Children's Home run by Fairways Care (UK) Limited in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole

Inspection report children’s home: SC391708 1 SC391708 Registered provider: Fairways Care (UK) Limited Interim inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately-owned children’s home is operated by a charitable organisation. The charity provides a range of residential, fostering, educational and training services. The home is registered for up to two children who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been in her current role since September 2018 and was registered on 22 March 2019.

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Inspection date: 22 January 2020

Judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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Inspection date: 22 January 2020

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC391708 2

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

This home was judged requires improvement to be good at the last full inspection. At the interim inspection, Ofsted judges that it has sustained effectiveness.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

This inspection was undertaken due to concerns arising from information in notifications and independent visitor reports indicating an increase in serious incidents in the home.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

In recent weeks, decisive action by both the home and the school has led to an improvement in the children’s lives. The school placed the older child on a sports leadership programme. He engaged well and has dissociated from his former peer group. Both children are doing well in education, with high levels of attendance.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Behaviour management and restraint practice were serious concerns at the last inspection, resulting in a requirement under regulation 20. In December 2019, almost all staff received training in de-escalation. This relatively recent development is already having a positive impact on staff practice and the children’s behaviour.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Restraints still take place, but a high proportion of recent interventions have involved guiding the child away from the situation, rather than holding them. There has been no repeat of the inappropriate restraint technique found at the last inspection. This requirement has been met.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

There are new protocols in place for rewards and consequences. For example, staff now have access to a protocol which instructs them to set only proportionate consequences for the children. These fair and relevant measures have helped the staff to build positive relationships and increase the children’s trust.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

There have been two incidents when children went missing. On one occasion, the child was away from the home overnight. Staff responded appropriately to try to find the child and bring them back to safety. However, the missing-from-home protocol at the time lacked clarity regarding who was to inform relevant persons and organisations. This contributed to a misunderstanding between the home and other agencies. There was confusion about who was to refer the child for a return-home interview, causing delay.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The protocol has now been revised to reduce the risk of this happening again. A recommendation has been made that all children who go missing should have their independent return-home interview within 72 hours of returning.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

A requirement was made under regulation 12, because there were no lone-working risk assessments in place. The senior residential manager has ensured that every staff member now has a risk assessment which reflects their individual needs, including the risks of lone working. In addition, staff are no longer allowed to use Inspection report children’s home: SC391708 3 physical intervention at all if they are working alone, which has removed a major risk factor from their practice.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Another element to this requirement has also been actioned. Staff now always seek medical advice for any child who sustains an injury.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The third element to this requirement concerned the need to rebuild a small doorway set into a sloping roof, to prevent further accident and injury. Senior leaders have obtained planning permission to remodel the roof and construct a dormer window. These substantial works can only be carried out when the children are away from the home, so they are planned for the Easter holiday period. Although the work has not yet taken place, there is a firm plan, so this requirement is largely met.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Leaders and managers have responded to the independent visitor’s concerns (November 2019) about the children’s diets, which were dominated by junk food. There is still more work to be done, but the children now receive a better-balanced diet to promote their growth and development.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The responsible individual discussed the management arrangements with Ofsted. There was insufficient time during the manager’s absence on maternity leave to register a new manager for the home. During her absence, the home was managed by the deputy manager and the company’s senior residential manager. This provided some degree of stability for the children, who knew these managers well.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

At the time of the last inspection and for several months afterwards, staff morale was low. Some staff were anxious and distressed about their work in the home. At the time, the home did not have a full staff team, so agency staff had to be deployed. Staff were insufficiently trained or experienced to manage the children’s behaviour safely, so they lacked confidence. Supervision did not always take place regularly, so staff had reduced opportunities to seek support.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

With the registered manager’s return from maternity leave earlier this month, the staff team is now almost complete. Leaders and managers have worked hard to increase staff numbers and provide relevant training. Bank staff are still used, but they know the children and understand their needs.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Staff supervision is now back on track. Consultation with both staff and children is gradually improving, which is helping to build positive relationships. The requirement made under regulation 13 has therefore been met.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Two recommendations made at the last inspection have been partially met.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The home’s electronic recording system has the potential to be a useful tool to support the staff’s work in the home. However, not all staff have been naming files correctly, which makes document retrieval, management monitoring and external inspection a very time-consuming process. For example, two managers had to spend hours searching for and printing out documents to help the inspector, because the information was not readily accessible. Inspection report children’s home: SC391708 4 A well-managed records system should be easy for all to use. Staff should be trained to use file-naming protocols correctly. The system should be capable of efficient interrogation to produce management monitoring reports. Some work has started to improve the incident-reporting aspect of the system, but it has not yet been implemented. The recommendation made at the last inspection has therefore been repeated.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The second recommendation was made to help a child to access specific therapeutic services that he needs. The home’s managers have been working with their clinical advisors to begin the careful process of preparing the child to receive therapeutic help. This work is being done in a sensitive manner, but it cannot be rushed. This is an appropriate and child-centred response, so the recommendation has been met.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/06/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 19/04/2018 Full Good 31/05/2017 Full Good 14/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC391708 5

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Recommendations

 Ensure that records kept electronically (regulation 38) can be easily accessed by anyone with a legitimate need to view them and, if required, can be reproduced in a legible form. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 14.2) In particular, continue to review the electronic records system with a view to facilitating easier monitoring by leaders, managers, independent visitors and inspectors.  Ensure that the return-home interview is carried out within 72 hours of the child returning to their home or care setting. This should be an in-depth interview and is normally best carried out by an independent person (i.e. someone not involved in caring for the child) who is trained to carry out these interviews and is able to follow-up any actions that emerge. Children sometimes need to build up trust with a person before they will discuss in depth the reasons why they ran away.

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Recommendations

(‘Statutory guidance on children who run away or go missing from home or care’, January 2014, page 14, paragraph 32).

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Information about this inspection

This inspection focused on the effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of children and young people since the most recent full inspection.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people, 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: SC391708 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Fairways Care (UK) Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Fairways Care, Fairways House, Alpha Business Park, Mount Pleasant Road, Southampton, Hampshire SO14 0QB

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Inspector

Heather Chaplin, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC391708 7 to 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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