Children's home run by Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council in Wigan

Inspection report children's home: SC040982 1 SC040982 Registered provider: Wigan Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This is a local authority short-break service for children with disabilities and complex needs.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

There is a registered manager in post. She registered with Ofsted in March 2021.

p.1

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.

p.1

Inspection dates: 20 to 21 July 2021

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people , taking into account inadequate

p.1

Inspection dates: 20 to 21 July 2021

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

p.1

Inspection dates: 20 to 21 July 2021

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

p.1

Inspection dates: 20 to 21 July 2021

There are serious failures that mean children and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded.

p.1

Inspection dates: 20 to 21 July 2021

Date of last inspection: 16 October 2019

p.1

Inspection dates: 20 to 21 July 2021

Overall judgement at last inspection: Good

p.1

Inspection dates: 20 to 21 July 2021

Enforcement action since last inspection: None Inspection report children's home: SC040982 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/10/2019 Full Good 07/12/2018 Full Outstanding 12/09/2017 Full Outstanding 08/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children's home: SC040982 3

p.2

inadequate

This children’s home provides short-break care for children with disabilities and complex needs.

p.3

inadequate

Transition planning for children moving into the home is variable. The registered manager has not completed a holistic review and considered the needs of the child coming to stay in the home and other children already enjoying their short-break stay. Furthermore, the experience of staff has not been carefully considered to ensure that they have sufficient skills to meet the needs of all children.

p.3

inadequate

Children’s plans are limited and do not include some important information, for example in relation to children’s basic care needs. One child needs two staff to provide her with personal care. However, the child’s plans do not include details about how the staff should provide this care for the child. This is particularly important for new staff working in the home.

p.3

inadequate

Some children’s plans are not consistently updated and do not show the progress that children make from their starting points. For example, one child’s plan includes a target to help the child eat independently. Staff supported the child to achieve this target. However, the child’s targets have not been updated with new targets for the child to work towards. Another child’s targets have been the same since 2019. This does not demonstrate that staff are consistently reviewing children’s plans to ensure that they continue to support children’s needs.

p.3

inadequate

Staff need to improve how they communicate with all children. For example, direct work with children, in respect of helping children understand how to complain, does not demonstrate that staff have adapted this to meet children’s individual communication needs.

p.3

inadequate

Children are supported to enjoy their time when they stay at the home. Children enjoy playing on the trampoline in the garden and making pancakes.

p.3

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

The inspectors found significant concerns in respect of safeguarding practice in the home. Risks in respect of a child moving into the home on an emergency basis were not fully identified and understood. This led to a serious safeguarding incident when children and staff suffered distress.

p.3

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

There are significant shortfalls in one child’s impact risk assessment. This is because the registered manager agreed for the child to be placed at the home without rigorously assessing their needs, vulnerabilities and the potential impact on other children. The impact risk assessment includes self-injurious behaviour, although the Inspection report children's home: SC040982 4 registered manager did not robustly assess this and any impact on children and staff. Furthermore, staff did not have any prevention strategies to follow to reduce the risk of harm to children. Staff told inspectors that they have not received any training in self-injurious behaviour.

p.3

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

Therefore, staff did not have the knowledge, training or skills to intervene when a child attempted to self-injure with a ligature. The emergency services were called to the home to support the staff to safeguard the child. The child left the home in a distressed state and was taken to hospital by ambulance. This incident had a significant impact on other children staying at the home. One child was described by his social worker as ‘traumatised’. Some staff working at the home when the child moved in describe feeling helpless and upset.

p.4

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

Staff did not take immediate action, in respect of a medication error, after staff discovered that a child had been given an overdose of medication. This failure to take any immediate action left the child at risk of harm. Since this incident the registered manager has improved medication processes.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers are not leading the home in line with the statement of purpose. The statement of purpose outlines that the home provides a ‘safe, secure environment, where young people come to receive high-quality care that is individualised to their needs.’ However, the recent safeguarding incident when a child attempted to self-injure with a ligature and errors when a child was potentially given too much medication, do not demonstrate that children receive high-quality care in a safe and secure environment.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

In addition, leaders and managers changed the statement of purpose to state that the home now offers emergency placements. However, the document is contradictory. Staff report that they did not know that the home now provides emergency care. They were not aware that they had started accepting this type of placement until the child arrived at the home. This fails to ensure that all staff are fully aware of the ethos and vision for the setting and have been fully prepared for the changes implemented in the home.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff do not have the knowledge and skills to safely care for children staying at the home. Staff do not have training in how to manage and deal with self-injurious behaviours. In addition, leaders and managers failed to check that agency workers have the skills and experience to safely support children. As a result, an incident of self-injurious behaviour was poorly managed and caused trauma for all the children staying at the home. Staff also report that they were upset and did not know how to manage this incident.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff report that morale is extremely low. Some staff say that communication from leaders and managers is extremely poor. Staff report that the registered manager spends limited time in the home and does not understand the individual care needs Inspection report children's home: SC040982 5 of the children who come to enjoy a short-break stay. Rotas do not demonstrate the actual hours that the registered manager works.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff report that changes to practice in the home are poorly communicated to them. This has had an negative impact on the staff’s ability to provide a consistent level of care for children. Inspection report children's home: SC040982 6

p.5

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.

p.6

Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

p.6

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;

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

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; (12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(v)(b))

p.6

Requirement Due date

The manager needs to ensure that all risks, in respect of children, are robustly assessed and that staff have strategies to reduce risk to follow in practice. 12 September

p.6

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—

p.6

Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

p.6

Requirement Due date

promotes their welfare. 12 September Inspection report children's home: SC040982 7 In particular the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

p.6

Requirement Due date

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

p.7

Requirement Due date

ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate.

p.7

Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

p.7

Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care 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; (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(c)(f))

p.7

Requirement Due date

This is particularly in relation to leaders and managers ensuring that staff have the necessary training to meet children’s individual needs.

p.7

Requirement Due date

Furthermore, the registered manager needs to ensure that she is consistently meeting the approach and ethos in the statement of purpose and that all relevant information is shared and discussed with staff to ensure that staff work as a team.

p.7

Requirement Due date

* The care planning standard is that children—

p.7

Requirement Due date

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

p.7

Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b))

p.7

Requirement Due date

This is in relation to any emergency admissions into the home. The registered manager needs to ensure that children’s care is planned, and children have a positive experience. 12 September

p.7

Requirement Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home.

p.7

Requirement Due date

In particular the registered person must ensure that— 12 September Inspection report children's home: SC040982 8 medicine which is prescribed for a child is administered as prescribed to the child for whom it is prescribed and to no other child. (Regulation 23 (1) (2)(b))

p.7

Requirement Due date

The provider needs to ensure that children take medication in line with their plans. If this doesn’t happen, then the provider needs to ensure that they seek medical support without any delay.

p.8

Requirement Due date

Schedule 4 sets out the information that the registered person must keep in relation to a children’s home.

p.8

Requirement Due date

maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4. (Regulation 37 (1) (2)(a))

p.8

Requirement Due date

The registered manager needs to ensure that she record her actual hours worked on the staff rosters. 12 September

p.8

Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

p.8

Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

p.8

Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(c)(e)) 12 September

p.8

Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

p.8

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: SC040982 9

p.8

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council, Town Hall, Library Street, Wigan WN1 1YN

p.9

Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Shirley Parkinson

p.9

Inspectors

Catherine Fargin, Social Care Inspector Marina Tully, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: SC040982 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.

p.9

Inspectors

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.10

Inspectors

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.10

Inspectors

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.10