Coniston House

Inspection report children’s home: SC379123 1 SC379123 Registered provider: Cove Care – Residential Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned children’s home offers care for up to five young people who may have a combination of mental health, psychological, emotional and/or complex care needs. The registered manager is currently working towards his level 5 diploma in leadership and management.

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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 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: 13 February 2019

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: declined in effectiveness

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

On 11 March 2019, Ofsted conducted an interim inspection and judged the home to have declined in effectiveness. Ofsted served four compliance notices in relation to shortfalls in leadership and management, medication and the safe recruitment of agency members of staff.

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

On 16 April 2019, Ofsted undertook a monitoring visit to review the provider’s adherence to the compliance notices. Two compliance notices were met. Two compliance notices were issued to address shortfalls in safer recruitment of agency members of staff and effective challenge to partner agencies. Inspection report children’s home: SC379123 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/02/2019 Interim Declined in effectiveness 24/09/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good 27/02/2018 Interim Improved effectiveness 23/05/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children’s home: SC379123 3

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Recommendations

 When establishing the home, the registered person must ensure that it is suitably located so that children are effectively safeguarded and can access services to meet needs identified in their relevant plans (see Regulations 12(2)(c)). Under Regulation 46, the registered person should review the appropriateness and suitability of the location and premises of the home at least once a year. The review should include the identification of any risks and opportunities presented by the home’s location and strategies for managing these. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.1)  Regulation 19(2) details sanctions that are prohibited in behaviour management. Any sanctions used to address poor behaviour should be restorative in nature, to help children recognise the impact of their behaviour on themselves, other children, the staff caring for them and the wider community. In some cases, it

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Recommendations

will be important for children to make reparation in some form to anyone hurt by their behaviour and the staff in the home should be skilled to support the child to understand this and carry it out. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, pages 46–47, paragraph 9.38)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the interim inspection, the home was judged to have declined in effectiveness due to shortfalls in leadership and management, safe administration of medication and the safe recruitment of agency members of staff. Staff and managers have worked tirelessly to address these shortfalls and subsequently all the requirements and two compliance notices raised at the last interim and monitoring inspections have all been met.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are patient, caring and have formed positive relationships with young people. Staff provide individualised holistic care for all young people. Young people’s basic care needs are being met, and they are thriving and developing well. Staff recognise the importance of young people’s contact with their close family and friends and promote this consistently. Young people continue to enjoy positive relationships with people who matter to them most. As a result, they feel settled and happy at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home provides a warm and nurturing environment, which enables young people to flourish and progress. All young people are in education and they are making progress with their learning in relation to their starting points. Staff proactively address any difficulties in young people’s education placements and school attendance. This creates opportunities for young people to develop and gain qualifications, which will help them in Inspection report children’s home: SC379123 4 choosing future careers.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people access various activities within the community, such as horse riding, swimming, going to the cinema and going out for meals. One young person has a work- based education placement with a local charitable organisation. Young people feel part of the community and have a chance to form social relationships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people can participate in weekly meetings with staff. These meetings give them the opportunity to express their wishes and feelings. Staff and the manager are quick to follow up on young people’s requests. This helps young people to feel valued and to contribute to the day-to-day running of the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Following the organisation’s introduction of a new medication system, the administration of medication and record-keeping has significantly improved. Consequently, there have not been any medication errors since the last inspection. Staff are now supporting young people who are making the transition into adult placements to self-administer medication. Young people develop good independence skills that prepare them well for adulthood. Given the young people’s complex emotional and physical health needs, this is indicative of their good progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff manage transition plans more effectively when young people move into and on from the home. The manager and staff work effectively with other agencies and challenge them when they fail to fulfil their obligations towards young people’s care and progress. Staff ensure that young people have the opportunity to visit their new placements before they are discharged from the home. These improvements will help to increase placement stability and will help to ensure that young people receive continuity of care during their time at the home and beyond.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people’s wishes and feelings are captured in regular key-worker sessions and young people’s meetings. Staff are now consulting young people more when they formulate their care plans and they now act on requests made by young people. This makes young people feel listened to.

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

Staff have the relevant training to help them to protect young people. As a result, staff understand young people’s risk-taking behaviours and vulnerabilities extremely well. Staff can identify and act on safeguarding concerns and this promotes young people’s welfare.

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

There are clear behaviour management plans in place, which provide staff with guidance and support on how to manage young people’s challenging behaviour effectively and consistently. Staff reflect on young people’s behaviour. They think about the possible causes of the behaviour and how they can best support them. Young people are learning to self-regulate some of their behaviours. However, some of the sanctions that staff are using to address young people’s behaviour are not consistently restorative in nature. This undermines the effectiveness of these sanctions. Inspection report children’s home: SC379123 5 There have been no incidents of restraint since the last inspection. Staff have good relationships with young people and use de-escalation techniques to prevent incidents from escalating.

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

Safe recruitment practice now prevents unsuitable people from working with young people.

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

A new complaints process has been introduced by the organisation, which means that complaints will now receive more managerial oversight. There have not been any complaints since the last inspection.

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

The home’s locality risk assessment does not mention any known local children’s homes and the potential risks associated with this on young people. Senior managers started addressing this shortfall during the inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers have re-evaluated the monitoring and reviewing of the service and have implemented effective tools to ensure that staff provide good-quality care to young people in line with the aims and objectives set out in the home’s statement of purpose.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Improved monitoring means that managers know the strengths of the service, as well as areas for development. This helps to drive forward improvement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is well respected by partner agencies and keeps them updated about the care and progress of young people. If there are any concerns for a young person, these are now picked up promptly and multi-agency support is put in place.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff spoke highly of the manager. They feel supported by him and are receiving good- quality supervision. They feel that they are listened to and have access to good training, which enables them to carry out their job roles.

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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 Inspection report children’s home: SC379123 6 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: SC379123 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cove Care – Residential Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 16 Waterloo Road, Wolverhampton, West Midlands WV1 4BL

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Inspector

Rumbi Mangoma: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC379123 8 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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