Children's home run by City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council in Bradford

Inspection report children‘s home: SC431696 1 SC431696 Registered provider: City of Bradford Metropolitan District 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 home is operated by the local authority. It is registered to provide care and accommodation under short-break arrangements for up to 10 children or young people who have learning and/or physical disabilities, some of whom have complex and/or life- limiting conditions. The manager was registered in 2011 and she has significant experience and knowledge of working with children and young people with complex health needs.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 24 to 25 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children‘s home: SC431696 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/06/2018 Full Good 17/10/2017 Full Outstanding 01/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 27/09/2016 Full Good Inspection report children‘s home: SC431696 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A high number of children and young people enjoy spending time at this welcoming short-breaks home. The large home is well equipped and children and young people benefit from the use of a hydrotherapy pool, two sensory rooms and a sensory bath. This provides them with stimulating and relaxing experiences. The manager’s thoughtful planning ensures that children and young people accessing the service are compatible together. This helps children and young people form friendships, which offers extra social opportunities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The diverse and complex health, disability and learning needs of the children and young people are well understood by the experienced staff team. A number of the children and young people accessing the service are non-verbal and most need a high level of personal care. The intuitive staff know all the children and young people exceptionally well and they provide sensitive and nurturing care. The staff’s knowledge of the children and young people helps them to recognise children’s and young people’s non-verbal cues and gestures. This provides the children and young people with a prompt response to their requests.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people make good, continued progress in a whole range of areas. For example, they learn to sit at the dining table to eat with others or use eye tracking to express their wishes. These achievements, no matter how small, lead to increased confidence. Their experiences and progress at the home offer the children and young people new opportunities to gain new skills to enhance their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A high percentage of the children and young people have been coming to the home for many years. This has supported trusting relationships with the staff team. This is promoted further through regular discussions between staff at the home, parents, carers and staff at the schools. Regular observation of the children and young people in the different environments ensure that staff at the home provide a consistent approach to other professionals and family members to enhance the children’s and young people’s outcomes.

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

The children and young people receive good-quality care in a safe and secure environment. The manager and staff know the children’s and young people’s risks and vulnerabilities. These are outlined within the individualised risk assessments and healthcare plans. The comprehensive records mean staff are clear and provide care in line with children’s complex health and medical needs.

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

The staff are trained in a range of medical procedures, such as gastronomy feeding, and know how to administer oxygen, for those children and young people who have additional medical plans. The staff team members’ close adherence to plans Inspection report children‘s home: SC431696 4 demonstrates their ability to keep children and young people safe and this builds on the trust families have in the staff to care for their children. The booking in, measuring and monitoring process for the administration of medication is effective and there have been no errors.

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

High staffing ratios ensure that children and young people are appropriately supervised, and they do not go missing during their stay. Parents and carers have confidence in the quality of care provided to their children, including those with life-limiting conditions.

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

Children and young people receive consistent responses to their behaviours. When children and young people present with self-injurious and other challenging behaviours, the individualised behaviour management plans outline strategies for staff to use. The staff are successful at using distraction and redirection, so restrictions of movement are rarely used. If this is needed, only very low-level guides are used to keep children and young people and others safe. However, the manager has not always checked the records or debriefed the staff involved within the relevant timescales.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The enthusiastic and child-focused manager has many years’ experience of working with children and young people who have complex health and medical needs. The established staff team is motivated and its members have a wide range of expertise and qualifications relevant to their role. They are passionate about their job and everything they do is rooted in giving the best care and experience for the children and young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staffing shortages have been managed through a reduction in the days the service operates. This has reduced from a full-time service to operating three nights a week. This ensures that children, young people and their families and carers continue to receive a good service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Some of the work relating to children and young people’s records is not completed in the agreed timescales. This does is a result of the staffing shortages. However, it does not have a direct impact on the children and young people accessing the short-breaks service. The manager has completed the six-monthly quality of care review and has plans to develop the home. However, the report would benefit from a clearer action plan of areas for development over the forthcoming months.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The requirement from the last inspection was met, in that staff have now had an appraisal and there has been an improvement in the frequency and quality of the supervision of staff. Inspection report children‘s home: SC431696 5

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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 ensure that— within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authoris ed person”) )— has spoken to the user about the measure; and has signed the record to confirm it is accurate. (Regulation 35 (3)(b)(i)(ii)) 30/10/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records ( “case records”) ) for each child which— include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child; are kept up to date; and are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c)) 30/11/2019

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Recommendations

 The registered person is responsible for deciding what each 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 will be addressed. The

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Recommendations

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) Inspection report children‘s home: SC431696 6

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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: SC431696 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: City Hall, Centenary Square, Bradford, West Yorkshire BD1 1HY

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Inspector

Tina Ruffles, social care inspector Inspection report children‘s home: SC431696 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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