Children's Home run by Meadows Care Limited in Oldham

Inspection report children’s home: SC066072 1 SC066072 Registered provider: Meadows Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned and run. It is registered to provide care for up to three children.

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Information about this children’s home

If required, children and young people can access the organisation’s school and therapy department.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since April 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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Information about this children’s home

We last visited this setting on 10 March 2021 to carry out a monitoring visit. The report is published on the Ofsted 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 requires improvement to be 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: SC066072 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

05/06/2019 Full Good 26/06/2018 Full Good 29/08/2017 Full Outstanding 16/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC066072 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Over time, children make progress as a result of living at the home. Staff offer care that successfully encourages children to value education and increase their attendance. As a result, one child living in the home has achieved several certificates in practical skills and another commented that they ‘loved’ school.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are offered a supportive environment to develop and explore their identities. The positive regard that children receive helps them to develop self-worth and confidence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work hard to establish and maintain trusting relationships with children. Most children respond to the individual care offered by staff and are receptive to the help and advice given.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child was recently discharged from the home due to presenting behaviours that were increasingly challenging and unsafe. Staff made extensive efforts to prevent this placement breakdown. However, earlier opportunities to address the child’s needs, via a formal review of the placement, were missed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s emotional needs are supported well by the staff. Children also have access to, and engage with, the therapeutic support that is available.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are regularly consulted and encouraged to reflect on their progress at the home. Their views are sought and staff, when appropriate, respond positively to suggestions made.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff offer good opportunities for children to practise the skills they will need as adults. This includes managing a food budget, menu planning, cooking skills and independent travel.

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

Children are provided with a safe home environment, and children spoken to say that they feel safe at the home. Social workers spoken to concur with those views.

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

When incidents of missing from home occur, staff are active in seeking the children’s safe return. Staff follow protocols and go to great lengths to search for children and keep in contact with them.

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

Managers and staff have recognised when the risks posed to children’s safety and welfare have increased. They have been proactive in their responses and involved other agencies and professionals. Inspection report children’s home: SC066072 4 Staff understand children’s individual vulnerabilities and their role in keeping children safe. However, some children’s plans do not address longer-term goals for safely reducing the level of supervision required.

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

Staff have responded patiently and with calm to some of the challenges that children’s behaviour can present. They offer consistent care and boundaries to children and alternative strategies for managing disagreements and conflict.

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

Managers deal with allegations in a transparent manner and involve other agencies in the process of investigating concerns.

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

Children know how to make a complaint and any complaints have been dealt with in a timely manner. However, it is not clear from records whether a complaint made by a third party was satisfactorily resolved.

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good

The manager and team leaders provide regular supervision and support to staff. This support is further enhanced through consultation with the home’s therapist.

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good

Staff have access to a wide range of training, which ensures that they have the skills and knowledge base to meet the needs of children.

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good

Turnover of staff since September 2020 has been high. Although permanent staff have worked hard to cover shortfalls in the rota, staff from other homes within the company have also been needed to cover shifts.

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good

Staff consider the support from the manager and team leaders to be consistently high, especially when faced with difficult situations and children’s complex behaviours. Although children’s risks are regularly reviewed, opportunities to formally evaluate one child’s placement were missed.

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good

There are several mechanisms in place to monitor the progress that children make. However, the manager does not currently evaluate the quality of key working that is completed with children. As a result, key working is not planned, and is more reflective of brief conversations rather than focused areas of work.

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good

Overall, the home offers children a comfortable environment to live in. They are encouraged to make their bedrooms their own and are regularly consulted. However, there are areas of the home that would benefit from repair and renovation. Inspection report children’s home: SC066072 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, 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 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 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’s workforce provides continuity of care for each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(e))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the provider monitoring and reviewing the patterns and trends of turnover of staff and addressing any negative trends. In addition, ensure that this process considers the disruption to children’s attachments. 31 August 2021

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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; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the 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

that the child’s placing authority is contacted, and a review of that child’s relevant plan is requested, if—

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Requirement Due date

the registered person considers that the child is at risk of harm or has concerns that the care provided for the child is inadequate to meet the child’s needs; 30 September Inspection report children’s home: SC066072 6 the child is, or has been, persistently absent from the home without permission. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(e)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the timely consideration of the staff’s abilities to meet children’s needs.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that a record is made of any complaint, the action taken in response, and the outcome of any investigation. (Regulation 39 (3))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the provider ensuring that there is a clear audit trail and that the complainant has been satisfied with the provider’s response. 31 August 2021

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that direct work with children is regularly reviewed and that key working is planned and focused. (‘Guide to the children’s home regulations including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraph 10.24)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that plans to protect children support their independence and are sufficiently detailed to enable staff to support the child to make safe decisions. (‘Guide to the children’s home regulations including the quality standards’, page 17, paragraph 3.27)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home receives timely repairs and maintenance. In particular, that the kitchen floor and units are renewed, damaged plaster work is repaired, and flags to the exterior of the home are made safe. (‘Guide to the children’s home regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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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: SC066072 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Meadows Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Egerton House, Wardle Road, Rochdale, Lancashire OL12 9EN

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Inspector

Pauline Yates, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC066072 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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