Children's Home run by ROC Northwest Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC483688 1 SC483688

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ROC Northwest

Monitoring visit Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and managed by a private company. The home provides care and accommodation for up to seven children who can no longer live at home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager was registered with Ofsted in January 2020, but has been in post since May 2019.

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This monitoring visit

Routine inspection activity is currently suspended because of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. This visit was carried out in line with Ofsted’s procedures for monitoring services during such periods of suspended routine inspection activity.

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This monitoring visit

Ofsted carried out this visit as a result of escalating safeguarding concerns received via notifications. Inspectors identified poor practice relating to restraints, safeguarding, leadership and management of the home and insufficient numbers of staff to care for the children in the home.

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This monitoring visit

The registered manager and staff do not fully understand their roles and responsibilities in keeping children safe. Some staff do not know what the children’s current risks are, and therefore they are unable to safeguard children. The registered manager and some of the staff have failed to protect children living in the home. They did not immediately follow the organisation’s safeguarding and whistleblowing procedures when they observed inappropriate and abusive staff practice in the home. Consequently, children have suffered harm.

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This monitoring visit

Physical intervention and restrictive practice are regularly used in the home. Some staff use physical intervention for compliance and as a method of behaviour management. In addition, other forms of corporal punishment and the intentional deprivation of sleep had occurred in the home. Leaders and managers have failed to monitor and review incidents of physical interventions. Concerning patterns and Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC483688 2 trends regarding the use of physical restraint have not been identified and appropriate action has not been taken to resolve these issues. As a result, a negative culture around the use of physical interventions has developed within the staff team as a way of managing children’s behaviour.

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This monitoring visit

Children reported that they had witnessed younger children being bullied in the home. The provider had given a nine-year-old child a smartphone. This was not agreed or discussed with the placing authority. Consequently, the child had been bullied by older children who had taken his phone and also made threats of harm towards him. During one incident, the child was moved from his bedroom to another room in the house to keep him safe. These incidents were not reported to the placing authority social worker. Furthermore, there is limited recording around the safeguarding incidents. The child’s assessments and plans have not been updated to include information about the incident or introduce effective strategies for staff to follow. This fails to ensure that appropriate action is taken to keep children safe.

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This monitoring visit

Significant changes to the staff team have resulted in a lack of consistency for children. Children are cared for by a number of different staff, and children do not know who is caring for them from one day to the next. Children say that the thing they would change about the home is ‘the staffing’. They said that staff ‘have all changed’ and ‘there’s not enough regular staff’. Children do not know the reasons for the changes in the staff team as the managers have not addressed these significant changes with the children.

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This monitoring visit

The registered manager has agreed placements for some children without appropriately assessing each child’s individual needs. He has not ensured that appropriate strategies are in place to keep the children safe or considered the needs of the children already living in the home. In addition, some assessments have been completed retrospectively. This demonstrates that appropriate strategies are not in place from the day the child moves into the home. This has meant that staff are not aware of all known risk factors or the actions required to keep the child safe.

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This monitoring visit

Some risk assessments and risk management plans have not been updated to include all known risk factors for children. In addition, risk management plans do not include appropriate strategies for staff to follow to keep children safe. For example, despite a child having additional learning needs and a history of running off when he is distressed, the assessment states that missing incidents are ‘non-applicable’. The assessment does not include appropriate strategies to keep him safe. This failure has meant that a child was left at risk of harm.

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This monitoring visit

There is insufficient management oversight of the quality of care. Records of incidents are unclear, and some records are inconsistent and do not include information that should alert managers to the fact that further enquiry is necessary. However, on several occasions, this information has not been identified as needing further enquiries. It is unclear what action was taken following the incidents, and if all appropriate professionals were notified. This fails to safeguard all involved. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC483688 3 The registered manager has failed to ensure that the staff rotas accurately detail the actual staff on duty and the hours that they worked. When there have been changes to rotas, the records have not been sufficiently updated. This prevents a clear audit trail of who is working in the setting

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This monitoring visit

Internal and external monitoring systems are not effective and have failed to identify the safeguarding concerns and breaches in regulation identified at this visit. The registered manager has failed to provide the home’s statement of purpose to Ofsted as required by regulation.

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This monitoring visit

Professionals raised concerns about the communication systems in place in the home and reported that information requested was often delayed or not provided. Social workers reported that they had spoken to the registered manager about the constant changes in staffing and the anxieties this has caused for children. A placing authority raised concerns that a representative from the home had failed to attend a child’s care planning and education meeting. Consequently, plans agreed at the meeting have not been adhered to and this has caused a delay in planning for a child.

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This monitoring visit

Following the feedback provided as part of the visit, the provider took immediate steps to reduce the risk of harm to children. Immediate changes were made to the management team and a temporary experienced staff team was identified to care for the children.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 03/10/2019 Full Good 11/07/2018 Full Good 11/01/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness 19/04/2017 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC483688 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, the 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. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that staff— 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; help each child to understand how to keep safe; have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm; manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other; understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person; take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies; that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so

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Requirement Due date

as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm; that the premises used for the purposes of the home are located so that children are effectively safeguarded. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(b)(c)) This particularly refers to the registered manager and staff team responding appropriately to safeguarding incidents in order to protect the children living in the home, and to 11 April 2021 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC483688 5 ensure that plans effectively address known and emerging risks. * The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that— helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with

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Requirement Due date

the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose; ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate; ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child; ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child; use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(h)) This particularly refers to the registered manager’s oversight of the home and the skills and experience of the staff team, to ensure that sufficient staff are in place to care for the children. Furthermore, the registered manager must ensure that he reviews and evaluates children’s ongoing needs to best support them and reduce risk. 11 April 2021 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC483688 6

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children— receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that arrangements are in place to— ensure the effective induction of each child into the home; manage and review the placement of each child in the home; that each child’s relevant plans are followed. (Regulation 14 (1)(a) (2)(b)(i)(ii)(c)) This is with particular regard to ensuring that pre-placement information is translated accurately onto the internal care plans in order for staff to care for children in line with their local authority care plan. 11 April 2021

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Requirement Due date

* No measure of control or discipline which is excessive, unreasonable or contrary to paragraph (2) may be used in relation to any child. The following measures may not be used to discipline any child— any form of corporal punishment; any punishment involving the consumption or deprivation of food or drink; the intentional deprivation of sleep. (Regulation 19 (1) (2)(a)(b)(e)) This refers specifically to the use of disciplinary measures in the home by the staff team. 11 April 2021

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Requirement Due date

* Restraint in relation to a child is only permitted for the purpose of preventing— injury to any person (including the child); serious damage to the property of any person (including the child). Restraint in relation to a child must be necessary and proportionate. (Regulation 20 (1)(a)(b) (2)) This refers specifically to ensuring that staff only undertake physical restraints in line with the home’s policy. 11 April 2021

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy ("the behaviour management policy") which sets out— the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home. 11 April 2021 Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC483688 7 The registered person must ensure that— 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— a description of the measure and its duration; details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure; the name of the person who used the measure ("the user"), and of any other person present when the measure was used; the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and 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; has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; 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. (Regulation 35 (1)(b) (3)(a)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii) (b)(i)(ii)(c)) This refers specifically to records of incidents being completed in full and that the manager’s evaluations of effectiveness of each intervention is recorded. The registered person must maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4; and ensure that the records are kept up to date. (Regulation 37 (2)(a)(b)) This particularly refers to ensuring that the records include a copy of the staff duty roster of persons working at the home, a record of the actual rotas worked and a record of any person who works at any time at the home, including the registered manager. 11 April 2021

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Requirement Due date

*These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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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. Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC483688 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: ROC Northwest, Metropolitan House, 3 Darkes Lane, Potters Bar EN6 1AG

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Inspectors

Michelle Edge, Social Care Regulatory Inspection Manager Louise Redfern, Social Care Regulatory Inspection Manager Inspection report for children’s home - monitoring visit: SC483688 9 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

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