Children's home run by Oak House Children's Home Limited in Redbridge

Inspection report children’s home: SC467847 1 SC467847 Registered provider: Oak House Childrens Home Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned home provides care for up to five children. The provider states in its statement of purpose that it provides care for children who have difficulty regulating their emotions and behaviours. The provider has another children’s home in the area and there are close links between the homes.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager was registered with Ofsted in August 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 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: 11 November 2019

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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: SC467847 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/11/2019 Full Good 03/01/2019 Interim Improved effectiveness 21/08/2018 Full Good 31/01/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC467847 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children settle quickly and develop trusting relationships with staff when they move into the home. Children thrive from their positive experiences at the home and make good progress in all aspects of their lives. Children’s notable achievements include improvement in their socialisation skills, healthier diets and gaining the confidence to chair their own care meetings. A social worker said: ‘I think [X] has made great progress since moving to the home.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff successfully encourage children to continue with their interests or take up new hobbies. For example, children take part in singing lessons, learn to play the trumpet and guitar, develop computer software programs and record and showcase their music skills. The home’s personal trainer encourages children with outdoor gym sessions to help encourage healthy lifestyles. Staff organise driving lessons for the children when they reach the legal age for driving.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s experiences are further enriched through cultural celebrations in the home, virtual reality experiences, bowling, forest walks, film and competition nights, and going on the home’s annual summer holiday together. Children develop peer relationships at the sister home, and spend time visiting each other, playing chess and sharing Christmas dinner. A child said that ‘The staff are nice, happy and helpful, and between the homes we are like one big family.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to gain age-appropriate independence and life skills. Children learn to budget, shop, and plan and cook their own meals. Children’s individualised visual weekly timetables set out their plans for each week. Children know when their laundry day is and what days they are expected to prepare their own meals.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff team works dynamically to ensure that children attend their school or college place. This is mostly successful. Where there are barriers, staff support children to explore alternatives such as voluntary work, apprenticeships and employment searches. Staff are encouraging a child whose exceptional success in exams means that they are eligible to apply for a place at university.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is a large five-bedroom property. Children’s bedrooms are personalised and comfortable. Children enjoy socialising in the large lounge or can choose to relax in the quiet lounge. Innovative adaptations, such as a Wi-Fi-enabled bathroom light, allow children to listen to their own music when attending to their personal care. The home is well maintained; however, the inspector found that the children’s bathroom washbasin did not have a plug.

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

Children benefit from the support of an in-house clinical psychologist and a counsellor, who offer them regular individual therapeutic support and advice. Inspection report children’s home: SC467847 4 This helps children to learn to understand their emotions and acquire strategies to help them to manage their feelings. As a result, children are more able to manage their feelings when they are upset.

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

Staff understand children’s risks and complex behaviour needs very well. Children’s personalised, social, emotional and behavioural development plans enhance their therapeutic support. Incidents of self-harm, going missing from home and challenging behaviour reduce. There have been no episodes of physical restraint in the home in the last 12 months. Children spoken to by the inspector confirmed that they feel safe living in the home.

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

Children engage in structured and informal key-work sessions with staff. They help children to understand a range of risks, including smoking, self-harm and safe intimate relationships. External specialists complement targeted key work by providing training workshops for children to attend to address pertinent issues, such as the risks relating to drug misuse. Children are encouraged to complete bespoke online safety courses covering subjects such as knife crime and exploitation. These packages of care further enhance children’s safety.

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

The inspector identified that several documents in children’s care folders were incomplete, not up to date or signed. However, this regulatory shortfall does not have an impact on the safety and well-being of the children in the home.

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good

Due to personal circumstances, the registered manager has been physically absent from the home since July 2021. Ofsted was appropriately notified. However, the registered manager continues to provide staff support and attends relevant meetings remotely. At the time of the inspection, it was not known when the registered manager will return. In addition to the registered manager position, there is a home manager. During the registered manager’s absence, the home’s manager and deputy manager have left the service. However, a new home manager has recently been appointed. Staff reported that these events have not affected the day-to-day running of the home.

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good

Some records do not include staff signatures and were not dated. The admission and discharge book is not up to date, one child’s matching risk assessment is incorrectly dated, another child’s monthly behavioural chart has not been completed and children’s chronology recordings are inconsistent. A member of staff reported that the paperwork is ‘a cause of confusion due to a lot of duplication’. Furthermore, there is some confusion by staff as to who is responsible for completing some records.

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good

The registered manager’s quality of care review does not include the feedback and opinions from professionals and others. This is a missed opportunity to further develop the service. The home’s updated statement of purpose has not been received by Ofsted. The responsible individual acknowledges that Inspection report children’s home: SC467847 5 recording and monitoring processes require improving and plans are in place to review and streamline the home’s recording and monitoring systems.

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good

Staff recruitment is safe. However, one staff reference does not include the required company stamp. This is contrary to the employer’s recruitment processes.

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good

Staff receive regular supervision which is complemented with clinical group supervision and reflection time. Staff told the inspector that staff morale is high and team working is good. A professional wrote: ‘You truly provide a home from home environment for children’, and another wrote: ‘I must compliment the staff for their dedication and commitment to the well-being of children and true commitment to partnership working.’

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good

Leaders and managers have taken action to meet the two requirements set at the last inspection. Inspection report children’s home: SC467847 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 registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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Requirement Due date

After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review (“the quality of care review report”).

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Requirement Due date

supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed; and

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Requirement Due date

make a copy of the quality of care review report available on request to a placing authority, if the placing authority is not the parent of a child accommodated in the home.

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c) (3) (4)(a)(b) (5)) 30 November Inspection report children’s home: SC467847 7 The registered person must—

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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 (3)(a)(b)) 1 November 2021

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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)) 30 November

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Requirement Due date

Schedule 4 sets out the other information that the registered person must keep in relation to a children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4; and

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the records are kept up to date. (Regulation 37 (1) (2)(a)(b)) 30 November

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Recommendations

 The registered person should maintain good employment practice. In particular, the registered person should ensure that all employee references are processed according to the company’s procedures. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)  The registered person should ensure that the children’s bathroom washbasin has a plug. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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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 Inspection report children’s home: SC467847 8 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: SC467847 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Oak House Childrens Home Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: c/o ABC Care Solutions, 249 Cranbrook Road, Ilford, Essex IG1 4TG

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Inspector

Victoria Jones, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC467847 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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