Children's Home run by Milestones Care Homes Ltd in Wirral

Inspection report children’s home: 2483789 1 Registered provider: Milestones Care Homes Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a privately run children’s home. It is registered to provide care for up to three children. The provider states in its statement of purpose that it provides care for children who may have social and/or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager was registered with Ofsted in August 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 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 2483789 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

17/07/2019 Full Good 25/02/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children’s home: 2483789 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive good care from a nurturing staff team. Inspectors observed warm relationships between staff and children. Staff demonstrate a good understanding of children’s needs, and try to engage children in things that interest them and they enjoy. Children said that they feel safe and are listened to. One child said, ‘I really like some of the staff; they do know me.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from living in a homely environment which has been personalised by them. Children told inspectors that they had chosen the decor and items for their bedrooms. Photographs and drawings by children are on display in the lounge area. As a result, it is a nice place to live.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Good progress has been made from children’s individual starting points. All children are in full-time education, with plans in place for one child to start at college and one child to join their school’s sixth form next term. When children have struggled in school, the staff have worked with teachers and professionals to address any problems. This has resulted in children staying in school and believing that they will achieve. One child talked with inspectors about her aspirations to go to university in the future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are working with other professionals to ensure that children’s health needs are met. Children are accessing the relevant services to support them with their emotional, physical and mental well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a stable home. They have all lived in the home for over 12 months. The staff team celebrates the longevity of the placements with children. One social worker said, ‘Staff have worked hard when things have been difficult, and have shown a commitment to [name of child].’ Other professionals are also positive about the home. One social worker said, ‘They have come on leaps and bounds in many areas.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to spend time with the people who are important to them. Staff communicate well with children’s families and friends to ensure that time spent away from the home is safe and appropriate. One family member described the staff as ‘brilliant people’.

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improvement to be good

Children benefit from high levels of staff supervision, which means that staff are available to children should they want or need it. However, risk management plans do not include all the strategies that staff must follow in order to minimise the risks to children. For example, staff undertake regular checks on children when they are in the home, in order to monitor their mood and keep them safe. Inspectors Inspection report children’s home: 2483789 4 observed staff routinely undertaking these checks, but this strategy had not been recorded in their risk management plans. Therefore, the actions that the home is taking are not clearly recorded, and the plans do not reflect all that the staff are doing to meet children’s needs and keep them safe. Additionally, some risk management plans do not include all the known risks for children.

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improvement to be good

Some of the plans for individual children contain conflicting information, for example in relation to the levels of supervision required for children when they are spending time with family or in the community with friends. This means that the expectations of staff are unclear and may lead to inconsistent messages for children. However, observed practice showed consistency from the staff team, resulting in reduced risk to children.

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improvement to be good

Records of sanctions do not demonstrate the impact of any action taken. The manager does not currently review these measures for their effectiveness, in order to ensure that the measures are having the required effect on children’s behaviour. There has been only one incident of physical intervention in the home, but there was no record in place to reflect this. While staff acted appropriately in order to ensure that the child was safe, they had not recorded this as a physical intervention. The manager has not ensured that all staff have received training in carrying out physical interventions appropriately.

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improvement to be good

Not all staff have received training in the safe removal of ligatures. This is a known risk for one child. This means that not all staff have the skills to ensure that they can take effective action should they be required to. The manager took immediate action to address this at the inspection.

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improvement to be good

The home’s independent fire risk assessment has not been reviewed since it was created. Measures identified in the assessment have not been actioned. External doors require a key to open them, meaning that children would be unable to leave the home independently in the event of an emergency. Children did not have access to all areas of the home, as one internal door was routinely locked, restricting the movement of all children in their home. The manager ceased this practice during the inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed by an experienced and qualified registered manager. The manager puts the children at the centre of the home. She has developed strong relationships with the children living at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Despite changes to the staff team, the manager has ensured that these changes have not had a negative effect on the children. The current staff team is stable, which is supporting children to establish positive relationships with individual staff members. Children feel listened to by staff, which helps them to feel safe and secure. Children and staff talk positively about how their relationships flourished when they spent time together during the initial period of lockdown, which took place as a result of COVID-19. Inspection report children’s home: 2483789 5 Staff benefit from regular supervision and are encouraged to reflect on their practice. Staff told inspectors that they are supported in their roles, and are able to approach the registered manager with any issues or concerns they may have. Appraisals have been undertaken although they do not include feedback from other professionals. This is a missed opportunity for the manager to include the positive

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

feedback that has been given to the home by other agencies.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings have been taking place virtually, and demonstrate good communication between the management team and staff team. This arena provides further opportunities to discuss the current risks for children, so that staff and managers can work together consistently to support the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has strong relationships with partner agencies. Social workers spoken to were positive about the home, the manager and staff team. Feedback is sought regularly from children and external professionals in order to improve the care and experiences of children living in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has submitted a review of the quality of the care within the correct timescale. However, the reports do not include actions for the development of the home within the next six months. Inspection report children’s home: 2483789 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, the 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

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to: staff having the training required to ensure that risks to children are managed safely; ensuring that all strategies to minimise risks are recorded in children’s plans; and ensuring that thumb-turn locks are fitted to external doors. 1 July 2021

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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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 staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (1) (2)(c)) 6 August 2021 Inspection report children’s home: 2483789 7 In particular, the registered person must ensure that there are staff who are suitably trained to safely care for children.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must compile in relation to the children’s home a statement (“the statement of purpose”) which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1. (Regulation 16 (1)) 6 August 2021

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Requirement Due date

children can access all appropriate areas of the children’s home’s premises; and

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Requirement Due date

any limitation placed on a child’s privacy or access to any area of the home’s premises—

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Requirement Due date

is kept under review and, if necessary, revised; and

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Requirement Due date

allows children as much freedom as is possible when balanced against the need to protect them and keep them safe. (Regulation 21 (b)(c)(ii)(iii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that children have access to all areas of their home. 6 August 2021

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy (“the behaviour management policy”) which sets out—

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Requirement Due date

how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must keep the behaviour management policy under review and, where appropriate, revise it.

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure; 31 July 2021 Inspection report children’s home: 2483789 8 the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person who used the measure (“the user”), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”)—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (1)(a)(b) (2) (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

The registered manager should ensure that there are records for all incidents of restraint used in relation to children, and that all sanctions are evaluated for effectiveness.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children. (Regulation 45 (2)(c)) 6 August 2021 Inspection report children’s home: 2483789 9 In particular, ensure that reports include actions that the registered person will take to drive forward improvements in the home.

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that staff appraisals take into account, where reasonable and practical, the views of other professionals who have worked with the staff member over the year. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.5)

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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: 2483789 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Milestones Care Homes Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 32 Fieldway, Maghull, Liverpool L31 5NB

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Inspectors

Genevieve O’Reilly, Social Care Inspector Louise Redfern, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2483789 11 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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