Children's Home run by Phoenix Learning & Care Holdings Limited in Devon

Inspection report children’s home: 1255407 1 Registered provider: Phoenix Learning and Care Holdings 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 is operated by a regional provider. It is registered for four children.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 17 to 18 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 requires improvement to be 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: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/08/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good 05/03/2018 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 1255407 2

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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—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

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;

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

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Requirement Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; and

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(a)(f)(g)(i)(ii)(h)) 20/12/2019 Inspection report children’s home: 1255407 3 Medicines

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular the registered person must ensure that—

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Requirement Due date

medicine which is prescribed for a child is administered as prescribed to the child for whom it is prescribed and to no other child.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should have a workforce plan which can fulfil the workforce related requirements of regulation 16, schedule 1 (paragraphs 19 and 20). The plan should: - detail the necessary management and staffing structure (including any staff commissioned to provide health and education), the experience and qualifications of staff currently working within the staffing structure and any further training required for those staff, to enable the delivery of the home’s Statement of Purpose; - detail the processes and agreed timescales for staff to achieve induction, probation and any core training (such as safeguarding, health and safety and mandatory qualifications); - detail the process for managing and improving poor performance; - detail the process and timescales for supervision of practice (see Regulation 33 (4)(b)) and keep appropriate records for staff in the home. The plan should be updated to include any new training and qualifications

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Recommendations

completed by staff while working at the home, and used to record the ongoing training and continuing professional development needs of staff – including the home’s manager. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8) Inspection report children’s home: 1255407 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people live in a home that is safe and very homely and that provides them with space to grow and develop. Staff have paid attention to detail in respect of furnishings and design, which means that each young person has personalised space that they are proud of and that very much reflects their individuality.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people attend school or college and in the main they do well. Staff understand that education comes in many guises. For those young people who are not yet attending school full time, staff ensure that there is learning from each planned activity. Evidence was seen during the inspection of the range of activities young people have access to and engage in.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The healthcare needs of the young people are met at the home. Healthy eating and physical exercise are encouraged by the staff to ensure that the young people keep healthy. The young people participate in different activities; trampolining and attending the gym are two of the young people’s favourites.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There have been several changes to the staff team since the previous inspection.,. Staff members have worked hard to get to know the young people well and are successfully building positive and trusting relationships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people who have moved on from the home have done so by means of a planned and collaborative approach with their placing authority.

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improvement to be good

For the most part, identification of risk is well considered, and support plans are instructive about how to avoid unnecessary risk. However, one risk assessment for a young person staying in holiday accommodation was not ratified by the local authority. This lack of consideration by the manager has the potential to put young people and staff at risk.

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improvement to be good

Since the previous inspection the use of physical intervention has reduced significantly. Despite this progress, the manager has failed to identify and address through his quality assurance process a potentially inappropriate hold within the recording of one physical intervention, and the variable quality of recording by staff.

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improvement to be good

Medication is safe and in the main administered in accordance with healthcare plans. However, the manager failed to identify staff giving one young person a wrong dosage of a homely medication. This oversight did not have a detrimental impact on the young person.

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improvement to be good

Staff regularly attend training which helps them know how to keep young people safe Inspection report children’s home: 1255407 5 and support them if they self-harm. They respond to the young people in a timely and gentle way. Incidents are of a low level. Records are in the main completed, but some lack specific detail and these omissions were not identified by the manager.

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improvement to be good

The manager and the staff liaise with safeguarding professionals, placing social workers and the family of the young people if they have any safeguarding concerns. This joined- up approach ensures consistent responses to the young people that helps to promote their safety.

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

Since the previous inspection, the manager and staff team have worked hard to ensure that young people who live in the home make progress and have improved outcomes. Staff are either qualified to the appropriate level, are currently undertaking the relevant course or are new to the home. This means that young people receive support from suitably qualified staff.

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

The registered manager and staff team are warm and nurturing towards the young people, and this is recognised by other professionals. The young people spoke warmly of the staff and interactions between the young people and staff were good.

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

Staff are provided with regular supervision and annual appraisals. They spoke well of the support they receive from the manager.

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

Records and care plans are in the main up to date and help staff support the young people. However, some records of physical interventions and incidents of self-harm have not been reviewed in a timely manner and lack clear, helpful management oversight. This limits learning from incidents.

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

The development and workforce plans lack clarity in some areas and fail to demonstrate consultation with and participation by the young people. The manager has recognised that they need reviewing and improvement to bring them up to date.

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

The manager has access to several monitoring systems, including supervision and external monitoring by an independent visitor. The manager has not always been quick to address actions raised by the independent visitor.

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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 Inspection report children’s home: 1255407 6 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: 1255407 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Phoenix Learning and Care Holdings Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Rolle Quay, Barnstaple, Devon EX31 1JE

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Inspector

Linda Bond, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1255407 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 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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