Children's Home run by Barnardo Services Limited in Liverpool

Inspection report for children’s home – monitoring visit: 2541467 1

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Barnardo Services Limited

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 charity. It provides care for up to four young people who can no longer live at home.

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Information about this children’s home

There is currently no registered manager in post. An interim manager is in place and has applied to Ofsted to be registered.

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This monitoring visit

This visit took place following two separate safeguarding notifications of serious incidents involving children living at the home.

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This monitoring visit

The visit was carried out in line with Ofsted’s procedures for monitoring services during the current COVID-19 (coronavirus) lockdown and suspension of routine inspection activity. The visit was conducted using a combination of on-site and off-site activity.

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This monitoring visit

Children said that they feel safe and supported by staff. They feel able to talk to staff if they are upset, worried or confused.

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This monitoring visit

Staff have a detailed understanding of children’s individual needs and vulnerabilities. They work effectively with partners in education, health and social care to meet the children’s assessed needs.

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This monitoring visit

On one occasion, however, staff did not follow the plans to deal with children spending time in another child’s bedroom. Staff did not intervene promptly to check on the children’s welfare and failed to manage the risks effectively. Following the incident, the manager has taken suitable action to make sure that staff supervise children appropriately and prevent children from spending time in each other’s bedrooms. Inspection report for children’s home – monitoring visit: 2541467 2 The manager identified that staff had failed to supervise the children appropriately. However, the manager did not report her concerns about staff’s practice to the designated officer from the local authority and Ofsted without delay.

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This monitoring visit

Children said that staff help them to understand the COVID-19 pandemic and how to keep them healthy and safe. The manager responded flexibly to unexpected staff absences due to COVID-19. She used the staff available creatively to meet children’s needs and minimise any disruption to their lives.

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This monitoring visit

The external monitoring of the home by an independent person is not providing the required level of scrutiny. The independent person is not visiting the home every month, so they are not seeing the standard of care provided or the quality of the living conditions. Furthermore, the independent person is not supplying Ofsted with their monitoring report in a timely way.

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This monitoring visit

This monitoring visit has not reviewed all the shortfalls identified at the assurance visit to the home on 8 December 2020. The progress made in improving the quality of children’s records will be reviewed at the next inspection visit.

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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

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

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm; 31 March 2021 Inspection report for children’s home – monitoring visit: 2541467 3 manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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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; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies;

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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

(Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(b))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that the following items, which may be kept in electronic form, are kept in an accessible manner—

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Requirement Due date

children’s case records (see regulation 36).

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to,

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child—

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Requirement Due date

concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or 31 March 2021 Inspection report for children’s home – monitoring visit: 2541467 4 there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children’s home at least once each month.

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Requirement Due date

When the independent person is carrying out a visit, the registered person must help the independent person—

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Requirement Due date

if they consent, to interview in private such of the children, their parents, relatives and persons working at the home as the independent person requires; and

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Requirement Due date

to inspect the premises of the home and such of the home’s records (except for a child’s case records, unless the child and the child’s placing authority consent) as the independent person requires.

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Requirement Due date

A visit by the independent person to the home may be unannounced.

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

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Requirement Due date

The independent person’s report may recommend actions that the registered person may take in relation to the home and timescales within which the registered person must consider whether or not to take those actions.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must provide a copy of the independent person’s report to—

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 44 (1) (2)(a)(b) (3) (4)(a)(b) (5) (7)(a)) 31 March 2021 Inspection report for children’s home – monitoring visit: 2541467 5

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Recommendation

 The registered provider should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Information about a child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. The home’s records on each child provide a significant contribution to their life history. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraphs 14.4 and 14.5) In particular, that the records are easily accessible to children and tell the story of their time in the home.

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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: Barnardo Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Barnardo House, Tanners Lane, Barkingside, Ilford, Essex IG6 1QG

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Inspector

Nick Veysey, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home – monitoring visit: 2541467 6 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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