Children's home run by Oracle Care Limited in Central Bedfordshire

Inspection report children's home: SC066917 1 SC066917 Registered provider: Oracle Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This home is owned and operated by a private company. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to two children, who may have social and/or emotional difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

A qualified registered manager is in post.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

Due to COVID-19 (coronavirus), at the request of the Secretary of State, we suspended all routine inspections of social care providers on 17 March 2020.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Date of last inspection: 11 September 2019

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: SC066917 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/09/2019 Full Good 22/01/2019 Interim Declined in effectiveness 12/07/2018 Full Good 08/02/2018 Interim Declined in effectiveness Inspection report children's home: SC066917 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There are currently two children living in the home. One child has lived in the home for over three years. The other child has lived there for a short period of time but has settled in well. The registered manager and staff have a good understanding of the children’s individual needs and the progress that they make. Overall, staff have positive relationships with children and provide individualised care.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager and staff promote children seeing their family when appropriate to do so. This has had a positive impact for one child, resulting in their relationships with family members improving. Furthermore, the good communication between staff and family members has enabled a consistent approach to behaviour management. A grandparent spoke highly of the support the registered manager and staff provide.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage children to attend school by using a rewards system. This is effective. One child is on track to gain GCSEs in mathematics and English. This will support him in achieving his goal of gaining an apprenticeship when he leaves school.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have access to therapeutic sessions with the home’s clinical team. The staff are also supported by the clinical team to establish appropriate approaches to support children’s emotional health and well-being.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff complete direct work with children that is beneficial to them and enables them to reflect and understand their feelings and behaviours. Staff do this in a supportive and interactive way that helps children feel listened to.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is well decorated and provides children with a homely environment. One child informed the inspector he likes everything about the home. However, the outside areas of the home need attention as some spaces are currently unusable.

p.3

How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff are effective in helping children to manage their emotions. This prevents behaviours from escalating and, therefore, staff do not need to physically restrain children. Behaviour management support plans give staff the guidance they need to manage children’s behaviour. As such, staff are confident in the safe care they provide children.

p.3

How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Children occasionally go missing from the home. When this does happen, staff respond appropriately to ensure that the children are safely returned to the home. Children are offered independent return home interviews in order to identify any learning from the incident. Inspection report children's home: SC066917 4 Staff are skilled at managing self-harm incidents. When children self-harm staff provide appropriate care and nurture to manage the situation.

p.3

How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The registered manager is alert to safeguarding concerns in and out of the home. He ensures that he reports and follows safeguarding protocols when needed. This helps keep children safe.

p.4

How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

In most cases, the registered manager assures himself that staff are safely recruited. However, in one instance the reasons why one member of staff’s previous employment had ended had not been verified. This was an isolated case and the registered manager demonstrated a good understanding of safer recruitment checks.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A newly appointed registered manager is in post. He is developing in his role and demonstrates good leadership skills. He leads a skilled team who have the experience and knowledge to meet the needs of the children. The registered manager and staff are child focused and consistently consider the children’s needs.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager completes additional training and learning sessions with staff to complement the company-wide training that is available. The additional training focuses on developing staff to meet the individual needs of the children living in the home.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have regular supervision sessions, in addition to team meetings, clinical team meetings and senior meetings. Overall, staff report feeling supported by the registered manager. The registered manager had identified that staff appraisals had not previously been completed. He has now rectified this.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager reviews and monitors the quality of care throughout the home. He reviews all documentation and reflects on practice that could be improved. A new independent visitor has been appointed to the home. The registered manager has found this has helped to drive improvements.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is an excellent advocate for children and challenges others who do not provide a good level of care. Because of this, children feel listened to and supported. Children know how to complain and do so when they need to.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager’s communication with professionals and children’s families is a key strength. He ensures that everyone is kept informed about the child’s progress, via phone calls, emails and weekly progress reports. This enables a shared approach to the children’s care.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

All the professionals and families the inspector talked to spoke highly of the registered manager and staff. They recognised the progress children are making. Inspection report children's home: SC066917 5

p.4

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the outside areas of the home are accessible to children and enhance the nurturing and supportive environment of the inside of the house. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that, as set out in regulations 31-33, they maintain good employment practice. They must ensure that recruitment of staff safeguards children and minimises potential risks to them. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)

p.5

Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people, using the ‘Social care common inspection framework’. This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service, how it meets the core functions of the service as set out in legislation, and to consider how well it complies with the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’.

p.5

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Oracle Care Limited

p.5

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Suites 1 & 5, Riverside Business Centre, Foundry Lane, Milford, Belper, Derbyshire DE56 0RN

p.5

Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Elisabeth Brownlees

p.5

Inspector

Lisa O’Donovan, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: SC066917 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

p.5

Inspector

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 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.6

Inspector

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

p.6

Inspector

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

p.6