Children's Home run by Blue Mountain Homes Ltd in Derbyshire

Inspection report children’s home: 1244161 1 Registered provider: Blue Mountain Homes 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

The home is privately owned and registered to provide care and accommodation for one child or young person with complex social, emotional and behavioural needs. The manager was registered with Ofsted for this home in September 2016. The manager has a recognised qualification in leadership and management.

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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 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: 1244161 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/05/2018 Full Good 08/08/2017 Full Good 07/03/2017 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 1244161 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 care planning standard is that children 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.

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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

plan for, and help, each child to prepare to leave the home or to move into adult care in a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with the child’s placing authority.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b)(2)(b)(iii)) 10/05/2019

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Recommendations

 For children’s homes to be nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of their children, they will, in most cases, be homely and domestic environments. Children’s homes must comply with relevant health and safety legislations (alarms, food, hygiene etc.); however in doing so, homes should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than ‘institutional’ impression. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that, in line with their individual health plans and the ethos of the home, children are offered advice, support and guidance on health and well-being to enhance, and supplement that provided by school through Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE). Staff should have the relevant skills and knowledge to be able to help children understand, and where necessary work to change, negative behaviours in key areas of health and well-

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Recommendations

being such as, but not limited to, nutrition and healthy diet, exercise, mental health, sexual relationships, sexual health, contraception and use of legal highs, drugs, alcohol and tobacco. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 35, paragraph 7.18) Inspection report children’s home: 1244161 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have supported the child to settle in quickly. She has developed good relationships with staff, and has quickly made progress. Staff spend a great deal of time with the child. This has supported the development of positive, solid relationships and provided the child with a sense of belonging. The child has expressed how much she likes the home and staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Prior to moving to this home, the child experienced significant instability in education. There was a prolonged period of her being out of education. This situation is now being reversed. The child is now enrolled in a local school, and the home’s manager and education professionals have put in place a plan to fully re-engage the child in education. This plan is beginning to be progressed. She has now completed baseline education assessments and is engaging with a range of education professionals.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the child to see her family regularly, in accordance with the multi-agency plans. These meetings are overseen by staff to ensure the safety of the child. These meetings are important and are beneficial for everyone involved. Family meetings help the child to maintain her identity and to sustain valuable relationships with family members.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The physical environment is good, overall. There has been some re-decoration in the home, which adds to the comfortable and homely feel. There are lots of photographs in the home, which are personal to the child and positive reminders of things that are important to her. The home has a relaxed atmosphere. However, the kitchen area is now looking tired and worn, detracting from what is otherwise a nice domestic setting.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager has not clarified the child’s future plan with the placing local authority, including timescales for the child. There is a plan for the child to move to another residential home within the organisation, but this is not clear and there are no timescales. As a result, the child is anxious about her future. This requires resolution without delay.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have ensured that the child is registered with primary healthcare services, and she attends routine appointments. She has previously tried tobacco and she visits fast-food restaurants regularly. Staff do not fully promote healthy eating or smoking cessation.

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

Staff understand the risks and vulnerabilities associated with this child. Staff’s care practice is guided by good risk assessment and behaviour support plans. Staff have managed the risk from the internet and social media particularly well. The child now shares her online activities with staff, and this has helped her to become safer. Staff have completed a great deal of individual work with the child regarding the risks Inspection report children’s home: 1244161 5 associated with inappropriate use of the internet and social media. The child is now much better informed and aware of the risks. The social worker commented on this as positive progress.

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

Staff practice has been good in response to children going missing from care. Staff make every effort to find children quickly. Staff reported incidents to the police and local authorities appropriately. When children return, staff ensure that they are safe and welcome them home. Staff carry out work with children to enable them to understand the reasons for going missing and to ensure that other agencies carry out independent return home interviews without delay. This enables staff to learn lessons from incidents and use this knowledge to prevent future incidents.

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

Children have made allegations of harm against staff. The manager and leaders of the organisation have taken these very seriously. They have informed the placing local authority and the designated officer without delay. All allegations have been thoroughly investigated, and no substance was found to any of the allegations made.

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

The staff and the manager understand the importance of implementing consistent behavioural boundaries. Overall, this has helped children to maintain good behaviour. Staff discuss issues with the current child and they convey to her the importance of talking to them when she is feeling unhappy or frustrated, to prevent incidents escalating.

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

Since the last inspection, physical intervention has sometimes been used in response to incidents when children have placed themselves and others at risk. Physical intervention has been used as a last resort and is subject to oversight and review by the manager to ensure that there are no alternative courses of action available to the staff involved. All such interventions have been carried out in line with approved methods of physical intervention to minimise the possibility of harm to children and staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A knowledgeable, experienced and committed manager leads the home. He utilises a range of systems to continually evaluate the quality of care. The manager carries out monthly audits, in conjunction with the monthly visit and report from the home’s independent visitor. He attends important multi-agency meetings, communicates with the child daily and addresses any issues brought to his attention. The manager has been proactive in the period since the last inspection to improve the overall quality of care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager demonstrates an in-depth understanding of the child’s needs, and this helps guide multi-agency decision-making. As the child has become more settled, agencies have developed a better assessment of how best to help her. The services she requires to help her make progress are now in place. These, together with the trusting relationships she enjoys with staff, will help her to develop greater self-esteem and confidence, which will help her to thrive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There has been some instability within the team. Several members of staff have left the Inspection report children’s home: 1244161 6 home, and new staff have come into post. The manager is now confident that the team will achieve stability. The manager understands that children benefit from stability in the group of staff caring for them. Staff reported that they feel well supported. They receive regular professional supervision and daily oversight of their care practice from the manager. They have a good range of training and development opportunities to enhance their care practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team has a good gender balance. There are equal numbers of male and female carers, so the child benefits from good role models of both genders in caring roles.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team meets regularly for shift handovers and team meetings. There is a structured agenda, which helps the team to remain focused on what is important. The team, although still quite new, is developing good channels of communication. This is largely under the guidance of the manager, who is a strong and stable presence, and this is driving improvement.

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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: 1244161 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Blue Mountain Homes Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 17 Leeland Mansions, Leeland Road, West Ealing, London W13 9HE

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Pradeep Manaktala

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Inspector:

Phillip Morris, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1244161 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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