Children's home run by Bryn Melyn Care Limited

Information about this children’s home

This privately owned provision is registered as a children’s home to accommodate up to 33 children and young people with special educational needs and learning disabilities, including autism spectrum disorder.

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Information about this children’s home

The service was registered in March 2019. There are six detached houses on the one site.

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Information about this children’s home

There is currently no registered manager in post.

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Information about this children’s home

Previous inspection date: 27 February 2020

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Information about this children’s home

Previous inspection judgement: Declined in 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 care common inspection framework (SCCIF).

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Information about this visit

At these visits, inspectors evaluate the extent to which:  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: 2507038 2

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Findings from the visit

We did not identify any serious or widespread concerns in relation to the care or protection of children at this assurance visit.

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The care of children

There are currently four children living in the home.

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The care of children

Staff support children to attend school. Three of the children are accessing full-time education, and one child’s timetable is gradually increasing. The home and school have involved this child’s parent in completing a personalised incentive scheme to improve her engagement. This has had a significant positive impact on her progress and confidence to interact with other learners.

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The care of children

Staff have safely supported children to share family time during the COVID-19 pandemic. One child has been able to see the key people in her life every week. While there have been some initial challenges for another child, the acting manager has responded quickly to support regular communication and time with his family. As a result, children feel supported and are settled in the home.

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The care of children

While some parts of the home are homely and personalised, this is not consistently the case. The home would benefit from refurbishment and redecoration in a number of areas. Some areas of the home were damaged and had not been repaired effectively. Many of the doors in the home had kick plates, which does not make for a homely feeling.

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The care of children

Staff work effectively with health professionals to support the needs of children. This means children are supported to take prescribed medication relating to their medical needs. However, there are concerns in the way medication for children is administered and recorded. On one occasion, a staff member has failed to administer a child’s medication correctly. This shortfall had an impact on the safety of the child.

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The safety of children

The home’s risk assessments and behaviour management plans for children are clear, and easy for staff to follow. Individual plans are personalised for all children, and these capture the key risks and behaviours effectively. As a result, staff have up-to-date information and can keep children safe.

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The safety of children

The management response to children making allegations is mixed. When children have made allegations against members of staff, the management team has acted quickly to involve the relevant agencies and it has followed its child protection procedures effectively. This means that some investigations have been thorough, and appropriate actions have been taken to safeguard children. However, on one occasion, the manager did not speak to a child when carrying out an investigation Assurance visit report: 2507038 3 into an allegation made against a member of staff. This reduces children’s feelings of safety and the trust they have in adults caring for them.

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The safety of children

There have been a high number of incidents requiring the use of physical restraint with children in the home. When managing the behaviour of one child, staff have not always applied physical intervention techniques related to the training they have received. There are shortfalls in the recording of incidents requiring physical restraint. There have been three incidents, whereby the actions of staff, during a physical restraint, have had an impact on the safety of children. The management team is fully aware of the shortfalls and has acted to address these. As a result, the staff team has completed additional training, and a further session to manage the complex behaviour of one child has been arranged. These responses have meant that incidents have reduced in the last three months, and there has been an improvement in the record-keeping.

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The safety of children

Missing-from-home incidents are low, and, generally, staff manage these well. However, on one occasion, a child was able to leave the home during the night as a result of staff not following the correct plans. This incident was investigated by the acting manager, and follow-up actions were implemented to safeguard the child.

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Leaders and managers

The home does not currently have a registered manager in place. There has been an acting manager working in the home, and a new manager started work in the role on the first day of the assurance visit.

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Leaders and managers

The home has a core team of regular staff who provide consistent care for children. While there are a number of vacancies in the staff team, this does not impact on the staffing levels to support the children in the home. There is a continual programme of staff recruitment. This means that adequate numbers of staff are recruited prior to new children moving into the home.

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Leaders and managers

Staff receive regular supervision, and there are systems in place for staff to learn and improve their practice. Supervision records are reflective and accurately capture the development areas for the home. This ensures that staff feel supported and are listened to.

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Leaders and managers

The acting manager has a good oversight of the home and seeks the views of children and professionals in making improvements. Her review of the quality of care captures the development needs of the home effectively. This oversight and understanding have contributed to a decrease in the number of safeguarding incidents for children in the last three months.

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Leaders and managers

External monitoring from the independent visitor takes place monthly. However, the independent visitor has not accurately recorded their opinions as to whether children are safeguarded or whether the home promotes children’s well-being. This prevents the regulator having a clear understanding of the home between inspections. Assurance visit report: 2507038 4 Staff work well with other professionals and develop good relationships with them. One professional commented that, ‘All staff appear to be enthusiastic and enjoy working with the young people.’ This approach ensures that children are able to make progress in their lives.

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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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b)(2)(c)(i)(ii)) 28/01/2021

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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; 03/12/2020 Assurance visit report: 2507038 5 have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm; and

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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

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

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

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(h)) 03/12/2020

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular the registered person must ensure that—

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Requirement Due date

medicine which is prescribed for a child is administered as prescribed to the child for whom it is prescribed and to no other child; and

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Requirement Due date

a record is kept of the administration of medicine to each child.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy ("the behaviour management policy") which sets out—

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Requirement Due date

how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children’s home; and 03/12/2020 Assurance visit report: 2507038 6 the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must keep the behaviour management policy under review and, where appropriate, revise it.

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person who used the measure ("the user"), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so ("the authorised person")—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. Assurance visit report: 2507038 7 (Regulation 35 (1)(a)(b)(2)(3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must produce a report about a visit ("the independent person’s report") which sets out, in particular, the independent person’s opinion as to whether—

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Requirement Due date

children are effectively safeguarded; and

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Requirement Due date

the conduct of the home promotes children’s well-being.

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Recommendations

 Staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and 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)

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Bryn Melyn Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Bryn Melyn House, 3 Hawksworth Road, Central Park, Telford, Shropshire TF2 9TU

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Inspector

Dean Wilton, Social Care Inspector Assurance visit report: 2507038 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.

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Inspector

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