Children's home run by Champion Children (NW London) Limited

Inspection report for children’s home – monitoring visit: 2567267 1

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Champion Children (NW London) Limited

Monitoring visit Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

Bay Tree House is a privately owned children’s home. The home’s statement of purpose states that the home cares for up to four children with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home was registered by Ofsted in March 2020.

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Information about this children’s home

The home does not currently have a registered manager. The previous registered manager resigned from the post in September.

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This monitoring visit

This monitoring visit focused on concerns that emerged following the receipt of a safeguarding notification from the home on 3 November 2020. The concerns were as follows:

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This monitoring visit

 One child had gone missing from the home during the night of 2 November 2020 without night staff realising they had left. The child was not reported missing until she contacted the home in significant emotional distress and reported to staff the following morning that she had consumed alcohol and class A drugs.  Ofsted was not notified of the registered manager’s resignation or of the arrangements for management cover in their absence.  A revised statement of purpose sent to Ofsted by the home in November 2020 stated that a registered manager was in post. However, the individual identified is not registered with Ofsted for this children’s home.  The independent visitor stated in his report that the home received ‘vulnerable items’. There were no further details as to what these items were or their significance. Inspection report for children’s home – monitoring visit: 2567267 2 The main outcomes of the monitoring visit:

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This monitoring visit

 On 2 November 2020, a child informed night staff that she would be leaving the home. In her account of the events, the child stated that she left the home once both staff members had gone to their rooms and had fallen asleep [or: In their account of the events, the staff stated that the child left the home once they had gone to their rooms and had fallen asleep]..  The alarm that covered internal bedroom doors and the front door usually would have alerted staff but was not set correctly. Therefore, the alarm did not go off, and staff remained asleep.  Both members of night staff were relatively inexperienced in working in children’s residential care.  Staff did not adequately supervise or monitor the child when she informed them that she would be leaving the premises on 2 November 2020.  Neither the registered manager nor the responsible individual notified Ofsted of the resignation of the registered manager, the date of her departure from

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This monitoring visit

the home or the arrangements for management cover.  The statement of purpose used by the home, as part of the matching process with external partners, had incorrect information.  The regulation 44 independent visitor confirmed that he had made an error of recording and no ‘vulnerable items’ were received by the home.

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This monitoring visit

During the monitoring visit, the inspector interviewed one child, the responsible individual, the interim manager and one member of staff. The views of another child were obtained via email.

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This monitoring visit

On 2 November 2020, the home failed to ensure that children were protected from the risk of harm. The child concerned did state she would be leaving the home, and left the property after midnight. Staff did not demonstrate vigilance or adequate monitoring of the child because they did not deter the child from leaving and did not report the child missing once she had left. The two staff on duty were relatively inexperienced in children’s residential care and lacked the support of a more experienced staff member.

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This monitoring visit

The alarm for the premises had not been set properly on the evening of 2 November 2020. As a result, the alarm did not sound when the alarmed bedroom door and the external doors were opened. Staff were not aware that the child had left the home until the morning, when the child telephoned the home in distress.

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This monitoring visit

The home has taken learning from this incident and has retrained staff on the setting of the alarm. Managers have implemented an audit process to ensure that the alarm is checked by the second member of staff on duty. Inspection report for children’s home – monitoring visit: 2567267 3 The inspector found evidence that while the children’s bedroom doors are alarmed at night, individual risk assessments do not provide a rationale for the use of bedroom door alarms for all children.

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This monitoring visit

The inspector also found evidence that, overall, children are settled and well cared for by staff. Children have been observed to have good relationships with staff members. Episodes of children going missing from the home have reduced in both their frequency and duration, and children have made good progress in accessing education.

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This monitoring visit

The home’s new manager is not registered with Ofsted as a registered manager for this home. However, the statement of purpose that was distributed to a local authority, regarding a new child being admitted to the home, named the home’s new manager as the registered manager. This is misleading. The responsible individual and the home’s manager admitted to the inspector that this was an oversight, and that no deception had been intended.

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This monitoring visit

The registered manager resigned from the role and left the post on 10 September 2020. The service was managed by the responsible individual and an interim consultant manager from within the organisation until the home’s new manager started on 5 October 2020. However, Ofsted was not informed of these changes or arrangements. The inspector only found out that the registered manager had left the service when they contacted the home on 4 November 2020 to query the safeguarding notification.

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This monitoring visit

In conclusion, while there have been shortfalls relating to safeguarding procedures, leaders and managers recognised the impact of these concerns and put plans in place to improve the home’s approach to keeping children safe. Inspection report for children’s home – monitoring visit: 2567267 4

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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

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;

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Requirement Due date

and are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (2)(a)(v)(vi)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this refers to staff taking effective action to monitor, safeguard and report a child who is missing. 30 January 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

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. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this refers to ensuring that inexperienced staff are supported in their roles by staff experienced in providing residential care for children. 30 January 2021 Inspection report for children’s home – monitoring visit: 2567267 5 The registered person must—

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Requirement Due date

keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it. (Regulation 16 (3)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this refers to ensuring that the statement of purpose contains accurate information in relation to the management of the home. 30 January 2021

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must give notice in writing to HMCI, as soon as it is reasonably practicable to do so, if any of the following events take place or are expected by the registered person to take place—

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Requirement Due date

a person other than the registered person carries on or manages the children’s home; a person ceases to carry on or manage the home. (Regulation 49 (a) (b))

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Requirement Due date

This relates specifically to notifying Ofsted of the resignation of the registered manager and the arrangements for the management of the home in their absence. 30 January 2021

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Recommendations

 Just as in a family home, children should be able to access all shared areas of their home unless there are specific reasons why this would not meet a child’s needs. Limits on privacy and access may only be put in place to safeguard each child in the home (regulation 21 (c)(i)). All decisions should be informed by a rigorous assessment of that individual child’s needs, be properly recorded and be kept under regular review. This relates to children having individual risk assessments for the use of alarmed bedroom doors and to ensure they are used for safeguarding reasons. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.10)

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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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. Inspection report for children’s home – monitoring visit: 2567267 6 This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000. Inspection report for children’s home – monitoring visit: 2567267 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Champion Children (NW London) Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Moran House, Unit 7–8, 449–451 High Road, London, Middlesex NW10 2JJ

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Matthew Wakeling

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Inspector

Jayshree Pillay, social care inspector Inspection report for children’s home – monitoring visit: 2567267 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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