Children's home run by Partnerships in Care 1 Limited

Inspection report children‟s home: 1247390 1 Registered provider: Partnerships In Care 1 Limited

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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 home is dual registered with the Care Quality Commission.

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Information about this children’s home

The home can provide care for up to eight children and young adults. Its specialism is to provide care to children and young adults who have mental health difficulties and who self-harm.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is part of a large, national, private organisation. This organisation has its own clinical team.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since January 2019.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

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

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

A compliance notice was served on 5 August 2019 for Regulation 6. A monitoring visit took place on 17 September 2019. The compliance notice was met. Inspection report children‟s home: 1247390 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

23/07/2019 Full Inadequate 20/02/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness 26/09/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good 05/01/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children‟s home: 1247390 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

6: The quality and purpose of care standard

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

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

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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

understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background;

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Requirement Due date

make decisions about the day-to-day arrangements for each child, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans, which give the child an appropriate degree of freedom and choice. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b)(2)(a)(b)(i)(iv) and (ix)) 10/12/2019

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— 10/12/2019 Inspection report children‟s home: 1247390 4 that staff—

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Requirement Due date

help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

support each child’s learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study;

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Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment;

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally;

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Requirement Due date

maintain regular contact with each child’s education and training provider, including engaging with the provider and the placing authority to support the child’s education and training and to maximise the child’s achievement;

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Requirement Due date

raise any need for further assessment or specialist provision in relation to a child with the child’s education or training provider and the child’s placing authority;

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Requirement Due date

help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible;

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Requirement Due date

help each child who is above compulsory school age to participate in further education, training or employment and to prepare for future care, education or employment;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the child’s relevant plans; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child has access to appropriate equipment, facilities and resources to support the child’s learning. (Regulation 8 (1)(2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(ix)(x) and (b)) 32: Fitness of workers

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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by 10/12/2019 Inspection report children‟s home: 1247390 5 the relevant date, the individual has attained—

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Requirement Due date

the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) (“the Level 3 Diploma”); or

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Requirement Due date

a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma.

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls 2 years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home; or

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who was working in a care role in a home on 1st April 2014, 1st April 2016.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may defer the relevant date if the individual—

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Requirement Due date

does not work, or has not worked, in a care role in a home for a prolonged period; or

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Requirement Due date

works, or has worked, in a care role in a home on a part-time basis. (Regulation 32 (4)(a)(b)(5)(a)(b) and (6)(a)(b)) 33: Employment of staff

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the registered manager receives practice-related supervision. 10/12/2019

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Recommendations

 For children’s homes to be nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of their children, they will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. Children’s homes must comply with relevant health and safety legislations (alarms, food hygiene etc.); however in doing so, homes should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than ‘institutional’ impression. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9) Inspection report children‟s home: 1247390 6  Staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child.

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Recommendations

(‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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Recommendations

 As set out in regulations 31-33, the registered person is responsible for maintaining good employment practice. They must ensure that recruitment, supervision and performance management of staff safeguards children and minimises potential risks to them. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)

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improvement to be good

The overall progress and experience of children in this home requires improvement to be good. Leaders and managers recognise the strengths and weaknesses of the home and are implementing effectively a plan to improve.

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improvement to be good

Children’s day-to-day experiences are improving. Increasingly, children have more choice about how they spend their time, which enriches their experiences. For example, children spend quality time with their families and friends, attend organised clubs and enjoy visits to fun tourist attractions.

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improvement to be good

The culture and ethos in the home are becoming more positive and less institutional. However, some areas for improvement are ongoing. For example, the use of institutional language is common, and during the inspection one child was heard referring to themselves and the other children as ‘YPs’. Written records also contain some of this stigmatising language such as ‘home leave’.

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improvement to be good

Work has commenced to make the environment homelier. Keypads have been removed from external doors. Children prefer the new location of the ‘clinic room’ as it provides them with more privacy and dignity. The whole house is being redecorated. This improvement work is ongoing, and the relocation of the office and introduction of a children’s study space are not yet complete.

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improvement to be good

Currently, staff do not maintain records to a good standard to show how they support children to progress. Leaders and managers have taken some action to improve the recording of children’s goals and achievements. However, this is in the early stages of development and is not fully effective.

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improvement to be good

Most children have been out of education before coming to this home. Currently, one Inspection report children‟s home: 1247390 7 child has no education provision and others are on reduced timetables. Leaders and managers are hoping that educational provision will increase, but since the last inspection, no formal reviews had taken place to determine how this will happen.

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improvement to be good

Two children have moved into the home successfully since the previous inspection. Leaders and managers carefully assessed, with clinicians, if they could meet the needs of these children. The impact of the children moving into the home was also carefully considered. Leaders and managers are now much more persistent about receiving the required information before children move in.

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers have improved communication with safeguarding professionals. The registered manager now has more understanding and up-to-date information about open child protection referrals. However, more can be done to challenge the timeliness of other professionals’ responses.

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improvement to be good

Staff develop positive relationships with children, which helps to keep them safe. Staff have a good understanding of each child and any potential risk, particularly in relation to children’s emotional well-being and tendency to self-harm. An integrated clinical team strengthens the support to manage children’s emotional needs effectively.

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improvement to be good

Most children have prescribed, pro re nata (PRN) controlled medication to support their emotional well-being. Each child has an individual protocol on when and how this can be administered. Staff are much clearer on these protocols than they were before, understanding the reason for the medication and the impact it has on the child.

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improvement to be good

One child has gone missing from home on two occasions since the monitoring visit. Staff took immediate action to look for the child and report to the relevant professionals. Leaders and managers ensured that independent return home interviews took place after each occurrence. This is an improvement from the previous inspection.

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improvement to be good

One incident of restraint occurred when staff were protecting a child from harming themselves. Leaders and managers reviewed this incident effectively and deemed the restraint to be proportionate to prevent serious self harm. Both the child and the staff had the opportunity to discuss and reflect following the incident.

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers have better oversight of serious incidents including missing, self- harm and restraint. Each incident is reviewed quickly, and the information from the reviews informs children’s care. Leaders and managers are quickly identifying patterns of behaviour and implementing different strategies to support children.

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improvement to be good

Recruitment of staff is managed by a human resources department away from the home. The registered manager does not have access to the full recruitment information. For example, she does not receive the full copy of the reference or the reference verification. Therefore, the registered manager cannot fully assess the quality of the staff recruitment Inspection report children‟s home: 1247390 8 process.

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

Leaders and managers have reviewed the statement of purpose for this home and considered its registration requirements. Subsequently, the request to voluntarily cancel the home’s s registration with Ofsted was withdrawn. The home remains dual registered with Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission.

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

An effective action plan is ongoing, with further plans to improve. The new statement of purpose, ethos and culture of the home are yet to embed fully. Leaders and managers have a stronger vision for the home. Staff have a clearer understanding about the purpose of the home and what it aims to achieve for children.

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

Improved oversight of the quality of care enables leaders and managers to understand children’s needs more effectively. However, there is a lack of focus on children’s targets, goals and aspirations. Leaders and managers cannot consistently show the progress children make in this home.

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

Staff receive better support as supervision is more regular and monthly staff meetings are well attended. Within these meetings are good opportunities for reflection and clinical supervision. However, the registered manager has not had formal supervision since March 2019.

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

Adequate training is provided to staff to develop the skills required to meet the needs of children. Significantly, staff receive ligature and wound care training, which are essential to meet the needs of children in this home. Some staff have achieved the level 3 qualification while others are working towards it. However, the mandatory completion date for one member of staff has passed.

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

Communication with other professionals has improved. There are now more examples of leaders and managers holding others to account and challenging their responses. However, this is not yet consistent as not enough has been done to ensure that children receive good access to education.

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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. Inspection report children‟s home: 1247390 9 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

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Information about this inspection

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: 1247390 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Partnerships In Care 1 Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 2, Imperial Place, Maxwell Road, Borehamwood WD6 1JN

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Inspector

Nicola Lownds, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: 1247390 11 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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