Children's home run by New Forest Care Limited in New Forest

Inspection report children’s home: SC461781 1 SC461781 Registered provider: New Forest 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 children’s home provides residential care and accommodation for up to four children who have a learning disability and may have additional difficulties. The home offers an integrated service that includes therapy, education and care. The home is one of a number operated by this private provider.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in February 2015.

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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: SC461781 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/03/2019 Interim Improved effectiveness 18/09/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good 01/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 12/10/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC461781 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 leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that— helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose; ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate; ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child; ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)) 05/12/2019

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Recommendations

 The registered person is responsible for deciding what each (regulation 45) review should focus on, based on the specific circumstances of the home at that particular time and any areas of high risk to the children that the home is designed to care for, such as missing or exploitation. They will also consider what information or data recorded in the home will form part of the evidence base for their analysis and conclusions. There is no expectation that the registered person will review the home against every part of the Quality Standards every six months – registered persons should use their professional judgement to decide which factors to focus on. The review should enable the registered person to identify areas of strength and possible weakness in the home’s care, which will be captured in the written report. The report should clearly identify any actions required for the next 6 months of delivery within the home and how those actions

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Recommendations

Inspection report children’s home: SC461781 4 will be addressed. The whole review process and the resulting report should be used as a tool for continuous improvement in the home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.4)

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Recommendations

 Residential child care should provide a safe and stimulating environment in high- quality buildings, with spaces that support nurture and allow privacy as well as common spaces and spaces to be active. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 5, paragraph 1.10) In particular, make full use of the outdoor areas.

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Recommendations

 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 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 homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 13.2) In particular, ensure that supervision is regular.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are dedicated to the progress and well-being of the children and they enable them to develop a sense of security and belonging. The children feel settled and build positive relationships with the adults who care for them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The arrangements that staff make when children move into the home are thorough and carefully planned. The risks and needs associated with all the children are methodically considered, and plans are put in place to address these. This prepares staff and gives the new children the best opportunity to settle quickly and to start building a sense of belonging and inclusion.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s engagement in their education and vocational training is an imbedded norm in the home. Children understand what is expected of them and this helps them to participate fully in their learning and development. Staff promote learning beyond the curriculum, and children expand their experience of the world and discover new interests and abilities in a wide range of activities, both inside and outside of the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The feelings of security and belonging that children develop help them to explore troubling issues and to engage in the therapeutic support provided by the organisation. These factors also combine to support their engagement and progress in education, and this in turn increases life chances.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to maintain positive ties with their families, and staff are vigilant and alert to issues that, at times, might make this difficult for them. Staff take necessary and appropriate action to reduce tensions and difficulties for the children and their Inspection report children’s home: SC461781 5 families when these circumstances arise.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is spacious and well maintained and provides a homely atmosphere for the children. The spacious gardens are, however, only basically maintained and provide very little interest for the children and are not currently being used. This is a missed opportunity to expand the range of interests and activities for the children.

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

The children express confidence in their carers and say that they feel safe and cared-for. Staff show confidence in the abilities of the children and this helps children to become more self-assured and venture outside their areas of comfort. They become more confident and better prepared for the adult world.

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

Staff can identify the key hazards and risks for each child, and they have strategies in place to support the children to reduce levels of risk and to help develop their ability to manage hazards safely.

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

Staff are confident and competent in taking direct action to prevent children from causing harm and do so in accordance with guidelines. All incidents are carefully reviewed, and actions are carefully considered to ensure that responses are both necessary and proportionate. Staff strive to understand the source of children’s harmful behaviours and to improve their practice to meet the children’s needs. These factors combine to systematically reduce the need for physical interventions and to help children increase their ability to regulate strong feelings.

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

The manager and senior staff are well versed in the procedures for responding to safeguarding concerns and maintain good working relationships with key external agencies. This means that incidents are managed effectively, children are safeguarded and any disruption to their care is minimised.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The overall stability of the home is maintained by the steady oversight of the experienced manager, who is supported in his role by competent senior members of staff. He leads a staff team that is strongly child-focused and tenacious in maintaining consistent and measured responses to the needs of the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager seeks and uses the feedback from children, staff and stakeholders to inform improvements to the quality of the care provided in the home. He is responsive to the directions and recommendations of those providing external monitoring of the home but has not questioned the skills, experience and suitability of the independent visitor who undertakes monthly visits to the home. The reports from these visits do not provide the necessary rigour and challenge to help maintain continuous improvement. The framework and process used by the manager for conducting his own written review of the quality of care in the home does not meet statutory requirements and does little to inform improvements to the quality of care. Despite this, the manager shows good Inspection report children’s home: SC461781 6 analytical ability and insight into the strengths and weaknesses of the home and has already started addressing most of the shortfalls identified in this report.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The recruitment of staff follows safe recruitment guidance, and there are sufficient staff on duty to provide the necessary care and safe levels of supervision for the children. During this inspection period, the staff duty rota shows the regular use of staff members from other homes and other parts of the wider organisation. These staff are not supervised by the manager or his deputies and do not attend team meetings. This situation has the potential to dilute the continuity of care for the children, undermine team working and makes it difficult for the manager to ensure that all staff are consistently working in accordance with the home’s statement of purpose.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The arrangements for staff supervision are not sufficiently clear, and all staff are not consistently receiving regular, good-quality supervision. Staff morale is, however, currently good, and no evidence could be found to show that this deficiency in the supportive environment for staff is having a negative impact on the care of the children.

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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: SC461781 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: New Forest Care Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: West Shore House, West Street, Hythe, Southampton SO45 6AA

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Inspector

John Pledger, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC461781 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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