Children's Home run by Pure Care Homes Ltd in Trafford

Inspection report children’s home: 2541033 1 Registered provider: Pure Care Homes Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This private children’s home provides care and accommodation for up to five young people who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The registered manager left the home in December 2019. Since that time, an acting manager has been in place and a new manager is due to start work in April 2020.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Date of last inspection: This is the home’s first inspection since its registration with Ofsted on 5 September 2019.

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 2541033 2

p.1

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.

p.2

Requirement Due date

The registered provider must appoint a person to manage the children’s home if— there is no registered manager in respect of the home; and the registered provider— is an organisation or a partnership; does not satisfy Regulation 28; or is not, or does not intend to be, in day-to-day charge of the home.

p.2

Requirement Due date

If the registered provider appoints a person to manage the home, the registered provider must, without delay, give HMCI notice of— the name of the person so appointed; and the date on which the appointment takes effect. (Regulation 27 (1)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(iii) and (2)(a)(b)) 03/04/2020

p.2

Recommendations

 Ensure that all relevant plans are obtained from the placing authority. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 14, paragraph 3.1) This relates specifically to obtaining a copy of the pathway plan for all eligible care leavers.  Children should be in full-time education whilst they are of compulsory school age, unless their personal education plan contained within the care plan or other relevant plan states otherwise. The home must aim to support full-time attendance at school unless the child’s relevant plan indicates this is not in their best interests. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 28, paragraph 5.14)  Where children placed in a home are not participating in education because they have been excluded or are not on a school roll for some other reason, the registered person and staff must work closely with the placing authority so that

p.2

Recommendations

the child is supported and enabled to resume full-time education as soon as possible. In the interim, the child should be supported to sustain or regain their Inspection report children’s home: 2541033 3 confidence in education and be engaged in suitable structured activities. If no education place is identified by the placing authority, the registered person must challenge them to meet the child’s needs under Regulation 5 (engaging with the wider system to ensure children’s needs are met). (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 28, paragraph 5.15)  Sufficient staff means a home having enough suitably trained staff (including someone in a management role) on duty to meet the assessed needs of all children in the home, and that those staff are able to respond to emergency placements, where accepted. The registered person must demonstrate every effort to achieve continuity of staffing so that children’s attachments are not

p.2

Recommendations

overly disrupted, including ensuring that the employment of any temporary staff will not prevent children from receiving the continuity of care that they need (Regulation 31(1)). (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 51, paragraph 10.1)

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

This is the home’s first inspection since its registration with Ofsted on 5 September 2019.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people make good progress in relation to their individual starting points across aspects of their physical, social, emotional and behavioural development. Young people benefit from well-planned, personalised care that promotes their needs effectively. For some young people, this has led to sustainable change and improvement in their lives.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A social worker reported, ‘I am very pleased with the progress this young person is making. Before this, the young person had two placement breakdowns and there were increased incidents of self-harm. The staff have endeavoured to build a trusting relationship with this young person and meet her needs.’

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people benefit from support from staff to promote their good overall health. Young people are registered with a doctor, dentist and optician and have access to these services, when they need them. Medical consent is in place so that staff are familiar with the types of health decisions and responsibilities that are charged and delegated to them. Young people have access to therapeutic services to promote their emotional and psychological well-being, as and when required.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are supported to express themselves as individuals and staff provide young people with individualised support to help them reach their specific goals. Key- work sessions provide young people with the opportunity to explore their emotions and feelings and any other relevant issues that impact on their daily lives. Young people reported, ‘It’s OK and I get on well with the staff, but sometimes I get angry’ and ‘I would say it’s good, but that’s my opinion.’ Another young person said, ‘If I’d change anything, it would be to keep this house and move my family in it. My key worker is kind and he listens to me very carefully. He makes me happy and he always tries his best for Inspection report children’s home: 2541033 4 me.’

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people who are engaged in full-time education attend school regularly and make good progress in relation to their starting points. However, not all young people are currently attending school or other alternative educational provision to maximise their educational achievements. Staff try their utmost to engage young people without any formal education in structured educational activities. However, their participation and engagement are limited. Relevant plans are in place to support and help young people. However, some plans are outstanding from the placing authority, for example pathway plans for eligible care leavers to promote their readiness for adulthood.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that young people have contact with their friends and families. This ensures that young people sustain their familiar relationships with the people who are most important to them. The home provides young people with a diverse range of activities to promote their social skills, interests and hobbies.

p.4

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

The home uses Mind of My Own (MOMO) which is a child-friendly application that has revolutionised the way in which young people are able to express themselves to designated adults by using technology, such as a personal computer or mobile phone. This technology empowers young people to tell workers how they are feeling and what support they need. Young people know how to make a complaint and their rights are championed effectively. Young people’s complaints are taken seriously, and these are investigated quickly and effectively by staff.

p.4

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

The safety of young people is at the centre of staff’s practice. Staff have a good understanding of young people’s specific needs and vulnerabilities and take appropriate action to address them. The use of clear risk assessment and effective safe working practices promotes the safety and well-being of young people. Young people are safer because of the actions that staff take to support and protect them.

p.4

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

Young people are supported to manage their feelings and emotions and to self-regulate their own behaviour. The use of restraint is rare and, if used at all, is only ever used as a last resort to protect young people from harm. There have been no restraints involving the current group of young people. The use of sanctions to address negative behaviours is fair, balanced and proportionate.

p.4

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

Risk-taking behaviours, such as going missing for long periods, drug misuse and self- harm, have reduced significantly in relation to young people’s starting points. There have only been two occasions when staff have had to report a young person missing. On both occasions, staff followed and implemented the home’s procedures to locate young people quickly and secure their safe return.

p.4

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

Young people are protected from harm. Staff are trained in child protection and have a clear understanding of their safeguarding roles. Staff are vigilant to the risk of harm and ensure that young people’s safety is consistently prioritised. Significant incidents are Inspection report children’s home: 2541033 5 reported to the appropriate authorities to support young people and protect them from harm. There have been no allegations of abuse or referrals to children and young people’s services. Emerging concerns are always shared with young people’s social workers to ensure that the right action is taken to ensure the safety of young people.

p.4

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

The home provides young people with a welcoming, comfortable and homely living environment. The home is consistently maintained to a high-quality standard for young people. Health and safety matters are addressed effectively to ensure a safe environment for young people, visitors and staff. A social worker reported, ‘Lovely home with a family feel to it. Children appear very relaxed with staff and are generally very happy. I witnessed excellent interactions between staff and children.’

p.5

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

The registered manager left the home in December 2019. Additionally, several staff members also left, which impacted on young people’s ability to sustain their positive attachments. That said, a stable staff team is now employed to meet the needs of young people at the home. The home’s vacant manager’s position has been recruited to and the new manager is due to start work in April 2020. However, an application to register this person has yet to be submitted to Ofsted.

p.5

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

An acting manager has deputised in the absence of a full-time registered manager. This has proved somewhat successful and the temporary arrangements have not negatively impacted on young people. The responsible individual has made the decision to restrict the numbers of young people living at the home during this period. This is a temporary measure until a new registered manager is appointed.

p.5

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

An independent person visits the home each month to scrutinise the performance of the home, reviewing the quality of young people’s care and the arrangements made to safeguard them and promote their well-being. Temporary leaders and staff make good use of the home’s internal and external monitoring activities to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the home. This enables them to tackle shortfalls and act to secure the home’s improvement. Written development and improvement plans are in place.

p.5

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

The home meets the aims and objectives as set out in the home’s statement of purpose. Staff work in partnership with social workers, health professionals and other appropriate agencies to ensure that the needs of young people are met and that young people benefit from the best possible help and all round support.

p.5

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

Staff benefit from relevant training and receive regular practice-related supervision. Inspection report children’s home: 2541033 6

p.5

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.

p.6

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: 2541033 7

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Pure Care Homes Limited

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 2 The Chase, Bolton, Lancashire BL1 5HL

p.7

Inspector

Anthony Kyem: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2541033 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.

p.7

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 http://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.8

Inspector

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

p.8

Inspector

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

p.8