Children's Home run by Laurel Leaf Homes Ltd in Newham

Inspection report children’s home: SC060545 1 SC060545 Registered provider: Laurel Leaf Homes Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned children’s home provides care and accommodation for up to eight children and young people. The home’s statement of purpose states that the home cares for children and young people with emotional and/or social difficulties and/or learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been registered with Ofsted since 17 January 2019.

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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 on 17 March 2020.

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Information about this children’s home

We last visited this setting on 22 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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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 6 February 2020

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: improved effectiveness

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC060545 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/02/2020 Interim Improved effectiveness 18/06/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 07/03/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness 26/06/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children’s home: SC060545 3

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improvement to be good

There were three children living in the home at the time of inspection.

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improvement to be good

Staff support children to understand their rights. They actively and regularly gather children’s views and ensure that they have advocates where necessary. One child was supported to share his views with the courts and his social work team when he disagreed with his care plan. This demonstrates that children feel listened to and are supported to be actively involved in decisions that affect their lives.

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improvement to be good

Staff genuinely care about the children in their care. However, children’s experiences and progress have been affected by shortfalls in staff sufficiency. During the COVID- 19 pandemic, there was an over-reliance on using agency staff and bank staff to maintain staffing levels. This has unsettled some of the children and has resulted in relationships between staff and children being, at times, strained.

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improvement to be good

Staff support children to attend school. When children have been excluded from school, staff try hard to encourage children to engage in alternative education. However, children are sometimes reluctant to take up the additional support offered by the staff.

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improvement to be good

Staff support children to spend time with their family when it is safe to do so. For example, staff support children to maintain relationships with siblings, parents, and extended family. This positive support helps children to maintain important relationships.

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improvement to be good

Children feel listened to and are confident to raise complaints. However, records are not always accurately completed. This does not help managers to maintain good oversight of records.

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improvement to be good

Staff work hard to implement strategies to help to counter bullying. However, not all children feel safe and comfortable in the home all of the time. Although the strategies in place show a slow improvement in children’s relationships, they remain fragile.

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers fail to fully risk assess emerging concerns when planning shifts for children’s outdoor activities. For example, for one trip, there was not enough suitably trained staff to administer restraint when one child assaulted another child. Furthermore, this child, although checked by staff, did not receive any first aid. This does not help to keep children safe or demonstrate good management oversight of the care given to children. Inspection report children’s home: SC060545 4 Staff receive training in the safe administration of medication and managers routinely carry out audits of medication records. When shortfalls are identified, managers take swift action to address them. However, despite this quality assurance measure, errors continue to be missed. For example, one child’s medication record did not include the details of medication given to the child for two days. Furthermore, medication that is no longer required for children is not routinely

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improvement to be good

Leaders and managers have not ensured that the home’s fire risk assessment is carried out by a competent person who is able to assess the property for fire hazards. As a result, the fire risk assessment is not fit for purpose or up to date and does not help staff to safeguard children in their care.

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improvement to be good

The physical environment of the home is in the process of being renovated. Staff and managers have failed to take precautionary measures to ensure that children are safe from hazards. Leaders and managers fail to routinely undertake checks on all areas of the home. As a result, they have not identified and addressed faulty light bulbs and expired checks on one fire extinguisher. However, leaders and managers took swift action to correct this during the inspection.

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improvement to be good

When children go missing from the home, staff take prompt action. Staff follow children’s missing-from-care protocols and work closely with the police. This coordinated approach helps to keep children safe.

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good

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since January 2019. The manager is committed to delivering the best possible care for all the children in her care. This includes trying to secure a permanent staff team. However, despite the manager’s best efforts, she has struggled to retain staff. This has resulted in an over-reliance on agency and bank staff and has created a vulnerability in the service.

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good

Staff do not benefit from regular supervision and team meetings. Furthermore, team meetings are not routinely recorded, and supervision records are not routinely signed and dated. This does not help leaders and managers to maintain good management oversight.

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good

Leaders and managers work very well with other agencies and carers to support the day-to-day care of children. However, leaders and managers fail to consult with safeguarding partners when updating the location risk assessment. This does not equip leaders to respond to risks related to the location of the children’s home effectively. Inspection report children’s home: SC060545 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 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))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that emerging risks are fully risk assessed and that staffing levels on planned activities reflect the level of risk, and that children are safeguarded from harm. 3 December 2021

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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 premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(d)) 3 December 2021

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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 promotes their welfare.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— 3 December 2021 Inspection report children’s home: SC060545 6 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;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(c)(d)(e))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that there is an adequate, suitably trained and consistent staff team to provide good care to children.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular the registered person must ensure that—

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Requirement Due date

medicines kept in the home are stored in a secure place so as to prevent any child from having unsupervised access to them;

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Requirement Due date

medicine which is prescribed for a child is administered as prescribed to the child for whom it is prescribed and to no other child; and

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Requirement Due date

a record is kept of the administration of medicine to each child.

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Requirement Due date

Paragraph (2) does not apply to medicine which—

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Requirement Due date

is stored by the child for whom it is provided in such a way that other persons are prevented from using it; and

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Requirement Due date

may be safely self-administered by that child. (Regulation 23 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c) (3)(a)(b)) 3 December 2021

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Requirement Due date

If the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005(a) applies to the home— 20 November Inspection report children’s home: SC060545 7 the registered person must ensure that the requirements of that Order and any regulations made under it, except for article 23 (duties of employees), are complied with in respect of the home. (Regulation 25 (2)(b))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must review the appropriateness and suitability of the location of the premises used for the purposes of the children’s home at least once in each calendar year, taking into account the requirement in regulation 12 (2)(c) (the protection of children standard).

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Requirement Due date

When conducting the review, the registered person must consult, and take into account the views of, each relevant person. (Regulation 46 (1) (2)) 3 December 2021

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. In particular, supervision records should be signed and dated, team meetings should be fully recorded, and complaints records should accurately capture the details of the complaint. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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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: SC060545 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Laurel Leaf Homes Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 42 Stavordale Road, London N5 1NE

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Noorjahan Gokool Hoota

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Inspector

Jayshree Pillay, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC060545 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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