Children's Home run by Total Care Matters Limited in West Northamptonshire

Inspection report children’s home: 1268530 1 Registered provider: Total Care Matters Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned and provides care and accommodation for three children and young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The registered manager resigned in March 2019 and interim management arrangements were put in place. A new manager was appointed in May 2019 and is in the process of applying to register with Ofsted.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Date of last inspection: 6 February 2019

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 1268530 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/02/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness 23/04/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children’s home: 1268530 3

p.2

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.

p.3

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—

p.3

Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare.

p.3

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child; and

p.3

Requirement Due date

that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child.

p.3

Requirement Due date

This relates to the need to improve staff retention to ensure that children receive consistent, dependable care. 30/09/2019

p.3

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—

p.3

Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare.

p.3

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

p.3

Requirement Due date

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

p.3

Requirement Due date

(Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(c)) 30/09/2019

p.3

Requirement Due date

The registered person must keep the statement of purpose 31/07/2019 Inspection report children’s home: 1268530 4 under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and

p.3

Requirement Due date

notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision.

p.4

Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety. The requirements are that full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2.

p.4

Requirement Due date

This is with specific reference to ensuring that all issues of potential concern and gaps in employment are always explored and recorded. 31/07/2019

p.4

Recommendations

 Children’s case records must be kept up-to-date and signed and dated by the author of each entry. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3) This is with reference to ensuring that children’s care records accurately reflect current needs and risks.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are happy and settled. They are making good progress even though the home has had a high level of staff turnover until recently. Children have now started to develop trusting relationships with the new staff.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive good and individualised care that has helped them to make strong progress. Children’s care records are detailed and child-friendly. Children are involved in producing them. However, some care records do not include all necessary information and are not always updated when there is a change of need.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s self-esteem and confidence grow because they feel listened to and are praised for their achievements. Children play age-appropriate games and take part in a range of fun activities. Staff encourage and support them to try new activities and to join local clubs. This helps them to become more independent. Inspection report children’s home: 1268530 5 Education is a priority in the home. Staff are good advocates for children, ensuring that they receive the education and support that they need. Staff ensure that they research the quality of schools in the local area so that children have the best opportunities to reach their potential. Children are making good progress in school. Their attendance is very good. Staff are proactive and work quickly to find education provisions for new children admitted to the home.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have their physical, emotional and psychological health needs met. They benefit from informative key-work sessions designed to ensure that children know how to lead healthy lives, to avoid health risks and to take regular exercise. Over time, children learn to take responsibility for their own health and begin to make healthier lifestyle choices.

p.5

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

Children feel safe. They know how to make a complaint or to raise any concerns and know that they will be listened to.

p.5

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

Staff understand their safeguarding responsibilities and are not afraid to use the whistleblowing procedures. Allegations made against staff are dealt with promptly and referred to the relevant agencies. This helps to protect children and helps them to feel safe and secure.

p.5

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

Children’s behaviour improves over time. Staff have implemented clear boundaries, routines and structures so that children know what is expected of them. Their anxieties have reduced as they have settled into the routines of the home. Consequently, the use of physical interventions has reduced since the last inspection. Children rarely go missing. However, each child has an individual going missing protocol, which staff follow when the need arises.

p.5

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

There have been improvements to recruitment practices that have addressed issues around employing suitably experienced staff and improved staff retention. However, on occasions, gaps in employment history and other potential issues identified from application forms have not been fully explored or fully recorded.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff turnover has continued to be high. The registered manager left in March 2019 and interim management arrangements were put in place. A new manager took up post in May 2019 and has been supported by the interim manager and deputy manager. The new manager is in the process of applying to register with Ofsted. The home has had three managers since its registration in December 2017. Management and staff instability has the potential to impact on the quality of care provided to children. Senior managers have produced an action plan to address the high staff turnover.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The interim manager and deputy manager have provided some stability in the last three months by providing clear leadership and direction to staff. Although staff feel well Inspection report children’s home: 1268530 6 supported by the management team and are now receiving regular supervision, most of the staff team members are new and many do not have previous experience of working with children in residential care. Staff are provided with a range of mandatory training. However, the high proportion of new staff means that few staff members are suitably qualified.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff and managers demonstrate a commitment to partnership working. However, comments from other agencies are variable, with some saying that communication could be improved. Inconsistencies in communication and information sharing can be mainly attributed to the high turnover of staff.

p.6

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

There is a range of management monitoring systems. However, some of the shortfalls regarding children’s care records can be attributed to a lack of management monitoring. The quality of management monitoring has been impacted by the amount of time that managers have spent inducting new staff and providing direct practical guidance on shifts.

p.6

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.

p.6

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: 1268530 7

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Total Care Matters Limited

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 230 Bathley Street, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire NG2 2ER

p.7

Inspector:

Katarina Djordjevic: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1268530 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.

p.7

Inspector:

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.8

Inspector:

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.8

Inspector:

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: http://www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.8