Children's home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Hammersmith and Fulham

Inspection report children’s home: 1236620 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 can provide care for up to four children who have social, emotional and/or behavioural needs. The home predominantly cares for children who have been sexually exploited. At the time of the inspection, there were two children living in the home. One had moved in within the previous two months and the other arrived during this inspection. Nine children moved out of the home within the period of review.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in February 2017.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is part of a large private organisation and the company employs its own clinical team. This resource is shared between this home and four other homes within the organisation.

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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 September 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 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

Date of last inspection: 10 July 2019 Inspection report children’s home: 1236620 2 Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 1236620 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/07/2019 Full Good 12/11/2018 Interim Improved effectiveness 05/06/2018 Full Good 08/08/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children’s home: 1236620 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children move in and out of this home positively and moves are thoughtfully managed. Children’s bedrooms are prepared for their arrival to be as comfortable and welcoming as possible. Staff prepare care packages for children moving into the home, including new pyjamas, toiletries, small games and a soft toy. Staff are sensitive to the needs and feelings of the child at this significant time and try to ensure the experience is as positive as possible.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are well prepared and supported when moving out of the home. Staff ensure the move is smooth and will take this at the child’s pace. Planning typically happens months beforehand and the child is well prepared by staff. This has included staff staying locally to the new provision or in family homes, to be on hand for the child. Children move with a memory book of photos as well as thoughtful gifts and ‘keep sakes’ from the staff to say goodbye. Children often remain in contact with staff once they have left.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work well with families to support these important relationships for the child. Furthermore, the home extends their support to family members when the plan is for the child to return to live with them. Parents and family members praised the staff team for the support they received in addition to how they had helped their child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s education is well supported by the home. In one case, a child was supported to maintain their education in their hometown, to ensure positive links with friends and education were not negatively affected by the child moving into the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive appropriate support to access health services. However, staff do not effectively discourage smoking and educate children on the negative impact of smoking on their health. The home has recently become a non-smoking environment. However, one child told the inspector that they are aware of staff smoking near the premises and that they thought staff should ‘lead by example’.

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

Staff work well with other professionals to share information and keep children safe. Social workers told inspectors that they are kept well informed of any incidents regarding the children and information is shared promptly and appropriately.

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

When children are missing from home, staff work effectively to locate them and bring them home safely. Staff respond quickly and raise the alarm immediately. Staff are proactive and thorough in their searches for children. Staff are sensitive and supportive to the needs of the child when they return home. Inspection report children’s home: 1236620 5 Records are updated promptly after an incident to reflect any change in care or risks for the child. However, lessons learned are not always implemented swiftly enough to improve practice. For example, an incident relating to smoking happened several months before decisions were made to change to a non-smoking environment.

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

Children feel helped and supported. One child told inspectors that staff have helped them and that they have learned something about their own behaviours, which they have been able to change. This was further supported by social workers who feel that children benefit from the care they receive here.

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

Children have regular access to a clinical team that is well placed to deliver direct therapeutic support. Staff use games to build positive relationships and help teach children about exploitation and what are safe and unsafe relationships.

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

Restraints are infrequent and used appropriately to keep children and staff safe.

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good

There have been some serious incidents during this inspection period. These have been promptly reported to the appropriate agencies and thoroughly investigated. Some staff have been subject to performance management. The procedures in place do not effectively capture the performance management process and formalise the outcomes sufficiently. Furthermore, this is not reflected in the supervision records of staff members to provide opportunity for reflection and monitoring of the individual member of staff.

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good

Reflective practice is facilitated and staff report feeling supported by managers and the clinical team. However, recording of reflective conversations varies in quality and impact on the care provided. Not all staff understand the purpose of good reflection.

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good

Staff knowledge of trauma and attachment is underdeveloped. Not all staff understand the children’s behaviours through a therapeutic lens. There is a clear distinction between the care staff and the clinical team, and they do not work seamlessly to complement the care afforded to the children.

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good

Children’s case records are detailed and provide sufficient information about the care needs of the child. However, records are not consistently signed and dated by the author or note any other persons present, for example, in reflective discussions.

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good

A number of children’s case records are written in first-person narrative from the child’s perspective. However, children have not always viewed these documents or agreed to what has been written. When children have been part of the recording, documents do not explicitly state when this happened or which sections have been written by them or on their behalf. Inspection report children’s home: 1236620 6 Safer recruitment practices are in place at this home. A new staff member told inspectors that they felt supported in learning their new role and gave positive feedback on their induction experience.

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good

The home is led by a committed registered manager who strives to lead by example and promote the ethos of the home. Inspection report children’s home: 1236620 7

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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 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 work as a team where appropriate;

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided 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))

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Requirement Due date

ensure that case records are signed and dated by the author of each entry and that the record accurately captures the people involved in the discussion that is being recorded;

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Requirement Due date

ensure continuous improvement of the home and be proactive in swiftly implementing lessons learned to sustain good practice;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs and enable them to 30 November Inspection report children’s home: 1236620 8 deliver a therapeutic parenting approach and understand the specialism of the home, developing their knowledge of trauma-informed practice; and

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Requirement Due date

ensure that performance management is effectively monitored and recorded and reflected within supervision records.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the record accurately captures the people involved in the discussion that is being recorded. 30 October 2021

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that each child’s day-to-day health and well- being needs are met and children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles. In particular, smoking should be discouraged and individuals helped to understand the impact of smoking on their immediate and future health. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 33, paragraph 7.3)  The registered person should ensure that staff understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. In particular, carefully consider the appropriateness of recording the child’s information using first-person narrative. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should enable staff to reflect and act on how their own

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Recommendations

feelings and behaviour may be affected by the behaviour of the children they care for. In particular, ensure that reflective practices promote staff learning and understanding of how their behaviour plays a role in their relationship with children. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 39, paragraph 8.15) Inspection report children’s home: 1236620 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: 1236620 10

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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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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Victoria Elworthy

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Inspector

Katie Ratcliffe, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1236620 11 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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