Children's home run by Bristol City Council

Inspection report children’s home: SC067151 1 SC067151 Registered provider: Bristol City Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is operated by a local authority and provides care for up to five children and young people at any one time. It is registered to provide short breaks for children who may have a physical and/or learning disability. The manager was registered by Ofsted in April 2018.

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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: 27 February 2019

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC067151 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

27/02/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness 04/07/2018 Full Good 11/01/2018 Interim Declined in effectiveness 14/06/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children’s home: SC067151 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

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (2)(h)) 26/07/2019

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Requirement Due date

The procedure to be followed in the event of an allegation of abuse or neglect must, in particular, provide for records to be kept of an allegation of abuse or neglect, and the action taken in response. (Regulation 34 (2)(d)) 26/07/2019

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Recommendations

 Although there is not a legal requirement for non-looked-after children to have access to an independent advocate, homes caring for these children should ensure that children can access advocacy support (as described in paragraph 4.4) and should also consider the use of an independent advocate where necessary. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 23, paragraph 4.18)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that children make progress with their social skills, eating habits and repetitive behaviours because of staying at this short-break home. For example, one child now eats at the table with other children. Another child has reduced his obsession with music and is able to try other activities. This is because of the skills and experience of staff, who provide warm and consistent care that enables children to thrive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Short-break placement plans are very detailed and child-centred. They include all necessary information about a child’s health and communication needs. Routines and the likes and dislikes of each child are well understood and recorded. Staff ensure that care planning information is updated regularly with parents and social workers in order to Inspection report children’s home: SC067151 4 meet the needs of each child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have excellent links with the local community and work hard to ensure that children access a range of positive experiences, including swimming, laser fusion, visiting local parks and going to the cinema or shopping. The manager has secured an allotment that children enjoy visiting and they like to see the frogs there. As a result, children experience new and inclusive opportunities like those of other children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Parents speak very positively of the service and have provided written feedback about the warm and nurturing care given to children. Professionals speak confidently about the ability of staff in caring for children with complex needs and of the consistent communication. This ensures that a really good quality of care is maintained. However, children who use this service do not have access to an advocate should this be needed.

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

Staff keep children safe during their short-break stays while ensuring that they access a variety of activities to maximise their enjoyment.

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

There have been no serious safeguarding concerns or complaints since the last inspection and staff have a good understanding of safeguarding processes and take effective action when concerns arise. However, the manager does not ensure that there is an effective recording system in place when concerns are shared with social workers and parents. This could hinder the ability of managers to monitor and review the actions taken to ensure that the safety of children is prioritised.

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

Restraint is only used appropriately as a last resort and staff are appropriately trained in minimising incidents before they escalate. There have been four incidents of physical restraint since the last inspection. These are generally well recorded, and the manager ensures that children are spoken to and reassured after incidents.

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

Medication is managed safely. There have been no medication errors since the last inspection. Three nurses are employed at this short-break home and there is effective oversight and understanding of children’s medication that ensures their health needs are met to a high standard.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team members speak very positively about the manager and the support that she provides. Staff shared with the inspector that the manager has made several changes to the home, which have improved the culture within the home and have significantly improved the quality of care given to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager holds monthly team meetings that offer opportunities for learning and development. The staff team members enjoy these meetings and use them as opportunities to develop their knowledge and skills to improve outcomes for children. Inspection report children’s home: SC067151 5 Staff receive regular supervision and there is a handwritten record kept of the meeting. However, the quality of supervision is variable. Some supervision notes are not detailed enough and have no outcomes to ensure that actions are followed up. This could pose future challenges if an accurate and clear record of supervision is not maintained.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are up to date with mandatory training and receive a variety of specialist and appropriate training to meet their individual needs. This includes training on safeguarding disabled children in partnership with the local safeguarding children board. However, the housekeeper has not received safeguarding training. Training records for some casual staff members were not recorded on the training matrix for monitoring. This lack of oversight could mean that staff do not have the necessary up-to-date training to continue providing good-quality care to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Safer recruitment practices are generally good, as the manager ensures that the necessary identity and disclosure and barring service checks are in place. However, there is a lack of an effective and centralised system that enables the manager to fulfil all of her responsibilities in terms of safer recruitment for all staff. This could mean that some staff pose a risk to children if more robust systems are not put in place swiftly. A senior manager told the inspector that a new system is currently being implemented.

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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: SC067151 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Director of Legal Services, City Hall, College Green, Bristol BS1 5TR

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Inspector

Anna Gravelle: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC067151 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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