Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report children's home: 1225136 1 Registered provider: Cambian Childcare 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 provider. It is registered to care for up to four children who are unable to live at home due to their emotional and behavioural needs.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been in post since June 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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Information about this children’s home

We last visited this setting on 7 October 2020 to carry out an assurance 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 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: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: 1225136 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

02/01/2020 Full Requires improvement to be good 02/05/2018 Full Good 30/01/2018 Interim Declined in effectiveness 11/05/2017 Full Good Inspection report children's home: 1225136 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children living in the home have made good progress. For example, children attend education and are doing well. One child is due to start a college course of his choice.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who move into the home do so through a well-planned approach that includes individualised transition plans. Furthermore, children who move out of the home do so positively and are well prepared for independence. This allows children to have positive beginnings and endings to their time in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure children have access to community healthcare services. However, children’s health plans lack clarity and do not have actions for staff to ensure children’s overall health is being promoted . For example, it is unclear how staff support children in relation to smoking cessation.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children say they have some positive relationships with staff and can go to them if they are worried. However, there has been a high turnover of staff recently, which has had a negative impact on children. One child said that they sometimes do not know who will be caring for them when they wake up.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s spaces are not personalised to their individual needs and their rooms look tired and worn. Some areas of the home need redecorating and new furniture is needed to make it feel more homely. Children told the inspector that the home is plain and needs colour on the walls.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to see their family, in line with their current care plans. However, one child was having unsupervised contact on social media with a family member, which was not in line with his placing authority care plan.

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

Staff help children to understand risk and how to stay safe. They understand the need for children to become independent and to take appropriate risks, and help them to manage their behaviours and regulate their responses.

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

Children rarely go missing from the home, but when they do there is a coordinated response. Staff are proactive and ensure that they follow children’s missing-from- home protocols.

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

The use of physical intervention is minimal, which is evidence of staff’s skills and ability to form positive relationships with children. Furthermore, rewards and sanctions are used effectively to enhance children’s learning and understanding. Inspection report children's home: 1225136 4 There is evidence of some meaningful discussions with children when there are concerns about bullying and staff are alert to covert bullying and the impact this has on children.

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

Some shortfalls were identified in risk management plans, including there being no plan for a child who was able to spend time away from the home alone. Furthermore, a safeguarding concern was not shared quickly enough with the registered manager, which led to a delay in a multi-agency response for a child.

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

Proactive relationships with the local police and designated safeguarding officers help to keep children safe.

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

When there are concerns for children, room searches are undertaken in a timely manner. These are proportionate and help to keep children safe.

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

It was identified during the inspection that the registered manager had failed to ensure that medication that had not been required for some time was safely disposed of.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has recently been appointed to the role after working in the home as the deputy manager for a number of years.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is passionate about children being able to achieve. She knows the children well and has a warm approach. It is evident that she has good relationships with all the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff speak positively about the support they receive from the manager and say that the culture in the home is supportive, open and transparent.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff meetings take place regularly and are informative. Meetings involve regular training for staff relating to children’s evolving risks and needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has challenged a placing local authority when their service to the child fell short. This evidences her commitment to children and her passion for them to succeed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff and the manager communicate well with external professionals. As a result, children’s experiences are positive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There has at times been a high turnover of staff, with over-reliance on bank staff and staff from the provider’s other homes. This means that children have not received consistent care. The manager has also cared directly for children, which at times has impacted on her ability to monitor effectively. Inspection report children's home: 1225136 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, 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 health and well-being standard is that—

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Requirement Due date

the health and well-being needs of children are met;

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Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being; and

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Requirement Due date

children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles.

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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 child’s health and well-being needs and the options that are available in relation to the child’s health and well-being, in a way that is appropriate to the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

understand and develop skills to promote the child’s well- being. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(ii)(iv)) 26 August 2021

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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; 26 August 2021 Inspection report children's home: 1225136 6 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

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies;

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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;

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Requirement Due date

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(v)(vi)(vii)(b)(d))

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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

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;

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Requirement Due date

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

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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

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(c)(d)(e)(h)) 9 September 2021 Inspection report children's home: 1225136 7 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.

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Requirement Due date

keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and

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Requirement Due date

notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16 (1) (3)(a)(b)) 26 August 2021

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure children live in an environment that is personalised to their needs and feels homely, with ample furniture and decorated to a good standard. Staff should provide a nurturing environment that is welcoming and supportive. Homes must also meet children’s basic day-to-day needs and physical necessities. Staff should seek to meet the child’s basic needs in the way that a good parent would, recognising that many children in residential care have experienced environments where these needs have not been consistently met; doing so is an important aspect of demonstrating that the staff care for the child and value them as an individual. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.7)

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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: 1225136 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cambian Childcare Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Cambian Childcare Limited, Metropolitan House, 3 Darkes Lane, Potters Bar, Hertfordshire EN6 1AG

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Inspector

Rachel Springford, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: 1225136 9 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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