Children's home run by Total Care Matters Limited in Nottingham

Inspection report for children's home: SC414296 1 SC414296 Registered provider: Total Care Matters Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is run by an independent provider. It is registered with Ofsted to provide care for up to four children and young people with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home has a suitably experienced registered manager.

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Information about this children’s home

Due to COVID-19, at the request of the Secretary of State, we suspended all routine inspections of social care providers carried out under the social care common inspection framework (SCCIF) on 17 March 2020. We returned to routine SCCIF inspections on 12 April 2021.

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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: 13 January 2020

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: SC414296 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/01/2020 Full Outstanding 25/07/2018 Full Good 22/02/2018 Interim Improved effectiveness 11/07/2017 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: SC414296 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children living at this home are happy and settled. They develop positive relationships with the staff, who are committed to providing the children with good-quality care and support. As a result, children make good progress and thrive. One child said about living at the home: ‘The last three years have been really enjoyable.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers make sure that there is a good assessment of children’s needs before they come to live at the home. Emphasis is placed on ensuring that the staff team has the skills and capacity to meet children’s needs and provide a good quality of care. When children move on from the home, the process of leaving is supported by effective, detailed planning. This means that children benefit from support from staff until they are settled elsewhere.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that children attend education and training. Some children manage part- time employment alongside their college studies. Staff motivate children to learn. This positive environment encourages children to achieve their potential and leads to improved outcomes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy good health. Staff understand the children’s individual health needs. They support children to attend medical and healthcare appointments. This helps to maintain children’s physical and emotional well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to express their wishes and feelings. They achieve this by having regular children’s meetings and involving children in weekly activity planning. However, children’s views and their feedback are not always captured. This can devalue the participatory experience and may limit children’s future participation in these activities and in care planning.

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

Safeguarding practice is good and helps to protect children from harm. The manager and staff understand the risks posed to children in the home and in the community. Risk assessments provide staff with clear strategies to direct their responses to children and minimise risk. Staff implement these strategies, taking effective action to keep children safe.

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

Children are rarely missing from home. When this happens, staff are effective in safeguarding children. They locate children and ensure a safe return to the home. Professionals have confidence in the ability of the staff to keep children safe.

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

Recruitment is carefully managed and the principles of safe recruitment practice are followed. This reduces the risk of unsuitable adults working in the home. Children receive care and support from a diverse staff team. Inspection report for children's home: SC414296 4 Physical intervention is rarely used to manage behaviour. However, on one occasion, physical intervention was used when it was not necessary. Staff practice and the recording of incidents need improvement. Staff show a lack of understanding of how to encourage children to develop more positive ways to manage strong emotions.

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

Staff receive basic safeguarding training. However, this training does not extend to more specialist areas. Staff are not confident about their safeguarding responsibilities in relation to Prevent duties, for example, or how to report female genital mutilation.

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

Multi-agency safeguarding practice is usually appropriately managed. However, one safeguarding incident was not reported to Ofsted. This prevents the regulator from having oversight of safeguarding practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager provides strong leadership and she is a positive role model. Her passion and drive are instrumental in the development of the staff team. The staff strive to improve the home and they deliver good outcomes for all children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Professionals were positive in their feedback about the home. One professional said: ‘I am confident that the team has the best interests of children at heart. They are strong advocates for the children.’ The staff’s commitment to providing good-quality care and being strong advocates enriches the quality of children’s care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff enjoy their work and have confidence in the manager. They enjoy regular supervision and training. The team is cohesive and staff have a shared sense of ownership. This supports the progress and experiences of the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The quality of care at the home is enhanced though monthly external monitoring. However, internal quality assurance systems fail to show a rigorous analysis of care practices in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Records for children include comprehensive and up-to-date information. They show the development and progress of each child. However, staff do not encourage children to review and contribute to their records. Consequently, children do not have the opportunity to question what is written about them or add their own comments or views. The opportunity to do this may help children to understand their care experience better.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager can demonstrate that there is learning from safeguarding incidents. As part of this learning, plans are put in place to reduce risk. However, these plans are not always implemented. Inspection report for children's home: SC414296 5

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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;

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Requirement Due date

regularly consult children, and seek their feedback, about the quality of the home’s care.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 7 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(ii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to children being able to comment or respond to incidents, either directly or through key-work sessions. 15 November

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

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

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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)) 15 November Inspection report for children's home: SC414296 6 This specifically relates to staff managing and reducing risk, and de-escalating situations to avoid using physical intervention. It also refers to staff having gaps in their skills and training in regard to safeguarding.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure staff understand factors that affect children’s motivation to behave in a socially acceptable way. Staff should encourage enthusiasm for positive behaviour using positive behaviour strategies in line with the child’s relevant plans. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 39, paragraph 8.13)  The registered person should proactively implement lessons learned and sustain good practice. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24)  The registered person should ensure that children are actively encouraged to read their records and to add further information to them. They should be regularly reminded of their rights to see information kept about them and be given information about how they might be supported to access their records in later life. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’,

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Recommendations

page 62, paragraph 14.6)  The registered person should ensure the registered person notifies Ofsted if one of the situations specified in regulation 40(4)(a) to (d) occurs, or if there is an incident relating to the protection, safeguarding or welfare of a child living in the home which the registered person considers to be serious (40(4)). (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 63 paragraph 14.10)  The registered person is responsible for deciding what each review should focus on, based on the specific circumstances of the home at that time and any areas of high risk to the children the home is designed to care for, such as going missing or exploitation. They will also consider what information or data recorded in the home will form part of the evidence base for their analysis and conclusions. There is no expectation that the registered manager will review the home against

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Recommendations

every part of the quality standards every six months - registered persons should use their professional judgement to decide which factors to focus on. The review should enable the registered person to identify areas of strength and possible weaknesses in the home’s care, which will be captured in the written report. The report should clearly identify any actions required for the next six months of delivery within the home and how those actions will be addressed. The whole review process and the resulting report should be used as a tool for continuous improvement in the home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 65 paragraph 15.4) Inspection report for children's home: SC414296 7

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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 for children's home: SC414296 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Total Care Matters Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 230 Bathley Street, The Meadows, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire NG2 2ER

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Inspectors

Amanda Ellis, Social Care Inspector Thirza Smith, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC414296 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.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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

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