Children's Home run by Brythan House Limited in Leicestershire

Inspection report children's home: 1260700 1 Registered provider: Brythan House Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children's home

This is a privately owned children’s home. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to four children with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children's home

The post of registered manager is currently vacant. The registered manager has submitted her voluntary cancellation form for Ofsted to review. The deputy manager is acting as the interim manager.

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. We last visited this setting on 9 June 2021. The report is published on the Ofsted website.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

requires improvement to be good

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

p.1

requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

p.1

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.

p.1

requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Inadequate

p.1

Enforcement action since last inspection:

Inspection report children's home: 1260700 2 Following the inspection in June 2021, a compliance notice was issued to improve the leadership and management of the home. The compliance notice has now been addressed. Inspection report children's home: 1260700 3

p.2

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/06/2021 Full Inadequate 18/11/2019 Interim Declined in effectiveness 03/07/2019 Full Good 22/11/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children's home: 1260700 4

p.3

improvement to be good

This home requires improvement because policies do not always provide good information for staff and, therefore, do not help staff to deliver high-quality care or keep children safe. In addition, children have been allowed to walk along a potentially dangerous road without full consideration of the risks. The manager reviewed this practice during the inspection, and children now either get the bus or are driven in a car instead of walking along this stretch of road.

p.4

improvement to be good

Despite these shortfalls, children are making clear progress during their time at the home. They are doing well at school and are growing in confidence as a result. They value their education and work hard to achieve good exam results. Children become safer because they go missing much less frequently as they settle into the home. Staff are good at recognising and celebrating children’s achievements. This also increases children’s confidence and self-esteem.

p.4

improvement to be good

Children enjoy being at this home and get on well with each other and the staff. There is a warm, happy atmosphere in the home. Children are settled and looking forward to the future. Children are making plans to move on to semi-independent living, back to their family home or into a fostering placement. Staff provide children with strong support, listening carefully to their views and helping them to achieve their objectives.

p.4

improvement to be good

Children like their bedrooms, which are highly personalised. The environment is homely, clean and safe.

p.4

improvement to be good

Children’s hobbies and interests are encouraged. For example, children go to dance classes and horse riding lessons. They enjoy showing off their newly acquired skills to staff and often involve them in karaoke and dance. Staff happily join in.

p.4

improvement to be good

Children are encouraged to practise their independent living skills. For example, they help to cook, clean and do their own laundry. As they learn new skills, they take increasing pride in their environment. One child very proudly showed off her spotlessly clean and tidy bedroom.

p.4

improvement to be good

Safeguarding policies are confusing in places. Therefore, they do not provide staff with clear, good-quality information about how to keep children safe. For example, confusing information about how staff should report concerns means that they might not respond appropriately in the event of a concern. Inspection report children's home: 1260700 5 Some of the children’s individual risk assessments are of poor quality. Although risks are identified in these documents, the information recorded does not always reflect the level of risk accurately. There is a lack of detail about strategies to mitigate risks. Staff have allowed children to walk along a potentially dangerous country lane without fully understanding the risks. This activity has now been stopped and staff are going to receive training on writing risk assessments.

p.4

improvement to be good

Children feel safe and secure in the home. They learn to behave safely and develop a better understanding of how to stay safe in the community. Children who have previously gone missing from home frequently in other placements no longer place themselves at risk in this way.

p.5

improvement to be good

Behaviour management strategies are very effective. Staff intervene proactively to de-escalate any potentially difficult situations. They provide children with a sense of safety because they are nurturing and attentive. Children respond to this well to this approach. They are well behaved, polite and helpful.

p.5

good

The registered manager has recently left the home. An interim manager has taken over the management of the home. The interim manager is aware of the areas of practice where improvement is required and has taken clear steps to address these. Staff feel appropriately supported by the current management team.

p.5

good

The home’s complaint policy is not appropriate. It does not allow for complainants, adults or children, to make a complaint to an external agency before they have first submitted their complaint to the manager or the responsible individual. This includes children’s social workers. This is incorrect and a potentially unsafe practice.

p.5

good

The home’s statement of purpose contains information about incidents that have happened to children. Children can easily be identified from this information. This document is publicly available on the internet. Children who see this document may feel upset.

p.5

good

Since the last inspection, the responsible individual has developed a better oversight of the management and conduct of the home. She has arranged to attend extra training to help her fulfil her role. Although management systems are more effective, the new systems are not yet fully embedded into practice. Inspection report children's home: 1260700 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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

p.6

Requirement Due date

understand the children's home's overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

p.6

Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children's needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

Requirement Due date

treat each child with dignity and respect. (Regulation 6(1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(iii))

p.6

Requirement Due date

This relates to text within the statement of purpose that could identify children and might be upsetting for them. 30/09/2021

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 that staff 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

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

p.6

Requirement Due date

that the effectiveness of the home's child protection policies is monitored regularly. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(v)(e)) 30/09/2021 Inspection report children's home: 1260700 7 This relates to the home's child protection policies that lack clarity, particularly in relation to the process for managing allegations against staff and whistleblowing.

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.7

Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

p.7

Requirement Due date

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

p.7

Requirement Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

p.7

Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and

p.7

Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1) (2)(g)(ii)(h))

p.7

Requirement Due date

This relates to ensuring that suitable systems are in place to monitor how the home is being run and the care provided. It also relates to ensuring that children's risk assessments are accessible and give staff clear direction and strategies to mitigate risks. 30/10/2021

p.7

Requirement Due date

The registered person must establish a procedure for considering complaints made by or on behalf of children. (Regulation 39(1))

p.7

Requirement Due date

This relates to ensuring that the complaints policy is appropriate to a children's home. 30/09/2021

p.7

Requirement Due date

A responsible individual must have the capacity, experience and skills to supervise the management of the home, or the homes, in respect of which the responsible individual is nominated. (Regulation 26(7)(b))

p.7

Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the need for the provider to consider what additional training and support the responsible individual needs to improve their awareness and response to allegations and complaints about staff conduct. 30/10/2021 Inspection report children's home: 1260700 8

p.7

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: 1260700 9

p.8

Children's home details

Registered provider: Brythan House Limited

p.9

Children's home details

Registered provider address: 2 Merus Court, Meridian Business Park, Leicester LE19 1RJ

p.9

Children's home details

Responsible individual: Jennifer Collighan

p.9

Inspector(s)

Joanne Vyas, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: 1260700 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

Inspector(s)

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

Inspector(s)

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

p.10

Inspector(s)

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

p.10