Children's Home run by Birtenshaw in Bolton

Inspection report children’s home: SC397344 1 SC397344 Registered provider: Birtenshaw Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home is operated by a private organisation. It offers care and accommodation for up to four children and young people who have been diagnosed with a learning disability and/or physical disability. The home is managed by a registered manager who has been in post for over 10 years. She is supported by a dedicated and experienced staff team.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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good

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

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC397344 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/01/2019 Full Good 01/08/2017 Full Good 16/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 15/11/2016 Full Outstanding Inspection report children’s home: SC397344 3

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Recommendations

 Staff should continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. Where there are safeguarding concerns for a child, their placement plan, agreed between the home and the placing authority, must include details of the steps the home will take to manage any assessed risks on a day to day basis. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5) Specifically, ensure that risk assessments take into account young people who are reaching adulthood.  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) Specifically, ensure that records are concise and only include matters relating to individual incidents.  Regulation 45 sets out the requirements for the registered person to have a system in place which allows them to monitor the matters set out in the regulation at least once every six months. The registered person should undertake a review which focuses on the quality of the care provided by the home, the experiences of children living there and the impact the care is having on outcomes and improvements for the children. Reviews should be underpinned by the Quality Standards as described in regulations 5 to 14. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.2) Specifically, ensure that data used to inform the analysis of care, including behaviour management strategies, is correct.

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Recommendations

 Records of restraint must be kept and should enable the registered person and staff to review the use of control, discipline and restraint to identify effective practice and respond promptly where any issues or trends of concern emerge. The review should provide the opportunity for amending practice to ensure it meets the need of each child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.59) Inspection report children’s home: SC397344 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people’s residential care needs are well managed in this home. The registered manager and staff work in partnership with families and external agencies, including healthcare professionals and education providers, to ensure young people receive the wraparound support they require.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are supported by staff who are committed to making a positive difference. Their creativity and dedication enable young people to take positive steps forward, gaining the confidence to try new activities and develop independence skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Educational attendance and attainment are consistently good. All young people have an up-to-date education, and health care plan and this ensures that they receive the correct level of support. School reports highlight significant progress in young people’s behaviour, concentration and willingness to take part in group sessions. Likewise, the staff consistently enhance young people’s learning at home by encouraging reading, writing, arts and crafts and baking.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are provided with a range of opportunities to comment on the care they receive. Pictorial questionnaires, keywork sessions, young people’s meetings and the home’s making a choice booklet, enable young people to have their views heard. Staff respond quickly to appropriate requests. This highlights that young people’s views and opinions are respected and valued in this home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work hard to develop trusting relationships with parents. Where possible, they work in partnership with parents to develop their child’s care plan and behaviour support plan. The feedback from parents is extremely positive. One parent said, ‘This is a fantastic home. My child has really come on and is doing so much more than we could have imagined. The staff are great and keep me informed.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people who have a local authority plan to transition onto adult services are helped and supported to develop independence skills, for example dressing, making a sandwich or a basic meal, road safety and purchasing items from the local shop. Plans for transition are carefully woven into keywork sessions. Consequently, young people do not experience any undue distress or anxiety, because they are suitably prepared for their future move.

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

Young people’s safety is prioritised in this home. Staff take effective action to assess, manage and reduce risks, and this ensures that young people’s safety is maintained.

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

Young people living in the home have a range of complex needs. This can result in some young people having unpredictable behaviours. Clear risk assessments, combined with Inspection report children’s home: SC397344 5 detailed behaviour management plans, help to guide staff in the management of these behaviours in a caring and positive manner.

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

Staff work in partnership with the placing authorities and, where possible, parents, to develop individual positive-handling plans. These plans identify the best strategies to be used with young people, should they require a physical intervention, and that all the interventions to be used to reduce risk are minimal. Extensive records capture the circumstances resulting in the decision to use a physical intervention. However, these records do not reflect that, on occasion, more than one physical intervention may be used during a single incident. Consequently, the records used to assess and analyse the use of physical intervention are not an accurate reflection of actual practice.

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

Risk assessments are completed for those young people reaching adulthood and who are preparing to transition to adult services. However, the assessments do not take into account the adult safeguarding guidance or its implications for either a young person reaching adulthood yet living in a children’s home or those who are also living there.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has been in post since September 2010. She is qualified at NVQ level 5 and is committed to leading a consistent and strong team in the delivery of individualised childcare practice. External monitoring systems provide the home with a suitable approach to the overall monitoring of care. Reports highlight areas for development, and the manager’s action plan details the methods used to enhance the service. Internal monitoring systems are in place. However, the data used to review matters such as incidents involving positive-handling strategies is not consistently correct. Consequently, triggers that may help to identify patterns and trends where behaviours are unpredictable are compromised by incorrect data. Staff are provided with a good annual training package. On the whole, mandatory training is regularly refreshed, while specialist training, such as positive relationships, autism spectrum disorder and understanding the quality standards, provides additional

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

guidance for staff. Likewise, staff receive regular supervision and have an annual appraisal of their social care performance.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home employs a committed staff team. The majority of staff are qualified at NVQ level 3. The training of staff at this level ensures that they are suitably qualified in the care and management of young people. Young people’s records are securely stored and regularly updated in order to capture the essence of young people at a given time. However, the records of incidents, including minor incidents, are excessive, resulting in some critical information becoming difficult to locate. Staff should ensure that the records are concise and include only information that is pertinent to the event. Inspection report children’s home: SC397344 6 The registered manager and staff demonstrate a strong commitment to delivering consistent, child-centred practice that is tailored to the individual and personal needs of young people. The effectiveness of this approach is measurable in the progress that young people make, particularly in the areas of independence, education and developing

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

the confidence to try new activities. Inspection report children’s home: SC397344 7

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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 difference 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: SC397344 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Darwen Road, Bromley Cross, Bolton BL7 9AB

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Inspector

Maria McGranaghan, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC397344 9 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

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk Inspection report children’s home: SC397344 10 W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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