Children's Home run by Lifetime Opportunities Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report children’s home: SC411046 1 SC411046 Registered provider: Lifetime Opportunities Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is operated by a private provider. The manager overseeing the home has been registered with Ofsted since 2013.

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Information about this children’s home

This home can provide care for up to three children of either gender. The statement of purpose states that children cared for here may have learning difficulties, Autistic Spectrum Disorders and/or may display challenging behaviour.

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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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requires improvement to be good

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

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 4 February 2020

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: None Inspection report children’s home: SC411046 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

04/02/2020 Full Good 20/09/2018 Full Good 18/09/2017 Full Good 13/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC411046 3

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improvement to be good

Children living in this home are settled and appear happy. They are making some progress while living here. Unfortunately, a lack of visibility and presence at the home from the registered manager has affected the level of care provided to children and has resulted in several shortfalls.

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improvement to be good

Plans for children’s care are not adequately updated. They do not reflect the current needs, targets and aspirations for children. For one child, the home’s care plan had only been briefly updated once since its creation over six months ago. Furthermore, no local authority plans were available at the time of the inspection. Without relevant agreed plans, it is unclear whether the home is meeting the aims of the placement and is providing good-quality care.

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improvement to be good

Children consistently attend education. Unfortunately, there are no formal plans in place to monitor the progress of one child or to establish the plans in place for the home to support him to further achieve. The necessary multi-agency formed plans are also significantly outdated. This means that those working in the home do not have a clear understanding of children’s targets and abilities in relation to education, and they do not have the required information to support improvement.

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improvement to be good

Children appear well kept, healthy and happy. Unfortunately, records relating to one child’s health were either not available, not clear or not well maintained. For example, one child’s health plans were not updated to include a record of immunisations, childhood illnesses, associated medical professionals or health appointments attended. The lack of formal documentation and record-keeping means that children’s health needs are not consistently reviewed and monitored. This hinders children’s health and well-being.

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improvement to be good

Children have access to activities, such as arts and crafts and swimming, and to time outdoors. However, they would benefit from a larger variety of experiences inside and outside of the home. It is recommended that children are offered further opportunities to expand their experiences and to promote new interests.

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improvement to be good

Staff understand and support children’s individual communication needs well. They routinely encourage children to use and to practise their communication skills. Because of this, children’s abilities to communicate have significantly improved. This helps them feel listened to in the home and provides them with valuable skills for their future.

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improvement to be good

Children living in this home have stability. They live in this home for long periods of time. Children appear to be progressing but there is very limited information to demonstrate that this is in line with the aims of children’s placements and their ongoing plans. This means that those working with children do not have a clear Inspection report children’s home: SC411046 4 understanding of the outcomes they are supporting children to achieve and the agreed actions to take to meet children’s needs and to help them to progress.

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improvement to be good

Staff have a good understanding of the risks presented by the home’s location and the environment in which children live. Staff can confidently describe the actions they are required to take on a daily basis to maintain health and safety in the home. This clear understanding mitigates risks to children’s safety and prevents avoidable harm.

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improvement to be good

Not all staff are familiar with the procedures in place to protect children from harm. One member of staff was unsure of the procedures to follow in the event of an allegation of abuse made by children. Staff also do not have a clear understanding of the procedures in place for physical contact with children. Furthermore, those documented are not clear or concise. This has the potential to significantly impact children’s safety and well-being.

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improvement to be good

It has not been necessary to apply any physical intervention techniques to children. To improve the recording of potential incidents, a system has been implemented for staff to follow. This helps to ensure staff record all the necessary detail around such events and improves the recording of significant incidents. Additionally, a process has been added to support staff to reflect upon any incidents and to use lessons learned to improve practice. This increases children’s safety and welfare and helps to reduce incidents.

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improvement to be good

There has been one external complaint received about the home. The organisation undertook a thorough investigation to establish the validity of the claims made. All information was shared with the local authority designated officer who was satisfied with the outcomes. This demonstrates a robust and transparent response to concerns raised by others which supports the protection of children.

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good

The registered manager has not spent sufficient time in this home. Rotas viewed at the time of the inspection show a period of three consecutive weeks where the manager has been completing her hours at another home within the organisation. There were further plans to be away from the home for another two weeks. The lack of management oversight has meant that there are significant shortfalls in monitoring and review and of the manager’s availability to children.

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good

The use of agency staff has minimised over recent months. However, there are still issues with ensuring children receive good continuity of care. While there is a core staff team, shortfalls in staffing remain and agency staff are used on a weekly basis. Inspection report children’s home: SC411046 5 Internal monitoring reports have not been received within appropriate timescales. This has prevented the required oversight and review from the regulator, and has the potential to impact children’s safety and well-being.

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good

Staff enjoy working in the home. They have received a comprehensive induction and access regular supervision and appraisal. They have positive, professional relationships with the manager, and they feel well supported.

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good

The registered manager has plans to develop and to improve the service. She has received an accreditation from the autistic society and wishes to use her extended knowledge to improve staff practice and to make the home a more specialised setting. She is keen to develop the home and to spend more time in the home to support the necessary improvements. Inspection report children’s home: SC411046 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 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

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure staff have adequate knowledge and understanding of procedures relating to physical contact with children and to allegations of abuse. 4 August 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

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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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 home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home; and 4 August 2021 Inspection report children’s home: SC411046 7 use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home.

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, ensure the home’s manager is visible within the home and has the capacity to adequately oversee, monitor and develop the quality of care provided to children.

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Requirement Due date

Part of this requirement (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(d)) is restated.

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home.

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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

manage and review the placement of each child in the home;

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Requirement Due date

that each child’s relevant plans are followed.

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Requirement Due date

This refers specifically to ensuring all care, health and education plans for children are available, regularly reviewed and relevant to each child. 4 August 2021

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry.

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, ensure all children’s records are legible and that necessary information is recorded clearly and concisely. This particularly relates to children’s health and medication records. 4 August 2021 Inspection report children’s home: SC411046 8 This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children’s home at least once each month.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must provide a copy of the independent person’s report to—

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, ensure that reports are received by the regulator within appropriate timescales. 4 August 2021

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that children are offered a wide range of activities both inside and outside of the home (where appropriate) and are encouraged to participate in those activities. Staff should support children to take part in school trips, out of school and other clubs, volunteering and leisure activities. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 31, paragraph 6.5)

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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: SC411046 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Lifetime Opportunities Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Windsor House, Bayshill Road, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire GL50 3AT

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Shona Wands Alderson

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Inspector

Natalie Bennett, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC411046 10 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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