Children's home run by 4 Keys Care Ltd

Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2502009 1

p.1

4 Keys Care Ltd

Monitoring visit Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to six children with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The home is owned by a private provider.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home has not had a registered manager since February 2020. There have been two interim managers since that time.

p.1

This monitoring visit

This monitoring visit was carried out to assess whether the restriction notice, preventing children moving into the home, was still necessary. The responsible individual had indicated that the home was ready to accommodate children again.

p.1

This monitoring visit

Continued regulatory shortfalls were identified during this visit. These shortfalls mean that good-quality and safe care is not being provided.

p.1

This monitoring visit

Leaders and managers are not sufficiently aware of the existence and seriousness of safeguarding failures and have not taken effective action to redress these.

p.1

This monitoring visit

Inspectors found the use of unsanctioned restraint holds by a member of staff. This was not addressed appropriately. There was no follow up on the use of such restraint holds or a review of restraint practice, and measures were not put in place to ensure suitability of practice.

p.1

This monitoring visit

A child was found to be subject to repeated restraint. There were no clear reasons why significant holds were used. There was also a lack of appropriate review by managers to look at patterns and trends. Staff were working without up-to-date physical intervention training. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2502009 2 Inspectors found that the risk assessment for a child set out unsafe responses to known risks. The strategies set out in response to this child’s behaviour were not compatible with the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards order and placed a child at further risk of physical and emotional harm.

p.1

This monitoring visit

A local authority is currently conducting an investigation under section 47 of the Children Act 1989. This is in relation to whistle-blowing allegations regarding the unwarranted and inappropriate use of restraint by a member of staff, and inappropriate responses from managers present in the home.

p.2

This monitoring visit

Some staff demonstrate a poor understanding of key areas of care and safeguarding. Staff employed in the home have insufficient training. For example, a member of night staff worked at the home without ligature and self-harm training, even though this was an identified behaviour and risk for children living at the home.

p.2

This monitoring visit

Not all staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of children currently or likely to be accommodated. There is a lack of understanding of the impact the quality of care has on each child. As such, there is a lack of improvement in the quality of care provided.

p.2

This monitoring visit

Not all staff are receiving regular or meaningful supervision from a suitably qualified and experienced person and there is a lack of continuity in management oversight. Shortfalls identified in practice have not been addressed within formal supervision. The designated officer’s recommendations around supervision of staff have not been followed.

p.2

This monitoring visit

The management oversight from the home’s responsible individual is inadequate. Communication between managers in the home and the responsible individual is poor. For example, the responsible individual requested that Ofsted carries out a visit to consider lifting the restriction due to the progress the home has made, but did not tell the managers in the home that the request had been made. The managers in the home told inspectors that they were not ready to accommodate children.

p.2

This monitoring visit

The quality of record-keeping is exceptionally poor. Recording is inconsistent, and some records are incomplete. During the visit, managers and staff gave verbal accounts that were inconsistent with the records in the home, some of which were signed by the staff giving the inconsistent verbal account. This makes the records in the home unreliable.

p.2

This monitoring visit

The operations manager told inspectors that 11 safeguarding incident reports were missing and/or incomplete. This impacts on the ability of safeguarding agencies and Ofsted to respond to possible serious incidents in a timely manner. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2502009 3 Recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety are not consistently followed. This places children at risk of harm.

p.2

This monitoring visit

Team meetings are poorly attended by staff and are not being used as a vehicle to improve standards and develop staff practice.

p.3

This monitoring visit

At the point of this visit, nine requirements were in place. While this visit did not specifically review all of the requirements, inspectors deemed that three requirements have been met. These were around the use of monitoring equipment in the home, children’s case records and children having information about how to make a complaint and access to people independent to the home.

p.3

Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 18/02/2020 Interim Declined in effectiveness 28/08/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2502009 4

p.3

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.4

Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

p.4

Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

p.4

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

p.4

Requirement Due date

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

p.4

Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

p.4

Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

p.4

Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home.

p.4

Requirement Due date

(Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(a)(c)(f)(h)) 01/09/2020

p.4

Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

p.4

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

p.4

Requirement Due date

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if 01/09/2020 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2502009 5 necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

p.4

Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

p.5

Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

p.5

Requirement Due date

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

p.5

Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

p.5

Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

p.5

Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies.

p.5

Requirement Due date

(Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)) The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

p.5

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

p.5

Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm;

p.5

Requirement Due date

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health;

p.5

Requirement Due date

that the effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly.

p.5

Requirement Due date

(Regulation 12 (1)(2)(b)(d)(e)) 01/09/2020

p.5

Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

p.5

Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home; if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3). Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2502009 6 The requirements are that—

p.5

Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2.

p.6

Requirement Due date

(Regulation 32 (1)(2)(a)(3)(d)) The care planning standard is that children—

p.6

Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home.

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

p.6

Requirement Due date

that each child’s relevant plans are followed;

p.6

Requirement Due date

that staff help each child to access and contribute to the records kept by the registered person in relation to the child.

p.6

Requirement Due date

(Regulation 14 (1)(a)(2)(d)(g)) 01/09/2020

p.6

Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

p.6

Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience.

p.6

Information about this inspection

The purpose of this visit was to monitor the action taken and the progress made by the children’s home since its last Ofsted inspection.

p.6

Information about this inspection

This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2502009 7

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 18 Hoffmans Way, Chelmsford, Essex CM1 1GU

p.7

Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Tony Clarke-Holland

p.7

Inspectors

Sarah Orriss, social care inspector Amanda Ellis, social care inspector Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: 2502009 8 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.7

Inspectors

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

Inspectors

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

p.8

Inspectors

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

p.8