Children's home run by Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust in Cornwall

Inspection report children's home: SC428956 1 SC428956 Registered provider: Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The service provides short-break care for up to two children each night. Children who are referred to this service live with their parents. Children may have learning disabilities and/or challenging behaviours and may also have some ongoing healthcare needs. The service is managed by an NHS foundation trust.

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Information about this children’s home

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the home is currently only able to offer care for one child at a time, unless they have received the COVID-19 vaccination.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been in post since May 2013. They also manage another sister home.

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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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Information about this children’s home

We last visited this setting on 28 Jan 2021 to carry out a monitoring 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 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: 8 October 2019 Inspection report children's home: SC428956 2 Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: SC428956 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

08/10/2019 Full Good 25/02/2019 Full Good 21/12/2017 Full Good 20/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children's home: SC428956 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home gives children with disabilities and complex health issues good-quality care that is tailored to their specific needs. Carers ensure that children have a wide variety of positive experiences during their short stays. They make good use of local play facilities so that children can explore their natural environment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make positive progress at the home. Carers support children to try new things. One child, who did not like water when they first stayed, now plays in a paddling pool. Another child has completed an 18-mile bicycle ride.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is warm and welcoming. It provides clean and comfortable spaces for the children to explore, play and rest.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who currently stay at the home, have been having short breaks here for many years. Carers know the children well and understand their needs. They recognise their verbal and non-verbal cues. This helps children build secure and trusting relationships with carers. It also reassures families that their children are well cared for during their stay.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Carers seek children’s views about their daily care and plans. Carers encourage and support children to develop their independence skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Carers help children express their feelings. The home has a wonderful display of Lego heads that children choose to show their mood. This helps children who have difficulties with speech and language to explore emotions and express how they feel.

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

Carers keep children safe. They understand and follow safeguarding procedures that protect children from harm. Managers learn from past incidents and make appropriate changes to procedures and practice. They reinforce good safeguarding practices within the team, through training, supervision, team meetings and informal discussions.

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

Restraint has not been used at the home since the last full inspection. Carers told the inspector that they only use restraint or physical interventions when it is necessary to ensure the safety of a child or adult.

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

One child is monitored by an audio aid overnight. Another has a video monitor. An assessment has been undertaken and reasons for their use are appropriate due to the children’s health needs. The home has a long-standing team that is experienced and skilled. This provides children with consistent, good-quality care. Inspection report children's home: SC428956 5 The home provides a safe physical environment for the children. Carers encourage children to explore and take measured risks without being overbearing. This helps children to learn new skills and tolerate new experiences.

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

Medication storage and administration procedures are thorough and ensure children’s safety. Carers make accurate and timely recordings. Some children have complex feeding needs. The inspector saw this procedure managed by carers in a calm and gentle way and with respect and dignity.

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

The independent visitor raised concerns regarding safe storage of fridge food within the home. The team has completed online and DVD food safety training. However, during the inspection, opened food items were in the fridge without appropriate labels.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager ensures the home has a stable and skilled team of carers. Carers told the inspector that they enjoy working at the home and feel supported and respected by leaders and managers. Previous inspections have highlighted the difficulty carers have with progressing professional development. This is being addressed by management but due to the nature of the provision, career progression leads carers to other pathways in the NHS Trust rather than positions in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has good oversight of the children’s care. Care plans and risk assessments are detailed documents that provide clear guidance to carers about children’s needs. Plans are regularly reviewed and adapted in line with children’s changing needs. This ensures that all carers respond in a consistent way and provide children with stability and security.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has not tested the competency of carers in respect of food safety. Despite carers completing appropriate training, mistakes continue to be made in respect of safely storing chilled food.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Families speak highly of the care the home gives children. They appreciate the skill and commitment of the carers and management. Families told the inspector that the home, ‘is brilliant’ and ‘staff are amazing’. One parent told the inspector, ‘I’m not used to giving 100% praise, but their standards are as high as mine.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Communication between the home and families is excellent. The home has a robust handover system that has been further improved during COVID-19 restrictions. This ensures that children’s complex health information is always known, and changes are swiftly incorporated into the child’s plan.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Professionals report that the home is a wonderful provision for children and families. A local authority social worker told the inspector that the carers and registered Inspection report children's home: SC428956 6 manager know children well and fully understand their needs. They said that the home makes a positive impact on children’s lives. Inspection report children's home: SC428956 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 health and well-being standard is that—

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Requirement Due date

the health and well-being needs of children are met. (Regulation 10 (1)(a))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to carers understanding and following food safety procedures, particularly with chilled food. 28/12/2021

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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: SC428956 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Trust Head Office, Carew House, Beacon Technology Park, Dunmere Road, Bodmin PL31 2QN

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Inspector

Penelope Kutz, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: SC428956 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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