Children's home run by The Little Flower

Inspection report children’s home: SC462631 1 SC462631 Registered provider: The Little Flower Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home provides residential and respite care and accommodation for up to three children who have physical and/or learning disabilities. A private company runs the home.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since March 2013.

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 good

p.1

good

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

p.1

good

Date of last inspection: 29 January 2019

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Good

p.1

Enforcement action since last inspection:

None. Inspection report children’s home: SC462631 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

29/01/2019 Full Good 29/08/2017 Full Good 08/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 11/10/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC462631 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

During their short breaks, children make good progress from their starting points. Staff set each child personalised aims for their stay. These can include engaging in an activity, or developing their communication skills. At the end of each stay, staff review progress before the child’s next short break. This helps to ensure that children continue to make progress. Children are suitably rewarded for their successes with ‘movie time’, bubble play or foot massages.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Irrespective of any disability, all the children enjoy access to a wide range of social, educational and recreational opportunities during their short breaks. Children choose their favourite activities. They have fun singing, dancing, playing music, painting, making party decorations and gardening. Children enjoy their time in the home.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the children’s communication styles very well. Children who are non-verbal are supported to actively participate in the home during their short breaks. Staff have detailed knowledge of picture exchange systems and each child’s communication preferences; this ensures that the care provided is dynamic and responsive to each child’s changing needs.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who are new to the home are welcomed sensitively. Children attend tea visits to the home, which helps them to familiarise themselves with their new environment. They receive a guide to the home to help them to understand more about their care and the routines during their short breaks. However, the guide does not include the contact details of the Office of the Children’s Commissioner as required by regulation.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children build trusting and secure relationships with the staff who look after them. When children move on from the home they enjoy farewell celebrations and are given a photograph album which highlights their experiences and memories.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The three-bedded semi-detached bungalow provides clean, comfortable and suitably adapted accommodation to support children who have physical disabilities. The registered manager maintains very high standards of hygiene and safety in the home. The registered manager continues to enhance the homely feel and the amenities in the home. The children’s bedrooms have recently been redecorated and the wet room has been upgraded.

p.3

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

Children’s care plans are comprehensive and consider every aspect of their particular needs. The care plans include detailed information on routines, personal care, diet, medication and health needs, in addition to mobility and sleeping habits. They also provide additional advice on the children’s bedroom lighting, sleeping position preferences and favourite bedtime stories. This helps children to settle and to enjoy a home-from-home experience. Inspection report children’s home: SC462631 4 Children’s risk assessments are detailed and consider every possible risk to the children including risks in relation to moving and handling, and safety and mobility in the community. They provide staff with strategies for minimising the risks that have been identified for each child. Parents and professionals said that the children are kept safe.

p.3

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

Positive behaviour is consistently promoted in the home. Staff use effective de- escalation techniques. They provide children with comfort or initiate singalongs to the children’s favourite tunes, which helps the children to settle.

p.4

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

Parents and professionals universally praised the child-centred care at the home. The registered manager provides regular updates for parents, schools, social workers and other professionals. Furthermore, multi-agency working with the children’s schools, hospitals, dieticians and speech and language therapists ensures that the care provided meets children’s current and changing needs.

p.4

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

Thorough checks are carried out regarding the suitability of the staff who work in the home, in accordance with the principles of safer recruitment. The majority of the staff have an appropriate qualification. However, to meet one child’s particular health needs, a number of additional paediatric nurses are employed in the home. While the nurses are qualified to provide specialist healthcare, they do not have appropriate qualifications for working in a children’s home. The registered manager should reassure herself that these qualifications closely correspond to the qualifications for working in a children’s home, as set out by regulation.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed exceptionally well by a suitably qualified and experienced registered manager. She and the staff team have good working relationships with parents and carers. Parents and carers said that they feel confident about leaving their children to stay overnight. The registered manager also extends her support to the families in their own homes. She visits the children if they are in hospital and provides support and advice for families, to help to ensure that the families receive the community support that they may need.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is properly staffed and resourced to meet the needs of the children. Staff training is extensive and ensures that they have all of the necessary skills to support the children in their care. However, while staff training is comprehensive, the home’s training plan is not kept up to date.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are unmistakably dedicated to providing the highest level of care for the children and they have high aspirations for all of the children who stay in the home. A staff member said that working in the home ‘feels like being part of a family’. Regular team meetings enhance the supportive ethos.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager regularly monitors the quality of care provided for the children. The quality of care report is comprehensive and includes actions and Inspection report children’s home: SC462631 5 recommendations to further improve the service. However, the home’s statement of purpose requires updating. Inspection report children’s home: SC462631 6

p.4

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.6

Requirement Due date

The registered person must— keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16(3)(a)(b)) 30/07/2020 Inspection report children’s home: SC462631 7

p.6

Recommendations

 All staff in a care role, must have the qualification in regulation 32(4). The term ‘equivalent’ as used in the Regulations in relation to qualifications will be a judgement for the registered person based on whether the content of any qualifications held by the individual closely corresponds with the qualifications set out in regulation 32(4) (for those in a care role). (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraphs 10.12 and 10.13)  The children’s home must produce a children’s guide. The children’s guide should help children to understand: how to contact the Office of the Children’s Commissioner. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 24, paragraphs 4.21 and 4.22)  The registered person should have a workforce plan which can fulfil the workforce-related requirements of regulation 16, schedule 1. The plan should be

p.7

Recommendations

updated to include any new training completed by staff while working at the home and used to record ongoing training. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8) In particular, records must be amended when staff training is updated. Inspection report children’s home: SC462631 8

p.7

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: SC462631 9

p.8

Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Cheridah Cesar-Mejias

p.9

Children’s home details

Registered manager: Cheridah Cesar-Mejias

p.9

Inspector

Victoria Jones, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC462631 10 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

p.9

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 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.10

Inspector

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

p.10

Inspector

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

p.10