Children's Home run by Nugent Care 2019 in St Helens

Inspection report children’s home: SC022447 1 SC022447 Registered provider: Nugent Care

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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 owned and run by a charitable organisation. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to three young people who may have emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been in post since 8 October 2014.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: inadequate

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC022447 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/05/2019 Full Inadequate 12/02/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness 10/04/2018 Full Good 05/12/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children’s home: SC022447 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 all employees— undertake appropriate continuing professional development; receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; and have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b)) 16/09/2019

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Requirement Due date

Schedule 4 sets out the other information that the registered person must keep in relation to a children’s home. The registered person must maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4 and ensure that the records are kept up to date. (Regulation 37 (1)(2)(a)(b)) In particular, ensure that the records include a copy of the staff duty rota of persons working at the home, and a record of the actual rotas worked, and a record of any persons who work at any time at the home. 16/09/2019

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Recommendations

 Ensure that the staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual young people in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about young people should always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to them now or in the future. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, and paragraph 14.4 and 14.5) Inspection report children’s home: SC022447 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There are good, supportive and nurturing relationships between the young person currently living in the home and staff. The staff listen to him and provide encouragement, positivity and guidance. Staff are optimistic and talk freely and passionately about the qualities and strengths of the young person they care for. The young person acknowledged the sincerity of staff and believes that staff have a genuine interest in spending time with him. The young person said, ‘I feel loved and cared for.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff enable the young person to influence his own day-to-day care experiences. They listen to him and give him opportunities to talk about his care, such as his preferences for recreational activities and food choices. The young person particularly enjoys horse- riding and gardening. Both activities have not only increased his weekly exercise but have also helped him with his self-confidence. There continues to be good education provision in place for the young person. In his most recent report, the young person was described as being a ‘fearless learner.’ Key workers from the home attend and contribute to review meetings so that they are aware of any changes. Communication between the home and the school is very good, and information regarding young people’s anxieties, behaviours and general moods is shared to ensure that there is a consistent level of care in both settings.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide a nurturing environment. They recognise that routine and boundaries provide stability and security. This has been vital in helping the young person to manage his anxieties and frustrations in a calmer way and has led to a reduction in incidents. The young person is well supported with his individual health needs, and staff follow detailed healthcare plans. Care, encouragement and attention to detail are given to all aspects of his health, including the quality of meals, attendance at appointments and access to professional services. Examples of this include staff members’ sensitive approach to the young person’s personal care needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home presents as a lived-in family home. It is warm, welcoming and comfortable. The quality of furniture and decor is very good. The bathrooms in the home have recently been re-furbished to a high standard. The young person’s bedroom has been highly personalised and reflects his individual preferences.

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

Staff working in the home are clear about the procedures that are in place should they need to respond to concerns about the safety of a young person at this home. Staff have enabled the young person to feel safe and secure in the home. He has built trusting attachments with his staff team. This helps him to develop his emotional resilience. The manager and staff have a good understanding of the young person’s emotional needs and they work productively with fellow professionals to provide the right level of care. Inspection report children’s home: SC022447 5 The young person has not gone missing from the home. This is due to the high staffing ratio. Staff keep the young person busy, supporting him to pursue his interests and hobbies. They follow his care plan and supervise him in the community. Staff teach him how to keep safe and support him to access community-based activities safely.

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

The young person receives praise and rewards for his positive behaviour. This encourages a constructive and nurturing environment and helps to build strong relationships between him and staff. Risk assessments and behaviour management strategies are well planned. Staff know what to do when the young person gets angry and frustrated. Staff provide consistent care and encourage the young person to talk about his emotions. Comprehensive risk assessments are in place for the young person when he is out in the community and while in the home. These outline potential risks, along with strategies for staff to manage these safely. These are reviewed monthly and amended if needed.

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

Staff personnel files include the required information, and there are good recruitment and selection processes in place that confirm that the young person is cared for by a safe and competent workforce. The physical environment is safe and secure and is checked regularly. These checks, along with thorough risk assessments that are reviewed and updated frequently, help to ensure that the home is a safe place to live and work.

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

The home is managed by a permanent, suitably experienced and qualified registered manager. She leads by example and is actively involved in all the home’s operations. This enables her to monitor everyday practice at the home as she works alongside colleagues and young people. The young person and staff spoke highly of the manager. A staff member commented, ‘We get support from managers here more than ever.’

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

There has been a significant reduction in the use of agency staff since the last inspection. This has resulted in a consistent staff team caring for the young person. However, the roster for the home continues to fail to clearly identify the full names of the staff on duty at the home.

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

Staff confirmed that they received regular supervision, which they feel helped to improve their practice. However, the registered manager has not received the appropriate supervision within the timescales set out in the home’s policies and procedures.

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

The manager has made significant improvements to the compatibility risk assessment. She now completes an assessment which clearly identifies and assesses the full range of needs of any new young person and the subsequent impact on other young people living in the home. This will help to ensure that there is minimal disruption within the group, when a new young person is admitted. Inspection report children’s home: SC022447 6 Staff attend regular team meetings and share views with managers. Staff feel listened to and valued. There is a sense of shared ownership in the team. Staff are empowered to make child-focused decisions and they advocate appropriately on behalf of the young people. A staff member commented, ‘We have rebuilt as a team and we are stronger now.’

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

Case records are clear and detailed and reflect the work that is undertaken with the current young person. The manager routinely monitors, evaluates and analyses the work undertaken by the staff. Weekly and monthly monitoring takes place and has enabled the manager to identify weaknesses and to take remedial action. However, on some occasions, records on individual young people are not always recorded in a non- stigmatising way. For example, the house is referred to as the ‘open unit’. This is not helpful to young people if they want to read their paperwork. Staff had not considered how this could affect young people reading their files.

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

The registered manager is clear about the strengths and weaknesses of the home and the staff team and has plans to address these. Most of the requirements set at the last inspection have been met and the improvements are being embedded to improve the quality of care provided. This demonstrates that the manager and staff remain focused on supporting the young person to continually progress and have positive experiences.

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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: SC022447 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 99 Edge Lane, Edge Hill, Liverpool L7 2PE

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Gary Thistlewood

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Inspector

Elaine Allison, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC022447 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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