Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Dorset

Inspection report children’s home: 1159868 1 Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

 This privately owned home is operated by a large national provider of services for children. The home is registered for up to three children who may have emotional and behavioural difficulties.  There has been no registered manager since 5 November 2018, a period of 21 weeks. There is an acting manager in post, but Ofsted has not yet received an application.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 1159868 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/08/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good 23/03/2018 Interim Improved effectiveness 27/11/2017 Full Good 26/04/2016 Full Requires improvement Inspection report children’s home: 1159868 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 quality and purpose of care standard

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children and use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff protect and promote each child’s welfare and provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background. (Regulation 6 (1)(2)(b)(ii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

This is with particular reference to ensuring that the home only admits children whose needs it can meet. 31/05/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider must appoint a person to manage the children’s home if there is no registered manager in respect of the home; and the registered provider is an organisation or a partnership; does not satisfy Regulation 28; or is not, or does not intend to be, in day-to-day charge of the home. (Regulation 27 (1))

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Requirement Due date

This is with particular reference to ensuring that the home’s manager applies to Ofsted to be registered, in a timely manner. 29/04/2019

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Recommendations

 Ensure that the home has a key role in organising and ensuring each child’s attendance at the necessary primary and secondary health services. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, April 2015, page 34, paragraph 7.11) In particular, continue to find ways to encourage young people to attend important healthcare appointments. Inspection report children’s home: 1159868 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Despite some serious incidents since the last inspection, which are described below, most of the children’s and young people’s experiences and progress have been exceptionally good.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home’s acting manager has made significant improvements in the quality of the home’s environment. There is now Wi-Fi in the home, which has enhanced the children’s and young people’s enjoyment. There are homely, personal touches such as potted plants and the children’s and young people’s own artwork in the home. Consequently, the ambience of the home is welcoming, homely and feels completely different in comparison with the last inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The quality of relationships between staff and children is outstanding. Staff have a deep understanding of the impact of trauma and neglect. They are passionate about the importance of therapeutic parenting and a consistent, nurturing approach. During the inspection, the manager’s natural and instinctive warmth towards a young person who felt unwell showed that children and young people are loved, wanted and valued as individuals.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Three out of four children and young people have all made very good progress. A fourth resident, whose placement ended abruptly in October 2018, with hindsight, had needs which could not be met in a home of this type.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One young man, who has now lived in the home for two years, showed exceptional maturity and restraint when confronted by a young person who was physically aggressive towards him. Another young person successfully moved from the home back to a parent’s care. The staff continue to support this young person, which helps to reinforce the good relationships that he built when he lived there.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are fully consulted about their care. The manager responds to appropriate requests. For example, one young person asked to move to a different bedroom to obtain a better Wi-Fi signal.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people enjoy a wide range of exciting activities, including sports. They can join clubs and become involved in the local community.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people are making good progress in developing independence skills. The staff help them to enjoy good-quality time with their families and friends.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s healthcare needs are well managed. Some young people refuse their dental appointments and recommended dental treatment. The staff have tried to be creative in finding ways to support them. A recommendation has been made to continue these efforts, because of the potential negative impact of not accepting dental treatment. Inspection report children’s home: 1159868 5

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improvement to be good

Children and young people are currently safe in this home. The judgement for this outcome area reflects a period of four weeks when a child was admitted in a state of crisis. The decision to admit this child was fully risk assessed at the time. The home’s managers considered that they could offer her a place of sanctuary where she could benefit from the nurturing care that the home has to offer and begin to recover from past trauma. However, physical and verbal aggression towards children and staff occurred. It became clear that this child’s complex needs could not be met by the home. The child’s placement had to be terminated with immediate effect to keep her and others safe.

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improvement to be good

This four-week period tested the other children, and the staff team, to the full. Generally, the staff managed the child’s behaviour fairly and consistently. There was one instance when staff gave in to children’s demands and allowed them to dictate the conduct of the shift. The home’s managers identified that this should not have happened and carried out an internal investigation. This led to additional supervision and training, which has been effective.

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improvement to be good

Another internal investigation took place in response to a serious incident when changes to the on-call rota meant that staff were unable to contact the senior on-call manager for over five hours. This could have had serious consequences. The management review of this incident resulted in improvements in how changes to the rota are communicated to staff.

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improvement to be good

Whenever there was a critical incident, this triggered a management review and a clinical debrief for the staff. The home’s leaders and managers worked well with the placing authority and other agencies to keep the children and young people safe. Since then, there has not been a repetition of any similar incidents and the home is now calm again. A requirement has been made in relation to the mix of children and young people at that time.

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improvement to be good

Apart from this period, the home has helped and protected children and young people very well. For example, there are good-quality, regularly updated risk assessments. These reflect the children’s and young people’s needs and help the staff to manage their behaviour. There have been incidents when children went missing. When children and young people were missing, these incidents were well managed.

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improvement to be good

Health and safety in the home is good. Weekly fire safety checks and regular drills ensure that young people are protected from the risks of fire.

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improvement to be good

Staff recruitment is also well managed. The home has recruited only one new member of staff since the last inspection, for whom full checks were carried out. This helps to ensure that this person is safe to work with the children and young people. Inspection report children’s home: 1159868 6

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

The home has been without a registered manager since 5 November 2018, a period of 21 weeks. The home’s senior leaders promptly appointed a manager who has been leading the team since that date. Because she was new to the role at that time, senior managers monitored and mentored the new manager before making a final decision about the appointment.

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

The inspector has been told that an application is imminent. A requirement has been made.

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

There are many strengths in the leadership and management of this home. For example, the manager and staff have very good communication with other agencies. Any complaints and internal investigations are well managed. The historical shortfalls found during this inspection had already been identified and actioned. Rigorous oversight, including effective internal and external monitoring and support, has ensured that there has been no negative impact on the children and young people.

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

The acting manager leads her team by example. She sets high standards of care and is exceptionally child-focused. The manager has created a warm, nurturing environment for the children and young people by driving forward the programme of refurbishment. The manager plans to create a vegetable and fruit garden to help children understand the farm to plate relationship between growing, preparing and eating nutritious foods.

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

The manager and her team leader have also introduced several improvements to the home’s paperwork. For example, the children’s file records have been restructured and are child-centred, clear and easy to follow.

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

The home has a good system for internal and external monitoring. The home’s managers also consult regularly with children, parents and other stakeholders and take their views into account when making changes.

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

Three of the four requirements and the single recommendation from the last inspection have been actioned. In relation to the fourth requirement, made under Regulation 6, most of the work has been done, so it is substantially met. Refurbishment of the bathrooms has not yet been completed, but there is a firm date for this work to take place.

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

The diverse staff team benefits from regular appraisals and supervision, including clinical meetings with a qualified psychologist. Their training is up to date and all staff now hold, or are working towards, a qualification at level 3. This helps to ensure that the team members respond to children and young people consistently, following the home’s therapeutic parenting model.

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

The intending registered manager is experienced in staff supervision and is currently undertaking an internal management course. She plans to enrol on a level 5 course in leadership and management in September. Inspection report children’s home: 1159868 7

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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: 1159868 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Cambian Childcare Limited, 4th Floor, Waterfront Manbre Wharf, Manbre Road, Hammersmith, London W6 9RH

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Nicola McClements

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Inspector(s)

Heather Chaplin: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1159868 9 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(s)

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Inspector(s)

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Inspector(s)

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