Children's home run by The Percy Hedley Foundation in North Tyneside

Inspection report children’s home: 1234319 1 Registered provider: The Percy Hedley Foundation Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home provides short breaks for up to six children or young people who may have a sensory impairment, learning disability and/or physical disability. The home is located on the same site as a special school that the children and young people attend. The home and the school are operated by a charitable foundation. The registered manager is currently on long-term, planned personal leave.

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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

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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 1234319 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/03/2019 Full Good 18/07/2017 Full Outstanding 25/10/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 1234319 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, the 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 health and well-being standard is that children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well- being.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff help each child to—

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Requirement Due date

achieve the health and well-being outcomes that are recorded in the child’s relevant plans; and

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Requirement Due date

understand and develop skills to promote the child’s well-being. (Regulation 10 (1)(b)(2)(a)(ii)(iv)) 15/11/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (1)(4)(b)) 30/11/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (‘a quality care review’) at least once every six months. After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review (‘the quality of care review report’) and supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed. (Regulation 45 (1)(3)(4)(a)) 30/11/2019

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Recommendations

 The registered person must ensure that where restraint may be necessary as a consequence of a child’s impairment or disability, that the registered person reviews the child’s Education, Health and Care Plan to ascertain that the restraint has been planned and agreed to meet the child’s needs. If it is deemed that restraint is a necessary component of a child’s care, information relating to this Inspection report children’s home: 1234319 4 should be included in the home’s behaviour management policy and the statement of purpose. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 47, paragraphs 9.34 and 9.44)  The registered person should undertake a review that focuses on the quality of the care provided by the home, the experiences of children receiving short-break stays and the impact the care is having on outcomes and improvements for the children. The review should enable the registered person to identify areas of

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Recommendations

strength and possible weaknesses in the home’s care, which will be captured in the report. The 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’, pages 64 and 65, paragraphs 15.2 and 15.4)  The registered person should actively seek scrutiny of the home and make best use of information from independent and internal monitoring to ensure continuous improvement. They are responsible for proactively implementing lessons learned and sustaining good practice. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24) In particular, the registered person must implement effective monitoring and file- audit processes to ensure that consistency of recording practice is high.  Staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and

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Recommendations

understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4) In particular, the registered person must ensure that the records for administering controlled medication are completed in line with the home’s policies. The recording must include the full name and signature of the people who are administering the medication.

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improvement to be good

Overall, the children and young people’s healthcare needs are met. Some children and young people have complex healthcare needs alongside having learning and physical disabilities. The provider employs specialist healthcare professionals who include a school nurse, an occupational therapist and a speech and language therapist. The children and young people have direct access and support from these professionals, which increases the quality of the children and young people’s individualised care.

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improvement to be good

There has been an occasion when a young person’s healthcare needs have been compromised. This is because the staff have restricted the young person’s liberty to administer oral medication. There is no reference made to the restriction being used in the young person’s education, health and care plan and it is not clear in the young Inspection report children’s home: 1234319 5 person’s case file records that the required medical or social worker consents have been attained. Using restrictions to administer medication without fully protecting children and young people’s rights and safety potentially compromises the children and young people’s welfare and well-being.

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improvement to be good

However, strategy of holding a young person’s nose while administering medication was only ever used briefly and as a last resort. The young person has made progress since and now takes medication without the need for any restraint.

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improvement to be good

The children and young people have positive day-to-day experiences during their short- break stays. The children’s home provides a comfortable, homely environment that meets the children and young people’s needs.

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improvement to be good

The children and young people have access to the equipment, and other aids, that they need to assist them with their disabilities. This ensures that the children and young people are enabled to take part in their daily activities as they would do at home. This promotes the children and young people’s independence and equality.

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improvement to be good

A caring, committed staff team is attuned to the children and young people’s needs and wishes. The staff have a wealth of relevant childcare experience, which promotes good outcomes for the children and young people.

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improvement to be good

The staff have a strong focus on making the children and young people’s short breaks an enjoyable, fun experience. Peer friendships are encouraged and supported. For example, when possible the children and young people have their short breaks when their friends are in residence. This provides the children and young people with an opportunity to socialise in a relaxed, informal setting.

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improvement to be good

The children and young people are kept safe during their short breaks. Good staffing levels ensure that the children and young people are safely supervised.

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improvement to be good

There has been one occasion when a child was able to exit the children’s home, which is kept secure by a key fob locking system. To leave the home, the young person had to pass through three separate exits before walking into the staff car park. The young person was able to leave the home without the staff noticing. One staff were aware that the young person had left the home, they quickly reacted to ensure that the young person was safe. However, the young person was placed at risk by the unsatisfactory security of the building and shortfalls in staff supervision.

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improvement to be good

The provider has since taken action to improve the security and prevent further incidents by introducing an additional lock on one of the exits.

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improvement to be good

The staff use a range of positive behaviour management techniques to help the children and young people to learn and understand socially acceptable behaviours. There is a Inspection report children’s home: 1234319 6 strong focus on using rewards, praise and incentives that encourage the children and young people’s learning and social development. Consequently, the children and young people enjoy a happy environment where they can positively interact with the staff and with each other.

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improvement to be good

Risk management is good. Good-quality written risk assessments identify the children and young people’s known risks and how these will be reduced. This keeps the children and young people safe and promotes their welfare and well-being.

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improvement to be good

The children and young people enjoy their short breaks in a safe environment. Regular health, safety and fire checks reduce environmental risks and robust safer recruitment checks reduce the risk of the children and young people being exposed to unsuitable adults.

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

A new manager is in post to cover the planned absence of the registered manager. The manager has been employed by the provider for five years as the registered manager of an adult care home.

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

Since taking up this post, the manager has not had formal practice-based supervision to support her moving from an adult provision into a children’s home environment. Consequently, the manager has not been adequately supported to develop her knowledge of the changes of regulations and statutory guidance applicable to her new role. As a result, during the inspection, the manager was not able to provide information related to some required areas of childcare practice and the home’s operation.

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

The registered person has failed to meet two previous recommendations to improve the scrutiny and monitoring of the home. In addition, the registered person has not submitted a Regulation 45 report, to Ofsted, within the required timescales. This breach in regulation has resulted in the recommendations being repeated in this report and a new requirement being issued to improve the monitoring and oversight of the home.

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

A recommendation to improve record-keeping has been met. The documents reviewed at this inspection were of a good quality with appropriate documented entries.

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

Improvements have been made by the provider meeting two previous requirements. The safe administration of medication is now better organised to safely monitor and record all medication brought into the home and returned to parents when a child or young person’s short breaks ends.

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

The safe administration policy has been updated, and the staff have had refresher medication training. There was one minor shortfall identified in the recording of administering controlled drugs. However, this has not created a risk to the children and young people. Inspection report children’s home: 1234319 7 The registered person and the staff have a better understanding of what constitutes a notifiable event and appropriate notifications have been sent to Ofsted. This demonstrates the provider’s openness and transparency to keep Ofsted updated about any concerns relating to the children and young people. Inspection report children’s home: 1234319 8

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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: 1234319 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: The Percy Hedley Foundation

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Percy Hedley School, Forest Hall, Newcastle upon Tyne NE12 8YY

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Inspector

Debbie White: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1234319 10 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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