Children's Home run by GS Social Care Solutions Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report children’s home: 1271222 1 Registered provider: GS Social Care Solutions 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

This home is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to five young people who may have a learning and/or physical disability. The home is operated by a private organisation.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: Improved effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: None Inspection report children’s home: 1271222 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/03/2019 Interim Improved effectiveness 15/05/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children’s home: 1271222 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

Fitness of workers The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety. The registered person may only— employ an individual to work at the children’s home if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3). The requirements are that— the individual is of integrity and good character; the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform; the individual is mentally and physically fit for the purposes of the work that the individual is to perform; and full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32(1)(2)(a)(3)(a)(b)(c)(d)) 19/07/2019

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Recommendations

 A record of supervision should be kept for staff, including the manager. The record should provide evidence that supervision is being delivered in line with regulation 33(4)(b). (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.3)  Staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. Information about the child must always be 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)  Any child who has been restrained should be given the opportunity express their feelings about their experience of the restraint as soon as is practicable, ideally within 24 hours of the restraint incident, taking the age of the child and the circumstances of the restraint into account. In some cases children may need

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Recommendations

longer to work through their feelings, so a record that the child has talked about Inspection report children’s home: 1271222 4 their feelings should be made no longer than 5 days after the incident of restraint (regulation 35(3)(c)). Children should be encouraged to add their views and comments to the record of restraint. Children should be offered the opportunity to access an advocacy support to help them with this (regulation 7(2)(b)(iii)). (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 50, paragraph 9.60)  Staff must be aware of whether a child has an EHC plan and the information in it. An EHC plan details the education, health and social care support that is to be provided to a child or young person who has special educational needs or a disability. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 26, paragraph 5.4)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people receive highly effective care which meets their individual needs and enhances their daily lives. Young people are making very good progress in areas such as education and are growing in confidence. Young people’s parents and external professionals involved in their care are highly complimentary about the home. A parent said, ‘[Name] is so happy since he moved there. You just can’t fault his care.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers and staff work effectively with external professionals to ensure that young people’s health and physical well-being are closely supported. This has resulted in positive outcomes for young people. For example, one young person’s mobility is increasing due to effective partnership working between the staff and occupational therapists.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff know young people well. They understand each young person’s individual methods of communicating and take time to listen. Staff work with speech and language therapists to develop young people’s communication skills. This helps to ensure that young people are empowered to express their views and choices.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the things that are important to young people and endeavour to provide responsive, individualised support. One young person’s religious and cultural needs are carefully supported, for example in terms of diet and facilitating prayer time. Staff have arranged for the young person to receive support from an outside organisation that arranges opportunities to engage in group events with others of the same faith.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff closely support young people’s learning. They work well with education providers and plan effectively to ensure that young people’s learning is enhanced within the home environment. An education professional described the ways in which staff create opportunities during young people’s leisure pursuits to support their learning. It was identified during the inspection that the home does not have the most recent version of Inspection report children’s home: 1271222 5 one young person’s education, health and care (EHC) plan. It is important that this is in place, so that staff can be sure that they are providing all aspects of support.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people have regular opportunities to engage in fun and fulfilling activities. One parent explained that, due to her son’s increased confidence and more stable behaviour since he moved to the home, he now enjoys greatly increased opportunities to participate in the community. Such opportunities enhance young people’s lives and promote their confidence and independence.

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

Young people’s safety and well-being are promoted, and staff ensure that young people are protected from harm. All staff are provided with safeguarding training at the start of their employment, which is regularly updated. Staff demonstrate understanding of their responsibilities to safeguard young people and expressed confidence in the organisation’s whistleblowing procedures.

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

Risks to young people’s safety and well-being are clearly identified. Individualised risk assessments include any specific concerns about each young person. Risk assessments are detailed and regularly updated, to ensure that any changes or new information are considered. There is clear guidance in place for staff about how to manage identified risks and support young people in a safe manner.

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

Some young people present complex behaviours. Managers and staff take time to understand what young people are trying to communicate through their behaviours. Individualised behaviour support plans provide staff with clear strategies about how to approach young people’s behaviours. Due to this consistently positive support, young people are developing safer behaviours. A parent commented that she hopes to learn from the staff about how to support her son’s behaviours.

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

Incidents of physical restraint do not happen frequently in the home. When they do, they are carefully recorded and evaluated. There are good processes in place to ensure that all staff involved in such an incident have the opportunity to reflect and learn. However, processes for ensuring that young people benefit from debriefing following an incident of restraint require some development.

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

Recruitment procedures are in place, which require a range of checks to be carried out on any prospective staff member, prior to their being offered a post. This helps to ensure that young people are protected from adults of unsuitable character. However, some shortfalls were identified in relation to some of the staffing information held. Robust recruitment is a fundamental part of safeguarding practice and, as such, a requirement is raised in relation to this matter.

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

Young people’s accommodation is well maintained and well equipped. There are suitable adaptations, which enable young people with reduced mobility to move about safely. Inspection report children’s home: 1271222 6 Facilities such as overhead tracking also help to support young people’s safety, as staff are able to assist them in transferring in the safest manner.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a suitably qualified and experienced manager in post who has been registered with Ofsted since April 2009. The manager demonstrates strong child-centred values and has high expectations for the young people in her care. She is supported by an experienced and committed management team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has developed positive links with external professionals to ensure that young people receive the care and support they need. External professionals spoke highly of the home and the leadership of the service. One social worker described outstanding and creative care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Careful consideration is given to the needs of any young person prior to their admission being agreed. Detailed impact risk assessments help to ensure that the young person’s needs can be safely met and that their admission will not have a negative impact on those already living in the home. This increases the chances of successful placements and positive outcomes for young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home has experienced some turnover of staff, which has now settled. There has been some use of agency staff, but this has been well managed to help ensure that young people continue to benefit from consistent care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff reported satisfaction with the level of training and supervision they receive. Staff are highly motivated and proud of the service. They described the management team as supportive and approachable and confirmed that they feel confident to raise any concerns they may have. Although staff confirmed that regular supervision takes place, the way this is currently recorded makes it difficult to monitor. It is recommended that this be reviewed to help to ensure that the home’s supervision schedule remains on track.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff benefit from a core training programme, which includes a range of learning designed to equip them with the skills and knowledge to undertake their roles. All staff are encouraged to undertake nationally recognised qualifications in caring for children and young people although, currently, less than half the team has completed them. The manager was able to provide a number of examples of additional training being provided to staff in line with young people’s individual needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A number of requirements were made at the home’s last inspection. The manager has taken appropriate action to ensure that these requirements are suitably addressed. Effective quality monitoring processes have now been developed, which help the manager to identify any shortfalls or areas for development. This supports continuous improvement and the positive development of the service. Inspection report children’s home: 1271222 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: 1271222 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: GS Social Care Solutions Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 1a Barnmeadow Lane, Great Harwood, Lancashire BB6 7AB

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Inspector

Marie Cordingley, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1271222 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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