Children's Home run by John-Edwards Care Homes Limited in Swindon

Inspection report children’s home: SC437171 1 SC437171 Registered provider: John-Edwards Care Homes Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home is registered to care for five children who have learning disabilities. The provision offers a long-term home for some children and a short break for others.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted on 28 April 2020.

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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 provisions on 17 March 2020.

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Information about this children’s home

We last visited this setting on 7 October 2020 to carry out an assurance visit. The report is published on our website.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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good

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

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good

Date of last inspection: 12 November 2019

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: None Inspection report children’s home: SC437171 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/11/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 31/07/2019 Full Inadequate 30/04/2019 Full Inadequate 04/07/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children’s home: SC437171 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s day-to-day experience at the home is good. Children say that they like living here and/or coming for short-break visits. Parents are also very positive about this home and told the inspector that their children love visiting. Staff enable children to follow their interests as well as introducing them to new experiences. Consequently, some children have become very good cake bakers. Children have recently enjoyed the experience of hatching and caring for ducklings. Staff help children to remember their memories and experiences of their time in this home. Scrap books and personalised records are used to celebrate children’s activities, events and achievements.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making good progress towards achieving their individual goals. Some children have developed their communication skills by increasing their vocabulary and improving their use of personal communication systems. Other children have increased their concentration span, developed their eating and drinking skills and have built relationships with other children. Parents and social workers are pleased with the progress children are making.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Meaningful consultation takes place with children. Staff support children effectively using a range of child-friendly resources to help them to express their views, wishes and feelings. One child has played a very important role in determining the redecoration and refurbishment of his new bedroom. He loves this space and is very proud of his work. Staff involve children and their families in the development of children’s plans and with improving the home. As a result, care plans provide good information for staff about how to support children.

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improvement to be good

Risk is managed well. Staff understand how to keep children safe and follow good- quality risk assessments and support plans effectively. Impact risk assessments now include a review of the staff’s skills against the needs of the potential new child.

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improvement to be good

Children’s complex health needs are well managed because staff receive the appropriate training and guidance. Medication practices are effective, clear administration records are maintained and storge is secure.

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improvement to be good

The risks related to the COVID-19 pandemic are managed well. Staff check with parents about the health and well-being of children before they come for their short break and use protective equipment appropriately. Actions taken to safeguard children’s health have been appreciated by parents and other professionals.

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improvement to be good

Staff manage children’s behaviour effectively because they understand how each child expresses their feelings. Staff work together with children’s parents and schools to develop individualised support plans. This has led to a consistency of care Inspection report children’s home: SC437171 4 which has been effective in children learning to understand their behaviours and feelings and manage them. Restraint is rarely used and only used as a last resort to keep a child or others safe. Records of restraint have improved since the assurance visit. However, further work is needed on recording the conversation with staff after an incident of restraint as these records are not of a consistently good quality.

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improvement to be good

Safeguarding arrangements are appropriate and are supported by suitable records. Lessons learned from safeguarding events are used effectively to develop practice.

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improvement to be good

The registered manager has identified weaknesses in the provider’s recruitment practices. Staff do not start working before suitable disclosure and barring checks and references are received. However, not all recruitment files contain all the necessary information. For example, the record of verifying references is not consistently documented and one file did not include the record of a second interview. The registered manager has instigated an investigation into these weaknesses to ensure that they do not continue.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed by an appropriately experienced and qualified manager who understands her role and responsibilities effectively. The manager’s vision for the home is to support children to reach their full potential. Leaders and managers monitor the progress children make and evaluate the effectiveness of the support they receive to ensure that the home’s vision is achieved in practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has completed a review of the quality of care. As a result, she understands the home’s strengths and areas for improvement. The manager has accurately identified staffing sufficiency as the main area for improvement. Currently, this is being managed well to ensure that children receive the support they should. However, until more staff are recruited and trained the manager has made the appropriate decision not to admit any more full-time residents into the home. The report from the manager’s review of the quality of care has not been sent to Ofsted in the required timescales.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular good-quality supervision and say that they feel well supported. Leaders and managers support staff to develop and address poor performance issues effectively. The quality of supervision records has improved.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders, managers and staff have developed very effective working relationships with other professionals. This benefits children as a consistent approach is developed. The manager challenges other professionals appropriately to ensure that children receive the service they require. A good example of this challenge has seen a review take place regarding the planning and implementation of children’s moves to adult services.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The independent visitor regularly visits the home. They gather feedback from other professionals, but do not consistently contact children’s parents for their views. Inspection report children’s home: SC437171 5

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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 leadership and management standard is the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that— helps children to aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child. (Requirement 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(d)) 25 June 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. The registered person must— 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. (Regulation 45 (1)(4)(a)) 30 May 2021

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Recommendations

 The registered person should keep and review the records of control, discipline and restraint to identify effective practice and respond promptly to any issues or trends of concern. In particular, the registered person should ensure that records of discussions with staff who have been involved in a restraint are of a good quality and influence future practice where required. (‘The guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.59)  The registered person should ensure that visits and subsequent reports by the independent person include regular feedback from children’s parents. (‘The guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.5)  The registered person should ensure that they are responsible for maintaining good employment practice. In particular, they must ensure recruitment files Inspection report children’s home: SC437171 6

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Recommendations

contain all the required information. (‘The guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’ page 61, paragraph 13.1)

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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’. Inspection report children’s home: SC437171 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: John-Edwards Care Homes Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 1 Suffolk Way, Sevenoaks TN13 1YL

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Bartosz Winiecki

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Inspector

Wendy Anderson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC437171 8 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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