Children's Home run by Quality Care Homes (UK) Limited in Slough

Inspection report children‟s home: 1183799 1 Registered provider: Quality Care Homes (UK) Limited

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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 privately owned and can accommodate four young people up to the age of 18 years, who have learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in November 2018.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 10 to 11 September 2019

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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: 12 February 2019

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children‟s home: 1183799 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/02/2019 Full Good 31/08/2017 Full Good 27/01/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 26/04/2016 Full Good Inspection report children‟s home: 1183799 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 complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months. (Regulation 45(1)) 31/12/2019

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children— receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that arrangements are in place to manage and review the placement of each child in the home. (Regulation 14(1)(2)(b)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

Particularly, encourage staff to undertake periodic reviews of care plans, behaviour support plans and risk management plans. 31/12/2019

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who— understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children; use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to provide to children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably. (Regulation 6(2)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

Particularly, review menu planning, grocery shopping and household budgeting to ensure that children have access to a healthy, balanced diet and a high-quality environment. 31/12/2019 Inspection report children‟s home: 1183799 4

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Recommendations

 Residential childcare should provide a safe and stimulating environment in high- quality buildings. (‘Guide to the children’s s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 6, paragraph 1.10) Particularly, ensure that damage to decor and fittings is addressed as a matter of urgency.  Children should be supported to express themselves as individuals and should be given an appropriate degree of freedom and choice in relation to day-to-day arrangements for their care, depending on their individual needs and the setting in which they are cared for. (‘Guide to the children’s s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 17, paragraph 3.21) Particularly, seek creative ways to personalise bedrooms to reflect the individual personalities of children.  The registered person must have systems in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and

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Recommendations

experienced professional, which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. (‘Guide to the children’s s homes regulations including the quality standards’,, page 61, paragraph 13.2) Particularly, review the frequency of supervision for senior staff. Supervision for senior staff members should support them in their roles as supervisors for front- line staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a home that is full of warmth. Staff have created a calm and nurturing environment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children sometimes can have issues with managing their emotions, and have the capacity to be aggressive. Staff work patiently and calmly. They are very skilled at distracting children and de-escalating potentially challenging situations. As a result, children are happy and settled.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Professionals gave very positive feedback on the quality of care provided. They described children’s lives, prior to admission, as ‘chaotic’ and ‘out of control’. Staff have enabled children to settle quickly. Children are then able to make progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All the children have had successful engagement with education. As they move into adulthood they are engaging in, or seeking, further education opportunities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have managed to re-engage children with health services when previously this had Inspection report children‟s home: 1183799 5 been very difficult. Staff seek professional support from specialists in education and mental health. Staff use external advice and research to develop effective strategies that promote personal growth.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to contribute their views using questionnaires, symbols boards and day-to-day discussion. Activities are arranged to meet the individual interests of each child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from having stable, long-term placements. Transitions are carefully considered and managed. Most children will move to adult placements within the organisation. Staff are already working hard to minimise the emotional and psychological impacts of these major life changes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home environment needs refreshing and updating. Patches of wear and tear need attention. Some fixtures and furnishings are worn out. Children’s rooms are not as personalised as they could be.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Although there is enough food for children, choice is somewhat limited. This means that children may not always have access to a balanced, varied and nutritious diet.

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

Staff work well with the risks presented by children. Children benefit from having lots of support and the close supervision of staff. This minimises risk. When children display aggression and challenging behaviours, staff are well prepared for this. They understand each child very well. They demonstrate skill in predicting, and diverting children away from, serious incidents.

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

Children who live at the home do not go missing. They are well protected and safeguarded. Parents and professionals highlighted this as strength for the home.

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

Staff are vigilant and attuned to the different behavioural needs of each child. Parents and staff all highlighted the significant reductions in incidents of destructive behaviour. Where children are experiencing emotional challenges, staff are proactive in seeking solutions and strategies which will reduce the impact that these have on children’s s behaviour.

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

Generally, risk management and behavioural support plans are clear and tailored to each child. However, staff should be encouraged to keep these under regular review to ensure that they are capturing the changing dynamics for each child. This is important at a time when the children face major transitions in their lives.

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

Staff are kept up to date with significant developments in the safeguarding of children. Training is regularly refreshed. Staff benefit from being able to access comprehensive training through a partnership agreement with the local authority. As a result, staff demonstrate confidence and good levels of knowledge in regard to safeguarding. Inspection report children‟s home: 1183799 6

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager continues to make good progress in his own professional development. He shows a passion and enthusiasm for the role. Staff, parents and professionals all described him as ‘hands on’. He inspires confidence and trust.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

He shows a well-developed understanding of the individual needs of children. He is also passionate about achieving the best outcomes for them. He oversees the development of detailed care and support plans for children. He seeks to provide different types of professional support for children in order to ensure that their needs are met in all key areas.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

In situations where children are experiencing more challenging periods, the registered manager shows a reflective and thoughtful approach to finding solutions. One social worker described some very innovative work that was done with a child with compulsive behaviours, which enabled him to engage in education successfully.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team remains very stable and staff enjoy working at the home. They say they feel valued and supported by managers. Staff enjoy effective supervisory relationships. They also benefit from receiving regular training and updates to support their continuous professional development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Senior staff have less frequent formal supervision than front-line staff. There is little discussion in supervision about their own management responsibilities. The supervision framework would benefit from being reviewed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager needs to increase the frequency of his internal monitoring. He should also encourage front-line staff to regularly review children’s plans. Staff should ensure that care plans remain fit for purpose and reflect changes in the child’s life.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Some areas show signs of underinvestment. The senior team needs to take time to conduct a realistic review of the costs of running a service of this nature so as to ensure that children live in a comfortable, well-furnished environment.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are fully committed to providing equality of access to resources and facilities for children who live at the home. The home has a culturally diverse staff team whose members respect difference and actively promote tolerance and understanding.

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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 Inspection report children‟s home: 1183799 7 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: 1183799 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Quality Care Homes (UK) Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 6th Floor, Amp House, Croydon CR0 2LX

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Balwinder Randhawa

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Inspector

Peter Jackson: social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: 1183799 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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