Children's home run by Roseberry Specialist Care Centres Ltd in Sunderland

Assurance visit report: SC430002 1 SC430002

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned by a private organisation. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to six children who have learning and/or physical disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The home has been without a registered manager since June 2020. The acting manager has submitted his application to apply to register with Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

Previous inspection date: 12 November 2019

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Information about this children’s home

Previous inspection judgement: Sustained effectiveness

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Information about this visit

Due to COVID-19 (coronavirus), Ofsted suspended all routine inspections in March 2020. As part of a phased return to routine inspection, we are undertaking assurance visits to children’s social care services that are inspected under the social care common inspection framework (SCCIF).

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Information about this visit

At these visits, inspectors evaluate the extent to which:

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Information about this visit

 children are well cared for  children are safe  leaders and managers are exercising strong leadership.

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Information about this visit

This visit was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000, following the published guidance for assurance visits.

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Information about this visit

Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills is leading Ofsted’s work into how England’s social care system has delivered child-centred practice and care within the context of the restrictions placed on society during the COVID-19 pandemic. Assurance visit report: SC430002 2

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Findings from the visit

We identified the following serious concerns in relation to the care and protection of children at this assurance visit:

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Findings from the visit

 unacceptable conduct by some staff impacts negatively on the safety and well-being of the children  some staff do not always apply their training to manage the children’s behaviours and to keep the children safe  the children’s risk assessments and plans do not include all relevant information about the children’s needs or risks to their safety  the children are at risk of harm because staff do not always report safeguarding incidents to managers in a timely manner  At the last monitoring visit on 24 August 2020, two compliance notices were issued and three requirements were set. The actions taken to meet these compliance notices and requirements were not fully reviewed during this assurance visit. Progress to meet these compliance notices will be assessed at a focused enforcement action monitoring visit.

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The care of children

The children’s relationships with the staff are now mostly positive. However, there have been occasions when the unprofessional conduct of some staff meant that children were shouted at and subjected to other inappropriate behaviours. These behaviours included a member of staff holding a door shut to prevent a child from leaving a room. Leaders and managers took immediate action to address these issues and to protect the children from harm.

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The care of children

There have been two recent incidents where staff have incorrectly administered children’s medication. Medical advice was sought to make sure that any risks to the children’s health were known and managed. New procedures are now in place to strengthen the oversight of medication.

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The care of children

The children have enjoyed bespoke educational and learning activities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Where more formal education has not been possible, the staff have engaged children in activities such as games and walks. Some children are now back in education. For those children who remain out of education, the staff are working with other professionals to find them suitable educational provision. This means that children can continue with their learning.

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The care of children

The children benefit from keeping in touch with their families. The staff continued to facilitate the children seeing their families during the COVID-19 restrictions. The staff help the children to use social media to do this. Where safe to do so, the children also met with their families in person. The children seeing their families helps to promote their identity and well-being. Assurance visit report: SC430002 3

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The safety of children

Children’s risk assessments and care plans do not reflect their vulnerabilities or all the known risks to their safety. For some children, these risks include self-harm and tying ligatures. The lack of information to manage these types of risks means that staff practice is inconsistent. Leaders and managers recognise the importance of clear plans to help staff manage high risks to the children. Immediate action was taken to address this during the assurance visit.

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The safety of children

The staff receive training to help them to manage behaviour positively. This training includes the use of permitted physical intervention techniques. However, there was one occasion when a member of staff did not apply this training in practice. A staff member used inappropriate physical restraint holds to manage a child’s behaviour. This included pulling a child by the wrist. This action was not necessary or proportionate and placed the child at risk of harm.

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The safety of children

Children’s welfare and protection has been compromised. This is because there have been some occasions when the staff have failed to quickly report safeguarding concerns to managers. When leaders and managers are aware of any safeguarding concerns, they take appropriate action to manage and address these issues. They have recently introduced safeguarding checklists. This provides the staff with clear direction of what to do if they are concerned about children’s welfare and safety.

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Leaders and managers

This service is going through a period of change, which is creating instability for the children. The manager and the deputy have been in post for less than six months and 14 staff are in their probationary period.

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Leaders and managers

The staff are not yet working effectively together to provide a consistently positive experience for the children. On occasion, emphasis is taken away from the care of the children because the staff focus on raising their own issues with each other. During team meetings, the manager and the responsible individual provide the staff with clear expectations of staff conduct. Leaders and managers also use these meetings to outline the personal and collective responsibilities of the staff team for providing the children with good care and support. However, at this time, these measures have not resulted in improved teamwork.

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Leaders and managers

Leaders and managers are taking action to address the compliance notices set at the last inspection. For example, some internal monitoring systems have improved. However, the manager is carrying most of the management oversight and is not delegating management tasks to the deputy manager and other senior staff. This prevents him from having the necessary time to monitor all aspects of the care the children receive effectively. This means that the manager does not lead the home in a way that is consistent with the statement of purpose. Assurance visit report: SC430002 4 Leaders and managers have completed a six-monthly review of the quality of care. However, this report was not sent to Ofsted. Without the report, the regulator cannot monitor the progress of the service effectively.

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

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(i)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii)) 16/10/2020

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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—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

promotes their welfare. 28/10/2020 Assurance visit report: SC430002 5 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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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;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate; and

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(a)(b)(c)) Restraint in relation to a child must be necessary and proportionate. (Regulation 20 (2)) 16/10/2020

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

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)(4)(a)) 28/10/2020

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Roseberry Specialist Care Centres Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Roseberry Specialist Care Centres Limited, Lakeside House, Kingfisher Way, Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham TS18 3NB

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Inspector

Jamie Richardson, Social Care Inspector Assurance visit report: SC430002 6 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.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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