Children's home run by Total Care Matters Limited in Nottingham

Inspection report children‘s home: SC449954 1 SC449954 Registered provider: Total Care Matters Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is run by an independent provider. It is registered with Ofsted to provide care and accommodation for up to four children and young people between the ages of seven and 17 who have social, emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: declined in effectiveness

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children‘s home: SC449954 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/01/2019 Interim Declined in effectiveness 18/06/2018 Full Outstanding 12/09/2017 Full Good 13/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children‘s home: SC449954 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—

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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;

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home‘s child protection policies; and

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Requirement Due date

that the effectiveness of the home‘s child protection policies is monitored regularly.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(v)(vii)(e)) 31/05/2019

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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—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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Requirement Due date

that the home‘s workforce provides continuity of care to each child; and 31/05/2019 Inspection report children‘s home: SC449954 4 that staff 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.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children‘s safety.

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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (3) (b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification, if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained— the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) (―the Level 3 Diploma‖) or

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Requirement Due date

a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma.

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Requirement Due date

This is with particular reference to ensuring that all staff are suitably qualified. 30/09/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees undertake appropriate continuing professional development.

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Requirement Due date

This is with reference to ensuring that agency staff are suitably experienced and that they have received appropriate physical intervention training. 31/05/2019

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Recommendations

 Homes must also meet children‘s basic day-to-day needs and physical necessities. Staff should seek to meet the child‘s basic needs in the way that a good parent would, recognising that many children in residential care have experienced environments where these needs have not been consistently met – doing so is an important aspect of demonstrating that the staff care for the child and value them as an individual. (‗Guide to the children‘s homes regulations including the quality standards‘, page 15, paragraph 3.7) This is with particular reference to ensuring that repairs and maintenance work are carried out promptly. Inspection report children‘s home: SC449954 5

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improvement to be good

Since the last full inspection, there have been significant safeguarding incidents, which have had a negative impact on young people and staff. Some young people have been harmed. However, the registered manager responded promptly and appropriately to these incidents, ensuring that relevant safeguarding agencies were informed and ensuring that young people were protected from further harm.

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improvement to be good

There has been a very high staff turnover in the last six months. This has meant that young people have lost some staff who they had secure and trusting relationships with. Young people have been cared for by new staff who they have not had the chance to develop trusting relationships with.

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improvement to be good

Even though there have been significant safeguarding concerns and disruption to their lives, young people continue to make progress and say that they are happy. Young people‘s progress can be attributed to the tenacity of the registered manager and a small core group of staff. They have tried hard to continue to provide good-quality care and support to young people.

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improvement to be good

Young people‘s care records are very detailed and are reviewed regularly. Young people are involved in producing and reviewing their care plans, risk assessments and other records. Young people benefit from regular key-work sessions, which help them to understand the impact that their behaviours have on them and their futures.

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improvement to be good

Young people are making good progress academically and socially. Staff are very supportive of young people‘s career aspirations. Young people are actively encouraged to change their lifestyles, through promoting healthy eating and taking regular exercise to prepare them for pursuing their chosen careers.

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improvement to be good

Staff praise young people regularly for their achievements, no matter how small, and these achievements are celebrated. As a result, young people become more confident and their self-esteem improves.

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improvement to be good

Young people live in a home which is generally decorated and furnished to a good standard. However, there are often delays in dealing with repairs and maintenance.

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improvement to be good

Young people have not been consistently safe since the last full inspection. A significant incident, where a young person suffered harm, has resulted in an ongoing police investigation and some staff being dismissed. This incident was dealt with promptly by the registered manager, and the relevant agencies were informed. Inspection report children‘s home: SC449954 6 A number of allegations have been made against staff. Staff have not always followed safeguarding procedures, resulting in delays in reporting these allegations. These shortfalls were identified at the interim inspection in January 2019 and a requirement was made to ensure that staff fully understood their responsibilities in safeguarding young people and followed safeguarding procedures.

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improvement to be good

Staff have received additional safeguarding training, some of which has been face-to- face training from other professionals. The home‘s safeguarding policies, including the whistleblowing policy, have been reviewed. However, the training has not been fully effective. A recent incident demonstrated that a member of staff did not follow safeguarding procedures. This could have had a negative impact on the emotional well- being of a young person and hinder any future multi-agency investigation.

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improvement to be good

Staff implement clear routines and boundaries. This helps young people to understand the impact that their behaviours have on themselves and others. There has been a reduction in the number of behavioural incidents since the interim inspection. Physical intervention is only used by staff as a last resort. On occasions, agency staff have been involved in physical interventions without having the requisite training. This is unsafe.

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improvement to be good

Young people‘s risk assessments are very detailed and are regularly reviewed. Young people are supported to take age-appropriate risks in a controlled and supportive environment. This helps them to learn how to keep themselves safe and prepare for adulthood.

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improvement to be good

Recruitment checks are undertaken in line with regulation. However, issues with the retention of staff reflect a lack of robust assessment at the point of recruitment to ensure that staff have the necessary skills and experience to work with young people.

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

There have been significant issues within the staff team since the last full inspection. The disclosure of/identification of a major safeguarding incident at the end of October 2018 has had a substantial impact on the staff team, resulting in very high staff turnover and staff sickness. Ten staff have left the home since the full inspection, with most leaving since November 2018.

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

The registered manager has been in post since September 2017 and has many years‘ experience of working in residential settings. She is appropriately qualified and during this difficult period her tenacity and commitment to the young people and staff have been evident.

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

Staff have been affected by the safeguarding incident. Despite the best efforts of the registered manager, who has provided constant support to the team, staff morale is low. Some staff have not felt supported by the organisation.

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

The deputy manager resigned in January 2019. This has depleted the management Inspection report children‘s home: SC449954 7 team, but a new deputy manager is due to start in May 2019. The registered manager has had some support, but a number of managerial tasks have not been completed. The registered manager has prioritised the young people and has sought to minimise the impact of staff turnover and uncertainty on them. Young people have received good, individualised care and have made progress, despite changes in the home. The registered manager has also spent time maintaining a core staff team and supporting the inductions for new staff. Partnership working is very good, and professionals spoke highly of the registered manager.

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

Due to staff turnover, staff from some of the company‘s other homes and agency staff have covered staff vacancies and sickness. This has the potential to affect the consistency of care provided to young people.

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

Staff turnover continues. The registered manager has given her notice to leave and another experienced senior team member is leaving. This means that young people are losing more people who are important in their lives, which has a real potential to affect their emotional well-being and feeling of security.

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

Two requirements were made at the interim inspection in January 2019. These related to the health and well-being of young people and the ability of staff to protect young people from the risk of harm. The registered manager produced an action plan, including a training plan, to address the shortfalls. Staff have received a range of training since the interim inspection, but this has not been effective as a shortfall in safeguarding practices was identified as part of this inspection. The requirement regarding the health of young people has been addressed.

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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: SC449954 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Total Care Matters Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 230 Bathley Street, Nottingham NG2 2ER

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Inspector:

Katarina Djordjevic: social care inspector Inspection report children‘s home: SC449954 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:

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Inspector:

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Inspector:

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