Children's home run by Medway Council in Medway

Inspection report children‟s home: SC066166 1 SC066166 Registered provider: Medway Council

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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 provides short breaks for up to five children who have severe learning disabilities and who may have an associated physical disability and/or present challenging behaviour. Currently, there are 47 children registered with the service. The local authority, primary care trust and clinical commissioning group fund the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The home has been without a registered manager since 30 July 2017.

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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 inadequate

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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

Date of last inspection: 13 November 2018

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children‟s home: SC066166 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/11/2018 Full Good 28/11/2017 Full Good 25/07/2017 Full Inadequate 20/12/2016 Full Good Inspection report children‟s home: SC066166 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 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—

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Requirement Due date

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home‟s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home‟s workforce provides continuity of care to each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(a)(c)(d)(e)) 25/07/19

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must— ensure that each employee completes an appropriate induction;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that each permanent appointment of an employee is subject to the satisfactory completion of a period of probation. (Regulation 33 (1)(a)(b)) 25/07/19

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Requirement Due date

Subject to paragraph (6), the registered person must establish a procedure for considering complaints made by or on behalf of children.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the procedure must provide that no person who is the subject of a complaint takes any part in its consideration or 25/07/19 Inspection report children‟s home: SC066166 4 investigation, except at the informal resolution stage if the registered person considers it appropriate.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that a record is made of any complaint, the action taken in response, and the outcome of any investigation.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that no child is subject to any reprisal for making a complaint or representation.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must supply to HMCI, at HMCI‟s request, a statement containing a summary of any complaints made during the preceding twelve months and the action that was taken in response to each complaint. (Regulation 39 (1)(2)(3)(4)(5))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must compile in relation to the children‟s home a statement (“the statement of purpose”) which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1. (Regulation 16 (1)) In particular, that staff supervision arrangements are accurately described and that procedures for making complaints are fully detailed. 25/07/19

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy which— is intended to safeguard children accommodated in the children‟s home from abuse or neglect; and sets out the procedure to be followed in the event of an allegation of abuse or neglect. (Regulation 34 (1)(a)(b)) 25/07/19

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy for the prevention of bullying in the home, which must in particular set out the procedure for dealing with an allegation of bullying. (Regulation 34 (3)) 25/07/19

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy (“the missing child policy”) setting out— the steps taken, and to be taken, to prevent children from being absent without permission; and the procedures to be followed, and the roles and responsibilities of persons working at the home, in relation to a child who is, or has been, so absent. (Regulation 34 (4)(a)(b)) 25/07/19

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy (“the behaviour management policy”) which sets out— how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children‟s home; and the measures of control, discipline and restraint 25/07/19 Inspection report children‟s home: SC066166 5 which may be used in relation to children in the home. The registered person must keep the behaviour management policy under review and, where appropriate, revise it. (Regulation 35 (1)(a)(b)(2))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees— undertake appropriate continuing professional development; receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; and have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b)) 25/07/19

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children‟s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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Requirement Due date

After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review (“the quality of care review report”).

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Requirement Due date

supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed; and

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Requirement Due date

make a copy of the quality of care review report available on request to a placing authority, if the placing authority is not the parent of a child accommodated in the home.

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 25/07/19 Inspection report children‟s home: SC066166 6 (1)(2)(a)(b)(c)(3)(4)(a)(b)(5))

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improvement to be good

Failures and shortfalls in the leadership and management weaken the service and limit the experiences and progress of the children during their stays. Although stays are planned for individual children, their care plans are lacking in aspiration, vision and challenge. Insufficiencies in the staff team restrict the scope of activities, and opportunities are lost for children to have fun and expand their experience of the world.

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improvement to be good

Despite the limitations placed on them, the staff working directly with the children show dedication and commitment to the service and are highly focused on the children‟s needs. Parents continue to express confidence in the staff‟s ability to provide their children with safe care and to meet their complex needs.

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improvement to be good

Children are carefully introduced to the service, and overnight stays only take place when parents are confident and children feel comfortable. Communication with schools, parents and transport services is good. The current methods to gain feedback from parents, children and professionals about areas that can be improved and to respond to complaints are, however, poor.

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improvement to be good

As a whole, the current staff team does not have the required level of skills and experience to readily meet the needs of the children. This means that, at times, staff teams are insufficiently equipped to respond to unexpected needs, should they arise. This increases the vulnerability of children during their stays.

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improvement to be good

The absence of clear safeguarding policies and procedures, tailored to the specific nature of the service, results in staff being unclear about their specific safeguarding roles and responsibilities. This limits the scope of safeguarding practice in the service, and low- level concerns are not systematically recorded. This leaves children without the layer of protection required for their complex needs and associated vulnerabilities.

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improvement to be good

Some plans to keep specific children safe have been poorly devised and their impact on other children not adequately considered. This places unnecessary restrictions on their movements around the home. The sandpit, a play area favoured by many children, cannot be safely used due to poor maintenance. These shortfalls limit the short-break experiences of children.

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improvement to be good

Attendance of staff meetings is poor and the procedures for ensuring that all staff are Inspection report children‟s home: SC066166 7 aware of changes to operating systems and processes are weak. This increases the risk of mistakes and undermines the safety of the service. This is, to some extent, mitigated by the dedication of the staff team members, who talk to each other and remain focused on the needs of the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers have failed to demonstrate sufficient response to the shortfalls identified at the previous inspection. There remains a lack of decisive action in response to previously identified shortfalls and regulatory breaches.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There has been no registered manager for nearly two years. The current manager was not formally recruited to the post, and although her application for registration is in process, she has not yet completed her fit person interview.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There are clear signs that the service is currently understaffed. This significant shortfall has not been recognised nor remedied. The absence of effective monitoring means that improvement and development plans are not in place. The service is being adversely impacted due to recruitment constraints across the local authority. The current staff team does not have the capacity to provide the quality and flexibility of the service described in its statement of purpose.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There has been a failure to follow through with plans to ensure that all staff have met the requirements of an appropriate induction and satisfactory probationary period. The requirement for annual appraisals has not been met and a programme for the regular and meaningful supervision of all staff is not yet embedded. The training records and training needs of staff are unclear. These factors combine to create a team of staff who are poorly sustained and supported in their roles and whose competencies cannot be effectively matched to the needs of the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Required policies and procedures, specific to the service, have not been developed and effectively communicated to staff. The service‟s statement of purpose does not provide a clear blueprint for the manager to effectively lead the staff team in meeting the stated aims of the service. These shortfalls mean that the foundations for a high-quality and effective service are not yet in place.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

None of the requirements set at the last inspection have been met and the six-monthly review of the quality of care has not been conducted.

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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 Inspection report children‟s home: SC066166 8 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: SC066166 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Medway Council, Gun Wharf, Dock Road, Chatham, Kent ME4 4TR

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Inspector:

John Pledger, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC066166 10 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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