Children's Home run by Quality Care Homes (UK) Limited in Slough

Inspection report children's home: 1183799 1 Registered provider: Quality Care Homes (UK) Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is privately owned and cares for four children with learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in November 2018.

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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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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 September 2019

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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: 1183799 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/09/2019 Full Good 12/02/2019 Full Good 31/08/2017 Full Good 27/01/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children's home: 1183799 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people benefit from long-term stable placements. Staff retention is very high for the sector, which provides consistency and reliability of care and support. Staff form excellent relationships with young people which are full of warmth and affection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people have made positive progress since the last inspection, particularly around communication and independence skills. One young person has developed confidence with language and is now using full sentences to express herself. Staff use assistive technology to enable young people to fully participate in day-to-day decision-making in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All young people have become more engaged in the preparation of meals and household tasks as they prepare for their transition into adult services.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide good support around the complex health needs of young people. They form positive relationships with all external professionals to ensure young people receive high-quality healthcare.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff demonstrate a well-developed understanding of the particular challenges faced by young people with autism during the COVID-19 pandemic. They recognise that young people have found changes to routine hard to adapt to. Staff have dealt patiently and skilfully with the impact on young people’s mental health and behaviour. Staff have helped young people to accept change, minimising stress and promoting mental well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people’s transitions have been delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, but clear plans are in place for all young people to transition into the organisation’s own adult setting. This delay has increased the average age of young people in the placement. The provider has taken a pragmatic decision to await the successful transition of the current cohort of young people before taking in any new children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is looking worn and some areas were not very clean. The registered manager has plans for a full refurbishment. In the interim, young people are not living in a high-quality environment.

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

Staff demonstrate a very good understanding of the risks and vulnerabilities of young people in their care. Risk management strategies are clear and simple and ensure that all staff understand how to keep young people safe. Inspection report children's home: 1183799 4 Staffing levels ensure that all young people benefit from one-to-one support at all times. This provides safe levels of supervision both in the home and out in the community.

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

Young people can display some complex and difficult behaviour when feeling anxious. Staff manage this very well, minimising the duration and severity of incidents. The use of restrictive practice is negligible. The registered manager provides strong oversight, supporting staff to reflect and debrief after incidents. This learning is used appropriately to update risk and behaviour management strategies.

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

Staff spoke confidently about their place in the wider safeguarding networks around young people. They could identify clear reporting structures both internally and externally. They were very clear on how to raise whistle-blowing concerns if required.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager continues to demonstrate high-quality leadership. He has been joined by a deputy manager who is progressing well in her role. Staff consistently praised the excellent support and guidance received from leaders. They say they feel valued and this contributes to the long-term stability of the team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff say they enjoy the supervisory relationships they have and find them positive, encouraging and developmental. Frequency of supervision is relatively low for the sector, but staff say this is offset by the constant availability of managers. They feel that they benefit from high levels of informal supervisory support and expressed no concerns about the quantity of formal supervisions received.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders have ambitious targets for young people that prioritise the growth of their autonomy and independence. Regular progress updates are completed for placing social workers and parents to track young people’s achievements against agreed goals and targets.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff benefit from access to the local authorities training hub. This has meant that they can maintain their skills and competencies even when face-to-face training has been on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager uses internal monitoring to ensure that standards of care and support are maintained to a good standard. The recent departure of the organisation’s independent visitor has meant that some recent monitoring has not been completed by a person deemed fully independent of the home. The registered manager has made the recruitment of a new independent visitor a priority.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is held in high regard by other professionals and parents. They value his contributions to reviews and strategy meetings and say that he always demonstrates a very good understanding of the needs of the young people in his care. He advocates strongly for young people to ensure that they achieve the best possible outcomes. Inspection report children's home: 1183799 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 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

meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, to ensure that the decor and cleanliness of the home is maintained to a high standard. 30 September

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider must appoint, at the registered provider’s expense, a person (“the independent person”) to visit and report on the children’s home carried on by the registered provider. (Regulation 43 (1)) 30 September

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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: 1183799 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Quality Care Homes (UK) Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 6th Floor, Amp House, Croydon CR0 2LX

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Balwinder Randhawa

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Inspector

Peter Jackson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: 1183799 7 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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