Children's Home run by Albrighton Care Ltd in Staffordshire

Inspection report children’s home: SC471581 1 SC471581 Registered provider: Albrighton Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is registered to provide care for two young people who have learning disabilities. The home is privately owned.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since May 2020. The registered manager is undertaking the level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management for Residential Childcare.

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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 providers on 17 March 2020.

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Information about this children’s home

We last visited this setting on 13 and 14 September 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 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: 10 October 2018

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC471581 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/10/2018 Full Good 16/10/2017 Full Good 27/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 25/07/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC471581 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

No young people have moved in or out of the home since the assurance visit. One young person continues to live in the home. The young person is making progress. This is because of staff’s personalised approach to his care planning.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are child focused in their practice and reflect on how they can best meet the needs of the young person in their care. The young person can struggle with his emotions but is well supported by staff to manage this.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff make every effort to facilitate communication between the young person and his family, but only when this is safe to do so. Staff help the young person with facilitating video calls when visits are not possible. Staff talk to the young person about any changes to contact arrangements and support him to express his feelings about the contact he has with his loved one. This helps the young person to understand his emotions and understand why he sometimes may not be able to see his family.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young person is flourishing at college. This is because of the support he gets from staff who promote his educational needs. One teacher told the inspector that the registered manager ensures that there is proactive joint working between the home and school. The registered manager shares risk assessments and behaviour support plans to ensure that there is a consistent approach at home and in the school.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Inter-agency working helps to ensure that the young person’s health and behavioural needs are known and met. A nurse told the inspector that the registered manager keeps her informed of any changes to the young person’s behaviour. This enables her to provide the staff with strategies to best support the young person. This information is then shared with all professionals who are involved in the care plan for the young person. This effective inter-agency working means that the young person receives the best possible care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have a good understanding of the communication needs for the young person. Staff are creative in their approach using visual aids, sounds, hand gestures and understanding his facial expressions. However, the knowledge that staff have gained through caring for the young person is not always reflected in his communication passport. As a result, there is a potential risk that staff may not understand the young person immediately.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager and her staff advocate for the young person. However, the young person does not yet have access to an independent advocate to ensure that someone can speak on his behalf when he leaves the home and transitions to adult services. This means that he will lose the advocacy support that he is currently receiving now. Inspection report children’s home: SC471581 4

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

The young person’s relationship with staff and the consistency of care provided means that the young person feels safe and well cared for.

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

The registered manager and her team are good at keeping the young person safe. All staff have completed specialised safeguarding training for vulnerable young people who have learning difficulties. Staff can confidently describe the actions that they would take if they had any safeguarding concerns. There have not been any safeguarding referrals required, missing from home incidents or formal complaints.

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

The young person’s behaviour is well managed. Staff understand the patterns and cycles of behaviours and, as a result, can de-escalate situations at an early stage. Staff maintain clear, consistent and appropriate boundaries. Staff support the young person competently when he experiences difficult situations and emotional challenges. Staff use physical interventions as a last resort. This means that the interventions are only used when appropriate and when needed to safeguard the young person from harm.

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

The young person is supported in making better choices. Staff use a solution- focused approach and look beyond the behaviour of the young person. Due to this, staff have confidence in responding to incidents, and incidents are resolved promptly.

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

The registered manager ensures that all staff are subject to a comprehensive recruitment procedure to ensure that they are suitable people to be working in the home.

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

The inspector identified that some fire doors do not have the required self-closing function and intumescent fire strip. The responsible individual and registered manager took action during the inspection to ensure that there was a plan to get these fitted in a timely manner.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is passionate and effective in managing the home. She is supported by an equally competent staff team that shares her vision and passion for improving the life of the young person. The staff team has been successful in gaining a greater understanding of the young person’s needs and sharing this knowledge with all professionals. Because of this, there is a clear plan for the young person to transition into adult services.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff benefit from regular supervision from the registered manager, who is described by staff as supportive. The registered manager is child focused in her approach and has acted to encourage greater reflection on practice by the team, both in supervision and in team meetings. Inspection report children’s home: SC471581 5 The number of staff on duty is enough to ensure that the needs of the young person are met. There are always two staff caring for him, who are well trained and feel well supported.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Professionals speak highly of the registered manager, as well as staff. One social worker shared that the staff ensure that the young person receives a good structure and that they have been successful at supporting the young person at college and providing the young person with a positive experience. Similar feedback was echoed by other professionals.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The inspector found that some of the young person’s personal belongings are stored in the staff sleep-in bedroom rather than the young person’s bedroom. A requirement was raised at the previous assurance visit in relation to this matter. This requirement has been restated. Inspection report children’s home: SC471581 6

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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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered manager ensuring that the personal belongings of the young person are not stored in the staff sleep in room. 13 September

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Requirement Due date

The children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

develop positive relationships with them;

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Requirement Due date

take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— 13 September Inspection report children’s home: SC471581 7 ensure that each child—

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Requirement Due date

is enabled to provide feedback to, and raise issues with, a relevant person about the support and services that the child receives;

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Requirement Due date

is given appropriate advocacy support. (Regulation 7 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(b)(i)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered manager ensuring that the young person has access to an advocacy support and their communication passport contains accurate information regarding their communication needs.

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Requirement Due date

After consultation with the fire and rescue authority, the registered person must—

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Requirement Due date

take adequate precautions against the risk of fire, including the provision of suitable fire equipment in the children’s home. (Regulation 25 (1)(a))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the registered provider ensuring that all fire doors are fire safety compliant. 31 July 2021

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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: SC471581 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Albrighton Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Suite 4, Bermar House, Rumer Hill Business Estate, Rumer Hill Road, Cannock, Staffordshire WS11 0ET

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Inspector

Sam Dulay-Kainth, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC471581 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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