Children's Home run by Quality Protects Children Ltd in Knowsley

Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC405448 1 SC405448

p.1

Quality Protects Children Ltd

Monitoring visit Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This home is owned by a private company. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to five young people who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The ethos of the home is to provide care following the Structured Psychotherapy for Adolescents Responding to Chronic Stress (SPARCS) therapeutic programme.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The current manager was registered with Ofsted in November 2019.

p.1

This monitoring visit

Ofsted completed a monitoring visit due to escalating safeguarding concerns received from notifications. During this visit, the inspectors found significant shortfalls in the leadership and management at the home. As a result, a compliance notice under regulation 13, the leadership and management standard, has been issued.

p.1

This monitoring visit

The ethos of the home is to provide therapeutic care for children with complex emotional needs and children displaying self-injurious and suicidal behaviours. This includes incidents when children use ligatures. Despite this, not all staff have received self-harm and ligature training. Children’s behaviours have escalated to require restrictive physical intervention. Despite these risks, not all staff have current physical intervention training and, on occasion, untrained staff have restrained children. Therefore, the leadership and management of the home have failed to ensure that all staff are skilled and trained to meet the needs of the children they care for and keep them safe.

p.1

This monitoring visit

Inspectors found shortfalls in record-keeping in the home. For example, incident reports do not always clearly record what has taken place and what actions staff have taken to Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC405448 2 keep children safe. Furthermore, incident reports have not always been completed. A child’s social worker provided inspectors with information about a serious incident whereby the children and staff were reported to have been rescued by the coastguard. Managers at the home were unable to provide inspectors with a copy of an incident report of this event. In addition, Ofsted were not notified of this serious event. This means the regulator is unable to monitor and review the safeguarding of children.

p.1

This monitoring visit

Records of restraint do not always meet regulatory requirements and lack effective management oversight and evaluation. The registered manager has failed to ensure that leaders and managers take effective action when it has been identified that untrained staff have been required to undertake restraints with children, including ensuring that additional measures are in place to keep children and staff safe. This has also not been addressed in debriefs with the staff members involved. Weak management oversight of restraint practice fails to ensure that children are effectively safeguarded.

p.2

This monitoring visit

The registered manager has failed to ensure that a child’s risk assessment is up to date. Despite concerns of a child taking an excessive amount of paracetamol, the child’s risk assessment was not updated. This does not ensure that children are safeguarded. However, when alerted to this shortfall by inspectors, leaders and managers have reviewed children’s risk assessments to ensure that they are updated with all known risks and strategies for children.

p.2

This monitoring visit

Records evidence that staffing levels have fallen below the ratio detailed in plans for children. This has resulted in poorly managed incidents and restraints. On occasion, assistance has been required from the police and other services in order to manage children’s behaviours. Evidence to demonstrate that social workers have been informed of these shortfalls when they have taken place was requested but was not provided by managers at the home. This does not ensure that children are safe.

p.2

This monitoring visit

Children living at the home require wake-in night provision and their plans detail regular night time checks to keep them safe. There is no safe care risk assessment for staff to enter children’s bedrooms when they are asleep. This leaves staff and children vulnerable.

p.2

This monitoring visit

Children are unable to access all rooms in the house, as detailed in the home’s statement of purpose. In addition, doors in the communal areas of the home are fitted with key locks that are only accessible by staff. This does not provide a homely environment for children.

p.2

This monitoring visit

Despite these shortfalls identified, children at the home reported that they felt safe and were happy with the care provided by staff at the home. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC405448 3

p.2

Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 26/11/2019 Full Outstanding 26/09/2018 Full Outstanding 24/05/2017 Full Good 20/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC405448 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 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

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)(d)) 21 February 2021

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 necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

p.4

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)(a)(i)(b)) 21 February 2021

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 promotes their welfare. 21 February 2021 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC405448 5 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.5

Requirement Due date

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

p.5

Requirement Due date

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child.

p.5

Requirement Due date

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

p.5

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) (2)(a)(b)(c)(d)(h))

p.5

Requirement Due date

The registered person must keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and

p.5

Requirement Due date

notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16 (3)(a)(b)) 21 February 2021

p.5

Requirement Due date

children can access all appropriate areas of the children’s home’s premises. (Regulation 21(b)) 21 February 2021

p.5

Requirement Due date

maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4;

p.5

Requirement Due date

ensure that the records are kept up to date; and

p.5

Requirement Due date

retain the records for at least 15 years from the date of the last entry. (Regulation 37 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c)) 21 February 2021

p.5

Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

p.5

Requirement Due date

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, 21 February 2021 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC405448 6 sexual exploitation;

p.5

Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

p.6

Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

p.6

Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child —

p.6

Requirement Due date

concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or

p.6

Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e))

p.6

Requirement Due date

*These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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.

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Quality Protects Children Ltd

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Hill House, Archway Road, Huyton, Liverpool L36 9XB

p.6

Inspectors

Jessica Forshaw, Social Care Inspector Catherine Fargin, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC405448 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

p.6

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.7

Inspectors

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

p.7

Inspectors

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

p.7