Children's home run by Mig House Residential Care Home Ltd

Inspection report children's home: 1278873 1 Registered provider: Mig House Residential Care Home Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home provides care for up to six children who have learning disabilities. It provides a permanent home for up to four children and short-break services for a maximum of two children at any one time.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in September 2018.

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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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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

Date of last inspection: 28 January 2020

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: 1278873 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

28/01/2020 Full Good 05/02/2019 Full Good Inspection report children's home: 1278873 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There are currently five children living at this home. The children have positive experiences and make good progress from their individual starting points. The staff provide support that enhances the children’s future opportunities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The committed and skilled staff team forge strong relationships with the children. Interactions between the children and the staff are nurturing and filled with genuine compassion. This approach is reinforced by the manager who provides an excellent role model. Consequently, the children develop a sense of security and stability that they need to thrive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children make excellent progress with their daily living activities and self-care skills. The staff help the children to develop these skills using graduated levels of prompting and carefully planned techniques. One child, who initially required a high level of support to use cutlery at mealtimes, is now able to use cutlery independently. The child’s parent said this progress was ‘phenomenal’. Individualised support that is tailored to children’s developmental stages ensures that children are well prepared for adulthood.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Most children attend education regularly. When there are gaps in children’s attendance, the manager challenges the appropriate authorities to ensure that gaps are minimised. The staff work closely with the children’s school staff to ensure that the children continue to make progress towards their education targets. During COVID-19 restrictions, the staff ensured education plans were implemented each day. As a result, any barriers to children’s learning have been reduced.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The accommodation is spacious and generally well appointed. Most children have vibrant and personalised bedrooms that reflect their individual interests. However, there are areas that need attention. The kitchen cupboards have become warped, some ceilings require repainting and the sensory room lacks equipment. There are remnants of staff panic buttons in bedrooms which create an institutional feel. This detracts from what is otherwise a welcoming and nurturing house.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to express themselves using their preferred communication systems during house meetings and key-worker sessions. However, the overall approach to children’s communication skills needs improvement. There is a lack of specific guidance in children’s support plans about how staff should use alternative communication systems, and some communication aids are not always accessible. Complaints procedures and children’s guides are not adapted for all of the children. Some children do not have access to an independent advocate. Consequently, children who find it difficult to communicate their views are not always supported well. Inspection report children's home: 1278873 4

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

The staff use good-quality individual risk assessments to help children become safer. The staff provide familiar and established routines that help the children to feel secure and know what to expect.

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

The staff understand their safeguarding responsibilities. They receive training in safeguarding disabled children and are aware of the additional vulnerabilities of children. When potential issues of concern arise, the manager works with other professionals to safeguard children. Professionals said that the staff are good at balancing children’s rights with their individual needs.

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

Staff use clear and informative behaviour management plans. The plans help the staff to identify the potential triggers for children’s anxiety and understand how to manage children’s behaviours in a helpful way.

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

Staff have good awareness of children’s individual missing-from-home procedures. They provide high levels of supervision and strong security arrangements. There are no incidents of children going missing from the home.

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

Physical interventions are rarely used. The staff use interventions proportionately and as a last resort. However, the manager has been involved in one physical intervention, and the supporting records have not been reviewed by an independent member of staff. This fails to provide an objective analysis and compromises the learning opportunities that could be generated from this incident.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is suitably experienced and qualified. She has high aspirations for children and is instrumental in leading a positive model of working that supports good quality care for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff value the manager’s commitment and knowledge. They say that they feel supported well. This has created a positive team culture and a permanent and stable workforce. Stable staffing provides children with consistent care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff meetings are well attended and child focused. The staff receive regular and reflective supervision. An established training programme equips staff with the skills to meet the individual needs of children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff and the management team have maintained positive relationships with parents and professionals. This has resulted in consistently good feedback about the strength of communication and care. Parents and professionals recognise children’s progress and the positive impact of the staff’s support. Inspection report children's home: 1278873 5 The internal quality of care review is objective and identifies areas for continuous improvement. However, it has not been submitted to Ofsted within the required timescales. This undermines Ofsted’s capacity to monitor the home effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has responded effectively to an allegation against staff. However, they have not notified Ofsted in a timely way. As a result, Ofsted’s capacity to monitor safeguarding arrangements has been delayed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The independent person’s external monitoring needs improvement. The visitor has not included regular consultation with families or placing authorities and there is a lack of critical scrutiny. This does not drive improvement and reduces the additional safeguards intended.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Some areas of managerial monitoring are not consistent. Current recording systems do not fully capture important information in regard to one child’s health plan. There is a lack of managerial oversight in activity planning for children and delays in updating one child’s plan following an incident. This has not had an impact in the overall quality of children’s experiences but does have the potential to do so, if left unaddressed. Inspection report children's home: 1278873 6

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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 children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

develop positive relationships with them;

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Requirement Due date

take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives.

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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

help each child to express views, wishes and feelings. (Regulation 7 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

provide specific guidance for staff in how to support children to use alternative communication systems;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the children’s guides and complaints procedures are adapted for all children, using their preferred communication systems;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that all children have access to an independent advocate. 20 January 2022

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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

promotes their welfare. 30 December Inspection report children's home: 1278873 7 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(h))

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Requirement Due date

When the independent person is carrying out a visit, the registered person must help the independent person—

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Requirement Due date

if they consent, to interview in private such of the children, their parents, relatives and persons working at the home as the independent person requires.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person’s report may recommend actions that the registered person may take in relation to the home and timescales within which the registered person must consider whether or not to take those actions. (Regulation 44 (2)(a) (5)) 30 December

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Recommendations

 The registered person should provide a nurturing, homely and supportive environment that meets the needs of the children. In particular, ensure that the house is maintained to a consistently good standard. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that all incidents of control, discipline and restraint are subject to systems of regular scrutiny. In particular, ensure that a senior member of the management team who has not been involved in the incident reviews the incidents of physical interventions. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.36)  The registered person should have a system in place so that all serious events are notified, within 24 hours, to the appropriate people. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.13)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure the internal quality of care review is sent to Ofsted within the required timescale. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.3) Inspection report children's home: 1278873 8

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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: 1278873 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Mig House Residential Care Home Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 8 Bushwood, London E11 3AY

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Khairoonessah Dustagheer

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Inspector

Mark Anderton, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: 1278873 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.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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