Children's home run by Derbyshire County Council in Derbyshire Dales

Inspection report children’s home: SC439882 1 SC439882 Registered provider: Derbyshire County Council

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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 local authority children’s home provides care and accommodation for up to six children and young people who have physical disabilities and/or learning difficulties. The home provides long-term care and short breaks.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 18 to 19 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: 10 October 2018

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC439882 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/10/2018 Full Outstanding 21/11/2017 Full Outstanding 27/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 12/10/2016 Full Outstanding Inspection report children’s home: SC439882 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 recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home, if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

the individual is of integrity and good character;

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Requirement Due date

the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform;

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Requirement Due date

the individual is mentally and physically fit for the purposes of the work that the individual is to perform; and

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 32(1)(2)(a)(b)(3)(a)(b)(c)(d)) 31/10/2019

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Recommendations

 Restraint also includes restricting a child’s liberty of movement. This includes, for example, changes to the physical environment of the home (such as using high door handles) and removal of physical aids (such as turning off a child’s electric wheelchair). Restrictions such as these, and all other restrictions of liberty of movement, should be recorded as restraint. Some children, perhaps due to impairment or disability, may not offer any resistance, but such measures should Inspection report children’s home: SC439882 4 still constitute a restraint. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 47, paragraph 9.42)  Just as in a family home, children should be able to access all shared areas of their home unless there are specific reasons why this would not meet a child’s needs. Limits on privacy and access may only be put in place to safeguard each child in the home. Any decisions to limit a child’s access to any area of the home,

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Recommendations

and any modifications to the environment of the home, must only be made where this is intended to safeguard the child’s welfare. All decisions should be informed by a rigorous assessment of that individual child’s needs, be properly recorded and be kept under regular review. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.10)  Children’s homes must employ a sufficient number of suitably qualified, skilled and experienced persons in the home to meet the needs of the children. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.37)  Staff in children’s homes play a key role in supporting children in line with their personal education plan or education, health and care (EHC) plan and recommendations from education and health professionals. It is therefore important that staff have access to the most up-to-date review reports. (‘Guide to

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Recommendations

the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 26, paragraph 5.3)  Effective care planning is essential to the success of placements. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 56, paragraph 11.2)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are happy and thoroughly enjoy the activities provided. They are confident and comfortable in their surroundings. They are supported to have experiences that challenge them in a positive and proactive way, helping them to develop new skills. For example, children who have severe physical disabilities have enjoyed canoeing and horse riding. Staff have high aspirations for children and do not allow disability to be a barrier to full participation. For example, one child would like to travel in an aeroplane and another would like to go abseiling. Staff have realistic plans in place to ensure that children can have these experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The wishes, feelings and views of the children are very important to staff. They encourage children to make everyday decisions and choices, such as choosing their drink or activity. Staff are good at recognising when children are expressing their views and wishes. They respond quickly when children make requests. For example, a child arrived back from school and made it very clear to staff that she wanted to go out straight away in the bus. Staff immediately responded and took the child out. Inspection report children’s home: SC439882 5 Children are encouraged, where possible, to participate in their review meetings. However, up-to-date EHC plans are not in children’s files. It would be useful for staff to have access to the latest versions of these important reports. Care plans are not always reflected in practice and some planning is inaccurate. This can lead to inconsistent practice, and can be confusing for a child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are helped to stay healthy. Health professionals, such as dieticians, physiotherapists and occupational therapists, are consulted and attend the home to ensure that children are receiving good healthcare packages. Children are supported to attend health appointments. Staff ensure that children have healthy and nutritious meals. Children learn personal hygiene skills, including learning to use the toilet. Some children have been encouraged to lose weight, which has made a significant difference to their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Parents are very happy with the service their children receive. One parent talked about the support staff have given them as a family, particularly because they live a long way from the home. For example, staff will take the child to the family home. They have also booked the family into a specialist centre with the child, so that the family can spend quality time together. This was much appreciated. Another parent said that she can relax when her child is staying at the home, and commented: ‘We know whatever happens, they’ll sort it.’

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

Staff have a good understanding of the needs of the children in their care. They are patient and nurturing, and build supportive and trusting relationships with children. Children are supported very well when they are upset or anxious. Staff use creative strategies to help children. This means that incidents are reducing in frequency.

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

Strategies for helping a child to become calm when they are very anxious and aggressive include staff using a locked door as a barrier between them and the child, and then observing the child through the door. This strategy does not always lead to the child calming down and incident records do not record how long the door is shut for. Sometimes the child can become more distressed because the door is shut.

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

There have also been occasions when night staff have used the same strategy. This helps to keep other children safe. However, this is not part of the child’s care plan. On occasions, when the child has become distressed, they have banged their head repeatedly. Once the child has calmed down and gone back to bed, staff have not monitored the child effectively throughout the night, because mostly they only carry out listening checks so as not to disturb the child. The lack of monitoring has not had any adverse effects on the child and managers are addressing this shortfall in staff practice. Additionally, children’s access to communal areas is restricted, because doors and cupboards are routinely locked without regular reviews being carried out to ensure that they are not being locked unnecessarily. Inspection report children’s home: SC439882 6 Good risk management means that profoundly disabled children can experience the

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

same activities as their peers. For example, children participate in horse riding, bowling and canoeing. Children also attend local clubs. such as the girl’s brigade and scouts. A parent said: ‘They provide so many opportunities to do things we wouldn’t have thought of doing with her.’

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

Vetting procedures are suitable, but could be improved. A Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) certificate is sought along with three references, including one from the candidate’s previous employer. However, the information supplied to the registered manager about the DBS certificate does not fully conform with Ofsted guidance. Furthermore, the home has not sought verification of why a candidate left all of the previous posts in which they worked with children or vulnerable adults.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A very experienced registered manager leads a committed and enthusiastic team of staff. She has a good understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the home, and has good plans for addressing shortfalls. She is already addressing issues around some staff practice and has taken seriously the shortfalls identified during the inspection. She is ambitious for the home and the children, and is clearly passionate about advocating for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff are caring, warm and supportive. Having fun is central to their approach and children respond with laughter. Most staff are qualified and others are completing an appropriate qualification. Staff have access to a good training programme that includes specialist training for the health needs of the children, such as gastrostomy feeding. Staff are also trained to administer emergency medication.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Strong multi-agency working has been extremely beneficial to children. For example, one child has been able to stay at the home after an operation, rather than staying in hospital for a prolonged period. This involved close collaborative working between health professionals, local authorities and the registered manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff work in partnership with parents, ensuring that parents’ views are heard and respected. A parent said: ‘They totally listened to everything we said.’

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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 Inspection report children’s home: SC439882 7 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: SC439882 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Derbyshire County Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: County Offices, Matlock, Derbyshire DE4 3AG

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Inspector

Joanne Vyas: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC439882 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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