Children's Home run by Oracle Care Limited in Bedford

Inspection report children’s home: SC389698 1 SC389698 Registered provider: Oracle 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 owned by a private company. It is registered for three children who require care, education and clinical support.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager left on 1 July 2021.

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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: 16 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: SC389698 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/09/2019 Full Good 27/09/2018 Full Good 31/01/2018 Interim Declined in effectiveness 27/06/2017 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC389698 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children continue to make good progress. All the children have lived at the home since 2018. They have trusting relationships with a staff team that supports children to maintain long-term placements. A social worker said, ‘Behaviour has improved so much. The home has supported [the child] with engaging in therapy. I have seen lovely changes over the last year, not so defensive and now thinking of others.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have high aspirations for the children. They encourage and support them with their individual education packages. Two of the children attend the provider’s school and one attended a local college. Education attendance is high. When difficulties arise, the staff work in partnership with education providers to ensure that attendance continues.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s meetings are held regularly to gain children’s views on future activities and plans for the home. Children said that they enjoy the activities offered and are given support to continue with their individual interests and hobbies. During the recent COVID-19 lockdown periods, children enjoyed spending time with staff and going for walks.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage independence skills, including cooking, laundry, and general housekeeping tasks. Learning vital future life skills helps children to achieve successful independent living.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage children to maintain relationships with their family and friends. When people who are important to the children live far away, staff take the children to visit, in line with their care plans. Staff remain in the area, which provides reassurance to the children

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The recommendation set at the last inspection has been met. Children now have their own email account for personal memories. Staff send photos and reminders of special moments to the child’s account. This ensures that when the child moves on, they will have these memories to keep as part of their life story.

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

Children have good positive relationships with staff and feel safe living at the home. One child said, ‘I like it here. Our staff are all lovely. Everything is good.’

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

When tensions arise between the children, staff intervene quickly in a nurturing way. They are successful in de-escalating any signs of conflict. This reduces the likelihood of children feeling bullied and helps to maintain a positive atmosphere at the home. Inspection report children’s home: SC389698 4 Detailed risk assessments provide staff with the necessary strategies to minimise potential dangers and protect children. These assessments are updated regularly and recognise improvements in behaviour.

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

Children receive sanctions for negative behaviour, and positive behaviour is rewarded. The sanctions are restorative in nature and are fair and proportionate. Rewards often include an activity, such as the child being taken to their favourite coffee shop.

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

There have been no incidents of children going missing from the home. All the children enjoy having free time in the community with their friends. They consistently keep in touch with staff and return at the agreed time. The work that staff do with children enables children to recognise risks and make responsible decisions.

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

Staff manage challenging behaviours extremely well. Physical interventions and measures of control have decreased. They are used infrequently, and only as a last resort. When physical interventions are used, staff gain the child’s opinion about the incident. However, records do not evidence that staff are routinely debriefed following the intervention. This hinders effective monitoring of these incidents.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The previous manager registered with Ofsted in October 2020 and recently moved on after giving a period of notice. The manager was well respected by the staff and ran the home well. Presently, the home is managed by the deputy manager, who is being supported by a senior manager. Under these arrangements, the home continues to be well managed while the provider is in the process of recruitment.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team has remained consistent with only one team member leaving. The staff are dedicated, and they demonstrate a good understanding of each child. They take pride in providing quality care to the children. The children benefit greatly from staff who are attuned to their needs and are happy in their roles.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Regular staff meetings and training sessions support the staff’s work. Alongside these, staff receive regular formal supervision sessions and yearly appraisals. A requirement set at the last inspection has been met as staff have now achieved a relevant level 3 qualification within the required timescale.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The independent person visits monthly and provides a detailed report to make improvements. At the last inspection, a requirement was set as the independent person’s reports did not consistently include consultation with the children, their parents and their social workers. This requirement has been met, and the views of children, parents and professionals are now regularly sought and included in the reports.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Over the Christmas period, the home suffered a flood due to extreme weather conditions. The provider responded promptly and made appropriate alternative Inspection report children’s home: SC389698 5 accommodation arrangements. The staff worked tirelessly to ensure that the children remained together and that their holiday celebrations continued. The home has now been refurbished and provides a comfortable and homely environment for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

All children receive a children’s guide to the home on arrival. This is child friendly and provides details of the home and staff to enable the child to familiarise themselves. However, it does not include information on the daily routines at the home. This may cause confusion and anxiety to new children. Inspection report children’s home: SC389698 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

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

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Requirement Due date

have spoken to the user about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(b)(i)) 30 August 2021

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that the home’s children’s guide helps the children to understand the daily routines at the home. (‘Guide to the children’s home regulations including the quality standards’, page 24, paragraph 4.22)

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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: SC389698 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Oracle Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Suites 1 & 5, Riverside Business Centre, Foundry Lane, Milford, Belper, Derbyshire DE56 0RN

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Inspector

Lynne Drage, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC389698 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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