Children's home run by Albrighton Care Ltd

Inspection report children‟s home: 2519084 1 Registered provider: Albrighton Care

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A private company owns this home. It is registered to provide care for up to three children and young people who have a learning disability.

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Information about this children’s home

The home was registered by Ofsted on 14 May 2019. The registered manager holds a level 5 diploma for health and social care and children and young people’s services.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 21 to 22 November 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 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

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.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: This is the home’s first inspection.

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children‟s home: 2519084 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— helps children aspire to fulfil their potential. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(2)(e)) 14/02/2020

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children— receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b)) 18/01/2020

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must keep the behaviour management policy under review and, where appropriate, revise it. 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 authorised person”)— has spoken to the user about the measure and has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and within 5 days of the use of the measure, and the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (2)(3)(b)(i)(ii)(c)) 18/01/2020

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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 Inspection report children‟s home: 2519084 3 15, paragraph 3.9) This is with particular reference to ensuring that fire safety precautions are maintained and advice from the fire service is sought about changes to the arrangements for securing routes of escape.  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

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Recommendations

minimises potential risks to them. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)  Staff need the knowledge and skills to recognise and be alert for any signs that might indicate a child is in any way at risk of harm. The registered person should ensure that skills in safeguarding are gained, refreshed and recorded in the homes workforce plan. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.12)

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improvement to be good

Since this home was registered in May 2019, two children have lived at the home. At the time of the inspection, one child had moved on and one child was living at the home.

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improvement to be good

For one child, a lack of curiosity by managers meant that the extent of his needs was not fully understood prior to him coming to live at the home. Consequently, when the child moved into the home, staff were unable to provide him with the right support when his behaviour became challenging. After six days, managers made an immediate decision that the child could no longer live at the home. This resulted in the police having to use their powers to intervene while the placing authority identified another place for the child to live. Living at this home was therefore not a positive experience for this child.

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improvement to be good

For another child, moving into the home has been a good experience. Detailed planning and an opportunity to meet staff prior to moving in has helped the child to settle in well and to start to make progress.

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improvement to be good

Staff understand how important education is to children’s development. Clear daily routines have helped the child living at the home to overcome a previous sleeping difficulty and be ready and on time for school. Staff work well with teachers. Spending time in the classroom has helped staff to understand more about the child’s behaviour and his preferred style of communication. This experience has supported staff to develop a pictorial communication guide to help them interpret the child’s signs. This means there is continuity in support for the child between home and school.

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improvement to be good

Clear arrangements for the child’s personal care help maintain his safety and dignity. Support from staff has helped the child improve his health. For example, the opportunity Inspection report children‟s home: 2519084 4 to try a range of foods means that he enjoys a more balanced diet. His snacking has reduced and, in combination with more physical activity, this has helped the child to lose weight.

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improvement to be good

The child has enjoyed some new experiences, including trampolining and visiting an adventure playground. This is helping to improve his physical health and is extending his interests.

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improvement to be good

Parents are pleased with the care given to their son and said that staff keep them involved and well informed. Staff make sure that the child keeps in contact with his family, and there are plans in place for this to increase.

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improvement to be good

The environment is warm, clean and homely. This positive and welcoming environment is helping the child to develop a sense of belonging.

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

A person-centred plan together with bespoke risk and behaviour management plans that are regularly reviewed help staff to understand the child’s needs and routines as they change. Managers have worked well with the placing authority to agree the measures that can be reasonably and routinely used by staff to help reduce risk to the child. This includes the use of a harness when out in the community and the child’s access to the kitchen being limited. Managers are keeping the effectiveness of the use of these measures under review and it is intended that agreed measures of control will be included in the child’s education health and care plan when it is reviewed.

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

Staff have received training to help them understand and de-escalate challenging behaviour. Careful attention by staff to the triggers that prompt the child’s challenging behaviour has meant that staff have been able to change their responses to him. Changes to practice have resulted in a significant reduction in the need for staff to hold the child to keep him safe.

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

There have been no occasions of a child being missing from the home. Staff are clear about the actions necessary to reduce this risk and how to respond should a child go missing. Parental controls on electronic devices and supervision by staff increase the child’s safety when using the internet.

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

The child has complex communication needs and staff have worked imaginatively to give him opportunities to contribute to his care. For example, staff have helped the child to communicate that he wants barbecue sauce through pointing to a purple dot on a placemat. This creativity helps the child to have a choice and keeps him safer through reducing his anxieties and the potential for incidents.

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

There are clear arrangements for the receipt, administration and disposal of medication. Staff ensure that there are clear and agreed protocols with a prescribing doctor regarding the covert administration of medication. A focus by staff on the child’s patterns of behaviour has led to the child being able to take the minimum dose of a variable dose Inspection report children‟s home: 2519084 5 medication. This means the child is not taking unnecessary medication.

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

The registered manager keeps in contact with the local police and uses intelligence from community safety meetings to keep information about the location of the home up to date. This ensures that staff are aware of any risks posed in the local area.

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

Staff receive some training that helps them understand their safeguarding responsibilities. Staff are confident about how to report concerns about a child’s safety. However, staff and managers said the training they receive is not explicit in raising their awareness to the specific vulnerabilities of children with a disability. This means that staff may not be as alert to the indicators that a child with a disability is being harmed.

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

Weak planning and the over-optimism of managers resulted in a child living at the home when his needs could not be met. Consequently, staff were unable to cope with the challenges that they faced. Despite the child having nowhere else to live, managers ended the child’s time at the home with immediate effect. Managers have reflected on their decision making and recognise that they were insufficiently curious about the child’s needs and circumstances prior to placement. They have taken this learning and ensured that they had sufficient information about the child who currently lives at the home, before he moved in, to be able to meet his needs effectively.

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

Staff are positive about their work and said that they feel supported. Daily handovers and regular, well-attended team meetings ensure that there is a clear focus on the needs of the child. However, there have been several staff changes since the home was registered. Good planning for the child and the use of regular bank and agency staff have meant that the child’s routines have not been overly disrupted by the numbers of staff that have been providing his care. The registered manager does recognise that the child needs a stable and consistent team around him to help him build the trusting relationships that he needs to flourish. However, a stable staff team has not yet been achieved.

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

Independent visits to the home are regular and the registered manager finds these helpful to the ongoing development of the service.

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

The registered manager has a system in place to monitor the ongoing operation of the home. However, this routine monitoring has not helped her to identify that staff do not always observe the organisation’s behaviour management policy. This has resulted in staff debriefing each other after they have held a child, rather than this being done by a person independent of the incident. In addition, while the organisation has reviewed the behaviour management policy, it is unclear who is authorised to speak with the child following a hold. This has meant that, on occasion, staff involved in holding a child have also spoken with the child. On one occasion, a child did not have the opportunity of being spoken to. These shortfalls reduce transparency and limit the manager’s ability to meaningfully review behaviour management practice. Inspection report children‟s home: 2519084 6 The organisation has a clear system for checking the suitability of staff prior to them

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

commencing work with children. However, the registered manager has not obtained copies of relevant qualifications for one agency member of staff. This means it is unclear if the person has suitable knowledge for the role.

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

Managers ensure that the home is well maintained and that safety equipment is regularly serviced. The manager responded promptly, during the inspection, to remove plastic wedges that were observed to be holding fire doors open. However, managers have not consulted with the local fire service about recent amendments to the fire risk assessment and evacuation procedures, which include the locking of escapes route from the home. This could compromise the safety of people on the premises.

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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: 2519084 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Suite 4, Bermar House, Rumer Hill Business Estate, Rumer Hill Road, Cannock, Staffordshire WS11 0ET

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Inspector

Alison Cooper, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: 2519084 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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