Children's home run by Nestlings Care BC Limited in Trafford

Inspection report children’s home: SC473473 1 SC473473 Registered provider: Nestlings Care Ltd

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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 registered to accommodate three young people who have a mental disorder. The home is privately owned.

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Information about this children’s home

The home provides specialist care and treatment for young people aged between 10 and 18 years old. The team is made up of a registered manager, registered mental health nurses, residential support workers, clinical psychologist, occupational therapist and a consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is also registered with the Care Quality Commission.

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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: 23 January 2019

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: declined in effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC473473 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

23/01/2019 Interim Declined in effectiveness 26/09/2018 Full Good 27/11/2017 Full Good 22/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC473473 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 registered person must ensure that each employee receives practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (1)(a)(4)(b)) 01/08/2019

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Recommendations

 The importance of understanding who we are and where we come from is recognised in good social work practice, for example through undertaking life story work or other direct work. Staff in children’s homes should play a full role in work of this kind. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.14)

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Recommendations

With particular reference to the recording of direct work undertaken with young people.  The registered person should have a system in place so that all serious events are notified, within 24 hours, to the appropriate people. The system should cover the action that should be followed if the event arises at the weekend or on a public holiday. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.13)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people make good progress in respect of their education, health and emotional well-being, because staff invest time in helping them to succeed. Young people build trusting relationships with staff, who they know care about them. There is a positive atmosphere of mutual respect in the home between the staff and young people.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people benefit significantly from the support they receive from the in-house multidisciplinary mental health team. The team consists of a psychologist, psychiatrist, registered mental health nurses and an occupational therapist. This dedicated team provides a wide range of therapeutic interventions to young people. As a result, young people’s psychological and emotional well-being needs are being addressed. Inspection report children’s home: SC473473 4 Weekly multidisciplinary progress meetings are held, and mental health nurses support staff in their daily practice to reinforce interventions. Representatives from the clinical team are now present in the home and available to offer 24-hour support. This facilitates further opportunities for staff to understand mental health conditions and supports the practice model used in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people access education appropriate to their needs, abilities and wishes. Staff work effectively with education providers to ensure that young people are given the right support that enables them to attend and engage well.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people get to see family and other people who are important to them. Staff demonstrate a detailed understanding of the needs of each young person and understand how to support them to have positive contact.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people participate in a wide and varied range of enjoyable activities. These include bike riding, arts and crafts, baking and listening to music. These opportunities develop young people’s self-esteem and social skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide young people with regular opportunities to express their views on matters that affect them individually or as a group in the home. Through one-to-one key-work sessions, staff encourage young people to learn, reflect and voice their opinions. That said, not all of these sessions are recorded. This is a missed opportunity to demonstrate the impact of these helpful sessions.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home promotes young people’s life skills through supporting them to be involved and take some responsibility for day-to-day activities such as laundry and meal planning and preparation.

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

The manager and staff team are good at identifying and understanding the risks that young people face. They seek the views of young people, psychologists and social workers about how best to manage these risks. This collaborative approach promotes young people’s safety.

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

Staffing levels are good. As such, young people have access to good levels of support. Staff are sensitive and insightful regarding the needs of the young people. They offer a warm, nurturing and trusting environment, where young people can grow and develop.

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

Improved risk assessments and management systems mean that young people are safe. Staff are vigilant, but not obtrusive in their approach. They are motivated in their work and have a detailed understanding of the young people’s needs, vulnerabilities and risks.

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

Incidents of challenging behaviour, which include those requiring physical intervention, are managed effectively.

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

The monitoring of incidents has improved, with senior staff reviewing records and Inspection report children’s home: SC473473 5 ensuring that debriefing sessions with young people and staff are undertaken. This provides an opportunity to explore each incident and provides further safeguards in managing the complex mental health needs of young people.

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

Regular health, safety and security checks are completed. Where concerns are evident, the management team responds swiftly. This ensures the well-being of young people and staff.

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

Management of medication is good. Staff are trained in the administration and safe handling of medication. Regular auditing and spot checks of medication records ensure that processes are safe and reduces the risk of error.

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

Not all notifications of significant events are sent to Ofsted in a timely manner. This does not allow the regulator to have an overview of safeguarding incidents within the required timescales.

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

The recruitment and clearance procedures for new staff are thorough and meet with regulatory requirement and current guidance.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager was registered with Ofsted in October 2018. She had experience of working in children’s homes as a residential worker and deputy manager prior to her appointment. She is currently completing the level 5 qualification in management.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Since the last inspection, the members of the staff team have undertaken a range of training to help them to develop their knowledge and skills in relation to supporting young people. Staff also have regular input from the clinical team, who help to guide staff on how to meet the needs of the young people. This has been beneficial in addressing previous identified shortfalls in relation to this.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The frequency of staff supervision has improved, although it is still not consistently held in line with the arrangements as identified by the organisation. The manager has acknowledged this shortfall and has recently ensured that the newly appointed deputy managers have completed formal supervision training. This will help to ensure that the regularity of supervision meets the standards expected.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is now fully staffed and there have been some changes within the staff team. There has also been a marked reduction in the use of agency workers. This helps ensure continuity of care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has improved the systems for monitoring of the home and the records within it. For example, incident records are now reviewed and evaluated by the manager and the clinical team. This ensures that care practices are safe and effective.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Further monitoring is undertaken by an independent visitor. Reports completed by the independent visitor are evaluative and comment on whether the home is keeping young Inspection report children’s home: SC473473 6 people safe. The manager and staff ensure that the recommendations made in the report are followed up and help them to reflect on their practice within the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Young people’s records have improved and demonstrate that the staff and manager have worked hard to address previous shortfalls. The manager is enthusiastic about developing the staff team and is making good use of her workforce development plan. The strengths and areas for development for the home are well understood by the manager.

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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: SC473473 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 185 Grove Lane, Hale, Altrincham, Cheshire WA15 8LU

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Anthony Thompson

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Inspectors

Ceri Evans, social care inspector Mark Kersh, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC473473 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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