Children's Home run by Surrey County Council in Surrey

Inspection report for children’s home – monitoring visit: SC370703 1 SC370703

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Surrey County Council

Monitoring visit Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This service is owned and run by the local authority, providing bespoke packages of care and accommodation for up to 20 children who have an autistic spectrum diagnosis and/or learning disabilities. The home is split into four flats for long-term placements and short breaks.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since April 2013.

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This monitoring visit

This children’s home was found to have serious and widespread concerns at an assurance visit on 13 October 2020. At this monitoring visit, inspectors identified that limited progress had been made and limited action had been taken to fully meet the requirements given at the assurance visit, and they are repeated.

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This monitoring visit

Staff continue to provide the children with safe care and ensure continuity of family contact during the COVID-19 (coronavirus) lockdown. Staff practice for welcoming visitors to the home has been improved. Visitors are checked rigorously for any symptoms of the virus. This ensures that children, staff and visitors are protected from COVID-19 while in the home.

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This monitoring visit

The physical environment for children has remained the same as previously seen at the assurance visit. One child’s accommodation has not been adapted sufficiently to meet her needs. Privacy blinds and night screens on some children’s bedroom windows have not changed. This affects some children’s privacy and means that some children are not being provided with an effective window covering.

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This monitoring visit

The frequency of supervision for managers and staff has improved. However, the quality of recording in some supervision records does not show a focus on children’s experiences, needs and plans. Agency staff who work on a regular basis do not receive formal supervision or feedback on their practice directly from leaders or Inspection report for children’s home – monitoring visit: SC370703 2 managers. This omission means that they do not have opportunity to reflect on their practice and discuss the specific needs of the children assigned to their care.

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This monitoring visit

Individual risk assessments for some children are still not updated regularly. These documents are not always revised to demonstrate learning from incidents. Behaviour management strategies lack detail and are not reviewed or assessed in order to ensure that strategies are safe and effective.

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This monitoring visit

The registered manager has submitted a quality of care review covering the period May to October 2020. The report lacks analysis of the impact the service has had on children and their families during this time. Children’s views are not included in the report.

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This monitoring visit

Records do not make it clear who is taking responsibility for investigating a recent allegation against an agency member of staff. Monitoring of staff training and development is not effective. Records are out of date. This makes it difficult to determine if staff have the required skills to effectively meet the specific needs of the children. Children’s care planning documentation is disjointed, with information spread across various documents. When documents are reviewed, it is not clear what changes have been made to inform staff practice. Overall, monitoring systems are not yet effective in identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the service, including safeguarding matters.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 13/11/2019 Full Good 05/02/2019 Full Good 16/11/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 16/05/2017 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home – monitoring visit: SC370703 3

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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

protect and promote each child’s welfare;

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Requirement Due date

provide to children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably;

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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. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(ii)(vii)(c)(i)(ii)) 28 February 2021

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development;

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; and

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Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b)(c)) 28 February 2021 Inspection report for children’s home – monitoring visit: SC370703 4 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

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;

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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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(b)(d)) 28 February 2021

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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. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(h)) 28 February 2021

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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

In order to complete a quality of care review, the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children; 30 April 2021 Inspection report for children’s home – monitoring visit: SC370703 5 the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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Requirement Due date

After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review (“the quality of care review report”).

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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; and

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Requirement Due date

make a copy of the quality of care review report available on request to a placing authority, if the placing authority is not the parent of a child accommodated in the home.

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c) (3) (4)(a)(b) (5))

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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.

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Information about this inspection

This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000.

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Surrey County Council Inspection report for children’s home – monitoring visit: SC370703 6 Registered provider address: Quadrant Court, 35 Guildford Road, Woking, Surrey GU22 7QQ

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Inspectors

Paul Thomas, Social Care Inspector Emeline Evans, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home – monitoring visit: SC370703 7 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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

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