last inspection and is maintained to a good standard. The young person has been able to personalise his bedroom. This helps the young person to develop a sense of belonging and he enjoys living in a comfortable and homely environment.

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improvement to be good

Staff promote contact well by liaising with the young person‟s placing authority and family to review arrangements. As a result, the young person maintains positive links to people who are important to him.

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improvement to be good

Inspection report children‟s home: SC008274 5 The young person has access to an advocate and knows how to complain. This means that the young person is able to express his wishes and feelings in relation to his care plan.

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improvement to be good

When the staff become aware of concerning information about the young person when he is in the community, they report this promptly. This allows other relevant agencies to take the necessary action to safeguard the young person and others from the potential risk of harm.

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improvement to be good

Staff do try to engage the young person in discussions about issues of concern, including the risky behaviours he presents. However, the quality of key-work discussions varies, as does the young person‟s level of engagement in them. As a result, efforts to support the young person have not been wholly effective in bringing about positive change in the young person‟s behaviour.

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improvement to be good

Staff compile risk assessments and review these regularly. However, the quality of these documents is variable. They do not always contain enough detail, and on one occasion the staff did not show enough professional curiosity about an incident that was alleged to have happened. The registered manager started to take some steps to understand more about this incident during the inspection.

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improvement to be good

Staff use physical restraint only as a last resort to keep the young person safe. Most incidents are managed appropriately, and records are reviewed by the registered manager. However, during one incident the young person alleged that he had sustained an injury. The registered manager‟s assessment was that the injury did not occur during the restraint. However, she did not pass this information on to the placing authority or the designated officer for the local authority to enable them to make an informed view. This had the potential to compromise the young person‟s safety and welfare. Steps were taken during the inspection to refer this incident to the relevant partner agencies for review.

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

The failure of the registered manager to effectively review all restraint practice contributes to the requires improvement to be good judgement in leadership and management. Furthermore, a requirement was raised at the last interim inspection about the recording of physical intervention. This requirement has not been met. Failure to meet requirements raised at previous inspections does not show good management oversight.

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

Updates made to the home‟s statement of purpose have not always been shared with Ofsted in line with regulatory requirements. A requirement is raised to address this shortfall.

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

The registered manager and staff receive regular supervision in line with the home‟s policies and procedures. The staff also receive an annual appraisal. This means that staff Inspection report children‟s home: SC008274 6 receive regular feedback in relation to their practice and are able to review their development.

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

The young person continues to be cared for by a consistent and stable staff team. When new members of staff join the team, they receive a good induction and training. This helps them to understand their role and develop the basic skills they need to care for the young person. Staff undertake mandatory training, however tailored training to help staff meet the specific needs of the young person is lacking. This limits the effectiveness of the care young people receive.

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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: SC008274 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Searchlight Care Services Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Marcus House, Parkhall Road, Longton, Stoke-on-Trent ST3 5XA

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Denver Underwood

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Inspector

Sarah Junor-Fitzpatrick, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC008274 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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