Children's home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Stockport

Inspection report children’s home: SC457182 1 SC457182 Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Limited

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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 home is owned by a private company. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for one child up to the age of 18 years. The registered manager has been registered since January 2018 and she is also the registered manager for another home.

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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 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: SC457182 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/07/2018 Full Good 27/02/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness 07/06/2017 Full Good 27/10/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC457182 3

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Statutory requirement

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 take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that staff remain vigilant to emerging risky behaviours and take swift action when safeguarding concerns arise. 24/05/2019

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Recommendations

 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. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.5) In particular, ensure that the appraisal process identifies areas of learning and development and includes feedback from children and other relevant professionals.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff team provides the child with high-quality personalised care that promotes his needs and welfare. They have nurtured warm, positive relationships with the child, which are based on mutual respect and trust. The child is making noticeable progress at school, which is down to the staff’s unwavering encouragement, support and high aspirations. The staff team understands the potential barriers to his learning and work collaboratively with his school and social worker to monitor and progress his educational achievements. Inspection report children’s home: SC457182 4 The staff work effectively with all health professionals to promote the child’s physical health and emotional well-being. The staff understand his medical needs and follow his health plan consistently. The child’s health and well-being are carefully monitored to ensure that he receives the right medical advice, support and treatment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff team makes sure that there are plenty of opportunities for the child to have fun and develop new interests and skills. For example, he enjoys trips to the zoo, caring for his pet fish and playing computer games. The manager and staff have supported the child to keep in contact with his family. The staff have built positive relationships with his parents and he benefits from regular visits to his parents and sister. This is important to him, and it is helping him to continue to feel part of his family.

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improvement to be good

There are elements of strong safeguarding practice in this home. Staff are skilled at de- escalating dangerous situations and behaviour, such as children’s aggression and threats towards staff. Staff have defused difficult situations successfully by encouraging the child to take part in an activity, such as helping to make tea, going for a walk with them or playing a game. However, at times, the staff’s lack of vigilance and swift response to serious safeguarding concerns have undermined the safety of the child and staff in the home. For example, the locks on the home’s internal doors had not been risk assessed following a safeguarding incident that involved a child locking a member of staff in a room and threatening her. Additionally, room searches have not always been carried out in a timely way when children have had unsafe items in their bedrooms. Staff demonstrate an in-depth understanding of the child’s needs, vulnerabilities and

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improvement to be good

behaviours. There are clear strategies in place to manage risk and minimise harm. However, the home’s written risk assessments are too generic and do not reflect the bespoke strategies actually used by the staff team. Although this is largely a recording shortfall, which so far has not had a negative impact on the child’s safety, the weaknesses in the current written risk assessments can potentially hinder consistency in safeguarding practice. The child benefits from being cared for by a committed and knowledgeable staff team that he trusts. The staff have successfully nurtured positive relationships with the child and, as a result, he has safe adults to talk to and learn from. Since moving into the home, the child’s safety and behaviour have improved. The staff’s regular and focused key-work sessions with the child are helping him to think about his behaviour and understand how he puts himself and others at risk.

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improvement to be good

Furthermore, the staff have established links with other safeguarding professionals; for example, the local fire service has visited the child and provided him with information about the risks of fire-setting. Overall, staff work positively and confidently with the child when he is in crisis. They support him to find ways to manage his emotions safely; for example, spending time Inspection report children’s home: SC457182 5 with his pet fish can help him to calm down.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered and deputy manager are child-focused leaders. They have worked diligently to adapt the setting to ensure that the home can comply with the specific aspects of the child’s care plan. The manager has established an experienced, qualified and resilient staff team that provides a high standard of care to a child with extremely complex and challenging needs. The leaders have ensured that staff have the right expertise, approach, personal qualities and skills to meet the child’s needs. The staffing arrangements provide the child with continuity of care, which has helped him to build positive relationships with the staff team and a real sense of belonging. Staff benefit from ongoing support, guidance and training, which in turn enables them to continue to provide the child with warm, nurturing and enduring care. Team-working is strong. Staff share information effectively and have a consistent

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

approach that helps the child to understand the routines and boundaries that are in place to keep him safe and to allow him to progress. Staff’s performance is appraised annually, which helps the manager to gain a clear overview of the team’s strengths and development needs. Staff appraisals can be further strengthened by incorporating feedback from the child and other professionals. Furthermore, the appraisal document does not reflect any discussions or actions with regards to staff’s training or development opportunities.

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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: SC457182 6

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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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Inspector

Marina Tully, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC457182 7 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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