Children's home run by Blue Mountain Homes Ltd in Ealing

Inspection report children's home: SC059998 1 SC059998 Registered provider: Blue Mountain Homes Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This children’s home is privately owned. It provides care for up to four children who may have emotional, behavioural and social difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home is led by a qualified and registered manager who has been in post since November 2019.

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

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

Date of last inspection: 8 November 2019

p.1

requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: improved effectiveness

p.1

requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: SC059998 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

08/11/2019 Interim Improved effectiveness 20/08/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 21/11/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good 22/08/2018 Full Inadequate Inspection report children's home: SC059998 3

p.2

improvement to be good

Children have made variable progress. Since the last inspection, incidents in the home have decreased and, for some children, their school attendance has improved. This is despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.

p.3

improvement to be good

Some children continue to experience difficulties in relation to their health and well- being. There are periods when children isolate themselves in their bedrooms; this has a detrimental effect on their self-care skills, diet and having a healthy routine. However, children do have access to the provider’s counselling service to support their mental health.

p.3

improvement to be good

Children benefit from being cared for by an experienced and stable staff team. The staff team works very effectively with placing local authorities to meet children’s needs. Consequently, most children have improved outcomes. One local authority social worker said that for the child they were responsible for there had been a decrease in challenging behaviours and the child’s academic progress had improved.

p.3

improvement to be good

Children are given the opportunity to take part in a wide variety of activities. These have included bowling, roller skating and trips to historic buildings. Children have undertaken a sporting challenge which raised a significant amount of money for charity.

p.3

improvement to be good

The home environment has been changed to better meet the children’s needs. A games room has been created. This has a pool table and other games. This room is well used and is of benefit to all the children. However, some areas of the home are not sufficiently monitored for cleanliness and damage to fixtures and fittings.

p.3

improvement to be good

Children have not been protected from situations that have an impact on their emotional health. Staff were involved in an altercation which caused distress to children. This means that children have, at times, felt unsafe due to the actions of staff who are meant to provide care for them.

p.3

improvement to be good

Managers have not shared safeguarding concerns with all appropriate professionals. This includes information that should be shared with the designated officer or escalated to the home’s managers. Consequently, children may have been left at increased risk of harm.

p.3

improvement to be good

Staff do not always act as good role models. Staff smoke in the grounds of the home. They allow children to smoke without challenging this. Due to some of the children having additional healthcare needs, their risk of poor health has increased. Inspection report children's home: SC059998 4 Risk assessments are detailed and set out what actions staff must take to reduce risk. One child has specific vulnerabilities due to their learning difficulty. Their risk assessment clearly sets out what additional support they require.

p.3

improvement to be good

Work has continued to take place to reduce the incidents of challenging behaviour and children going missing from the home. As a result of this work, children are now more settled and more likely to engage in more structured, positive activities.

p.4

improvement to be good

Managers have ensured that children take part in a monthly fire evacuation practice. Staff also carry out weekly checks of fire safety equipment.

p.4

good

The manager is registered and is suitably qualified. She is supported by deputy managers and senior staff. They work together to provide support to a stable team of staff. The COVID-19 pandemic has been a challenge. However, the manager has ensured that the impact of this has been minimised.

p.4

good

Managers have not ensured that there is a robust system in place to monitor the home effectively. The manager has not reviewed supervision records made by senior staff. Daily checks of children’s bedrooms have not been effective. This means that opportunities to identify and address shortfalls in practice, or identify any risks in the environment, have been missed.

p.4

good

Staff do not have regular supervision, with some staff having supervision very infrequently. When supervision does take place, the record is not an accurate reflection of the meeting. The safeguarding of children is not discussed in detail. Managers have failed to monitor their staff’s performance effectively through supervision.

p.4

good

Staff undertake regular training to develop and improve their skills. When children have specific care needs, managers ensure that staff receive further, tailored, training. This has recently included training in mental health and learning disabilities. Staff report that they feel well trained.

p.4

good

At this inspection, three requirements and three recommendations have been made. Inspection report children's home: SC059998 5

p.4

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.5

Requirement Due date

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

p.5

Requirement Due date

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

p.5

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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(b))

p.5

Requirement Due date

This relates to children witnessing staff shouting at each other, which has an impact on their emotional health and well-being. Professional conduct needs to be maintained. 18 October 2021

p.5

Requirement Due date

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

p.5

Requirement Due date

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

p.5

Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

p.5

Requirement Due date

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

p.5

Requirement Due date

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

p.5

Requirement Due date

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

p.5

Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(ii)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii)) 18 October 2021 Inspection report children's home: SC059998 6 This relates to the need to share safeguarding concerns with all the appropriate professionals.

p.5

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

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

p.6

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)(h))

p.6

Requirement Due date

This relates to the need for the registered manager to ensure that supervision of staff is effective in monitoring performance. 18 October 2021

p.6

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children’s homes are nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of their children. Homes will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. Children’s homes must comply with relevant health and safety legislations (alarms, food, hygiene, etc); however in doing so, homes should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than ‘institutional’ impression. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should actively seek independent scrutiny of the home and make best use of information from internal monitoring systems to ensure continuous improvement. They should be skilled in anticipating difficulties. They are responsible for proactively implementing lessons learned and sustaining good practice. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality

p.6

Recommendations

standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24)  The registered person is responsible for ensuring that each child’s day-to-day health and well-being needs are met. Staff should work to make the children’s home an environment that supports children’s physical, mental and emotional health, in line with the approach set out in the statement of purpose. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 33, paragraph 7.3) Inspection report children's home: SC059998 7

p.6

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: SC059998 8

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Blue Mountain Homes Ltd

p.8

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 17 Leeland Mansions, Leeland Road, London W13 9HE

p.8

Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Pradeep Manaktala

p.8

Inspector

Simon Hunter, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: SC059998 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.

p.8

Inspector

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. 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.9

Inspector

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

p.9

Inspector

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

p.9