Children's home run by Oracle Care Limited in Central Bedfordshire

Inspection report children’s home: SC378464 1 SC378464 Registered provider: Oracle Care 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

The home is owned by a private company. It is registered for three children who require care, education and clinical support. A new manager was appointed in January 2019 and has applied to Ofsted for registration.

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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

Date of last inspection: 21 November 2018

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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: SC378464 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/11/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good 12/12/2017 Full Good 15/02/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 31/05/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC378464 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making good progress from their starting points. Each child now has a detailed care plan that guides staff to work with children in a consistent manner. The children know that staff have the skills to support their individual needs. Children reported that they like their home, feel listened to and have good relationships with the staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have high aspirations for the children and understand the importance of education. Children who previously struggled to attend school regularly are achieving high attendance at the organisation’s school. All of the children are studying for their GCSEs. Recently, when one of the children refused to attend school, staff supported the child with alternative work at the home. This ensured that the child’s learning routine was not disturbed and encouraged a fast and successful return to school.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children know how to make a complaint. Their views are gained through meetings and key-working sessions. One child recently made a verbal complaint. He declined to make a formal complaint. However, his concern is actively being followed up by the manager. Children know that any niggles or problems that they may have are taken seriously.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to engage in activities of their choice. One of the children attends a local community group, one child likes nature walks with staff and the children all enjoy playing pool. Hobbies are greatly encouraged. A staff member is helping one of the children to develop his guitar playing skills. These activities promote social interaction and boost confidence levels.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The older children have pathway plans in place to encourage them to develop vital independence skills. These include learning how to budget and cook. All of the children have incentive charts, which enable them to earn extra pocket money. Tasks such as making their bed and keeping their rooms tidy are rewarded. This helps the children to develop a sense of ownership and take pride in their environment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the importance of contact for the children and their families. The staff provide transport and facilitate supervised contact in line with the children’s care plans. A parent said, ‘The staff bring him home for the weekends and holiday stays. They always ring twice a day to check that all is going OK.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The ground floor of the home is currently in the process of being redecorated. It presents as light and homely. However, the children’s bedrooms are looking tired and require attention. This work has been planned for some time, and the colour choices have been requested.

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

Inspection report children’s home: SC378464 4

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improvement to be good

Staff are skilled at de-escalating challenging behaviour. Since the last inspection, there has only been one physical intervention. The record of this incident does not include details of debriefing or give a view on the effectiveness of the actions taken. This fails to provide good oversight of the intervention. The original record of this physical intervention was lost. This was highlighted during a monthly audit several weeks after the incident. The record was then rewritten from memory by the original author. The disappearance of an important record does not ensure that children are effectively safeguarded.

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improvement to be good

There have been two incidents of children going missing since the last inspection. The staff follow the protocol well and an independent return interview is undertaken. However, the risk assessment and the behaviour support plan for children contradict each other. One plan details the child as being low risk and the other states medium risk. This does not enable staff to fully understand the potential risks and may hinder appropriate action being taken.

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improvement to be good

Staff support children to keep themselves safe through general discussion and direct key-working sessions. Children have built up trusting relationships with staff that enable them to discuss delicate matters openly. For example, a comprehensive key-work discussion on the dangers of sexually transmitted diseases was recently undertaken.

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improvement to be good

All staff have undertaken safeguarding training. Since the last inspection, recruitment checks have improved. All the necessary background checks are carried out before a member of staff commences work. This helps to ensure that only suitable adults are employed to work with the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The new manager took up post in January 2019. She is in the process of registering with Ofsted. The manager holds a relevant level 5 diploma in leadership and management and has previously been a registered manager. She understands how to develop an effective team and has made positive changes to practice at the home. A member of staff said, ‘She is a democratic leader and able to show authority while giving us room to develop alongside her. Fair and encouraging in her manner. I feel that we have been lucky to get her.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Monthly staff meetings are structured and informative. The staff use this time to discuss the progress that the children make and to monitor their own interactions. At a recent team meeting, the children were invited to attend. During this meeting, staff and children shared one thing that they particularly like about each other. This innovative practice helps to build and strengthen relationships.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff communicate well with families and social workers. New information is shared promptly. Parents and professionals were complimentary. Inspection report children’s home: SC378464 5 Staff are now receiving regular supervision and yearly appraisals. Improvements made to the content of supervision ensure that time is now spent on reflective practice. The staff are encouraged to acknowledge any difficulties that they have encountered and identify any support that they might require. This equips staff with the skills to meet the children’s needs and provide a good-quality service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The independent visitor provides detailed monthly reports that give suggestions for improvements. However, these reports do not regularly contain feedback from children, parents and professionals. This reduces the effectiveness of the information provided to the manager as a monitoring tool.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There has been some improvement to recording systems. However, this improvement is not consistently embedded in practice. Information is not always filed correctly. This may result in staff not having immediate access to important details.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

At the last inspection, seven requirements and two recommendations were set. The manager has met, to good effect, five of the requirements and one recommendation.

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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

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(v) 07/06/2019

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Requirement Due date

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’)— 07/06/2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC378464 6 has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

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)(b)(i)(ii)(iii)(c) The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children’s home at least once each month.

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Requirement Due date

When the independent person is carrying out a visit, the registered person must help the independent person—

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Requirement Due date

if they consent, to interview in private such of the children, their parents, relatives and persons working at the home as the independent person requires. (Regulation 44 (1)(2)(a)) 07/06/2019

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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, domestic environments. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9) In particular, ensure that children’s bedrooms are well decorated.  Staff should continually and actively assess the risks to each child (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5) In particular, ensure that the staff are aware of the content of risk assessments, and that they understand them and agree with them.  Ensure that staff understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording, and that information regarding the child is recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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Recommendations

In particular, ensure that children’s records are well maintained and clearly filed. Inspection report children’s home: SC378464 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: SC378464 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Oracle Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 54, Wrest Park, Silsoe, Bedford MK45 4HS

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Inspector

Lynne Drage, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC378464 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 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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