Children's home run by The Percy Hedley Foundation

Inspection report children’s home: 1234990 1 Registered provider: The Percy Hedley Foundation

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The children’s home provides care and accommodation for up to 14 children or young people who may have physical disabilities, learning disabilities and/or a sensory impairment. The accommodation consists of a residential unit and a three-bedroom cottage. The children’s home is situated on the same site as their special school. A private provider operates the children’s home and the school. There is currently no registered manager in post.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 24 to 25 September 2019

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

p.1

requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

p.1

requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

p.1

requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate

p.1

requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: Three compliance notices and a notice to restrict accommodation were issued at the last inspection. These were reviewed following two monitoring visits. The compliance notices were judged as met and the notice to restrict accommodation was lifted. Inspection report children’s home: 1234990 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/06/2019 Full Inadequate 01/08/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good 22/05/2018 Interim Declined in effectiveness 14/06/2017 Full Outstanding Inspection report children’s home: 1234990 3

p.2

Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, the 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.

p.3

Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

p.3

Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and outcomes it seeks to achieve for children; and

p.3

Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets the children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

p.3

Requirement Due date

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

p.3

Requirement Due date

ensure that the premises used for the purpose of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

p.3

Requirement Due date

enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b)(2)(c)(i)(ii)) 22/12/2019

p.3

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—

p.3

Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

p.3

Requirement Due date

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

p.3

Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

p.3

Requirement Due date

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child; and 22/12/2019 Inspection report children’s home: 1234990 4 ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(c)(d)(e))

p.3

Recommendations

 The registered person must ensure the home has sufficient staffing, including someone in a management role, to meet the children’s assessed needs. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 51, paragraph 10.1)  Where it is identified that a restraint or a restriction of liberty may be needed to meet a child’s complex needs, the registered person must ensure that a rigorous assessment has been carried out to justify that the measures used are necessary and proportionate. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 47, paragraph 9.45)

p.4

improvement to be good

The overall experiences and progress of children and young people, and how well children and young people are helped and protected, are judged requires improvement to be good because the judgement for the effectiveness of leadership and management is inadequate.

p.4

improvement to be good

The judgement for the effectiveness of leadership and management is a graded judgement. This means that other inspection judgements can be judged no higher than requires improvement to be good.

p.4

improvement to be good

The quality of individualised care for children has improved since the last inspection. The provider has focused on, where practicable, allocating the same staff to individual children to attend to the children’s complex needs, including their personal care needs. Nevertheless, there continue to be occasions when children have many carers, including agency staff and part-time staff, which compromises consistency for the children and continuity of care.

p.4

improvement to be good

The children’s home is located within a school building, which presents challenges to make the environment homely. Some areas of the home have been greatly improved, however there continue to be rooms that offer unacceptable accommodation. For example, one two-bed unit looks stark with plain walls, basic furniture and little in the way of personal or homely fittings. This undervalues the children living there.

p.4

improvement to be good

The staff strive to form positive relationships with the children. The provider has increased staff training and development to meet a requirement from the last inspection, Inspection report children’s home: 1234990 5 which has provided the staff with more understanding about why the children display challenging behaviours. This has improved the day-to-day childcare practice, with good results. Positive, caring interactions between the staff and the children were observed throughout the inspection. This demonstrates the staff’s commitment to enrich the children’s lives and experiences.

p.4

improvement to be good

The children are making good progress with their health and education. The acting manager has written new-style healthcare plans that clearly set out the children’s health needs and how these will be met. Clear, descriptive, written plans better inform the staff regarding how to follow the children’s healthcare regimes. The provision of good healthcare has been strengthened by the school’s nurse overseeing the children’s plans and by delivering good-quality training for the staff.

p.5

improvement to be good

All the children are achieving and progressing in school. They have access to teachers alongside a range of specialists who are employed by the provider. These include a speech and language therapist and a registered nurse. Children also have access to occupational therapy. These additional on-site services contribute to improving the children’s health and well-being.

p.5

improvement to be good

There are no children at risk of exploitation, going missing from home, radicalisation or bullying. There has been one complaint from a parent, which was reviewed at this inspection. The complaint related to several concerns about the care of a child, including a medication error. There are no requirements or recommendations raised in relation to the complaint outcomes.

p.5

improvement to be good

A previous requirement to ensure that all staff have up-to-date behaviour management and restraint training is met. Restraints are very rarely used, and only implemented as a last resort.

p.5

improvement to be good

There have been two restraints since the last inspection. Both incidents have been recorded appropriately and reviewed by the acting manager. However, one of the restraints appears to have been a compliance restraint, which is not permissible. The restraint was used to carry out personal care, which is permissible if a comprehensive risk assessment has been carried out. On this occasion, no risk assessment was completed. This way of working potentially compromises the children’s rights and their well-being.

p.5

improvement to be good

The provider has improved how the children are safeguarded. The children’s known risks are much better managed, and the quality of the children’s written risk assessment plans is good.

p.5

improvement to be good

The acting manager and the responsible individual have taken comprehensive measures to further protect the children’s welfare. Senior managers have formed a strategic team to plan and oversee the children’s care planning, behaviour management, and safety. Inspection report children’s home: 1234990 6 This demonstrates the provider’s commitment to improve the children’s outcomes.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Despite their best efforts, the provider has not been able to recruit a manager since the previous registered manager resigned in March 2019. This has left the home without stable management or oversight. This has affected the quality of care provided to the children and led to poor staff morale.

p.6

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

A recently appointed acting manager, working alongside the responsible individual, has made several positive changes that have improved outcomes for the children and the general operation of the home. However, the acting manager is due to begin a long period of absence. Ongoing, unacceptable management arrangements have contributed to instability in the home, repeated requirements, and an increase in inspection and compliance activity.

p.6

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There are ongoing concerns about poor staff recruitment and retention. Although this has improved since the last inspection, evidence from this, and previous inspections, indicates that the provider is struggling to recruit and maintain a full staffing complement. This questions the provider’s ability to sustain adequate staffing.

p.6

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Inductions for new staff are better planned and bespoke to the needs of the children and the home’s statement of purpose. Staff competencies are regularly monitored and assessed. New staff are supported by mentors, which supports them through their induction process. However, the number of staff with a level 3 diploma in the care of children and young people is low: 10 staff out of a current staffing complement of 44.

p.6

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The provider has improved processes at the home by meeting three compliance notices and two requirements. The children’s residential care plans are now more individualised, and additional staff training has enabled the staff to take an active role in contributing to and evaluating the children’s achievements and their development.

p.6

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Improvements in how child protection concerns are managed safeguard the children better. The staff are more vigilant in noting and reporting any potential safeguarding concerns, and they are familiar with the home’s safeguarding policies. This promotes the children’s welfare.

p.6

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

A requirement to improve the monitoring of the home has led to changes in how the provider executes stringent internal and external monitoring. The provider has commissioned a new independent visitor who is scrutinising care practice and the home’s operation and management. Early signs are that the independent visitor is identifying and challenging shortfalls in a positive way. This approach encourages open and transparent discussions that improve the children’s day-to-day experiences.

p.6

Information about this inspection

Inspection report children’s home: 1234990 7 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.

p.7

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: 1234990 8

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider: The Percy Hedley Foundation

p.8

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Percy Hedley School, Forest Hall, Newcastle Upon Tyne NE12 8YY

p.8

Inspector

Debbie White: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1234990 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.

p.8

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.9

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.9

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: http://www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.9