Children's home run by CareTech Community Services Limited in Hertsmere

Inspection report children's home: SC376211 1 SC376211 Registered provider: CareTech Community Services 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 six children who have learning disabilities. The home forms part of a large private social care company.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager is suitably qualified and experienced.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: 14 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: SC376211 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/01/2020 Full Good 28/01/2019 Full Good 15/02/2018 Full Outstanding 28/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children's home: SC376211 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Five children and one young person live in the home. Two children have moved into the home this year. The registered manager and staff ensure that children benefit from stable and consistent care. One young person has been cared for in the home for six years, while three other children have been living in the home for more than a year.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress with their learning and social skills. They attend school provision that supports their individual needs. When possible, children continue to attend the same school they attended before coming to live in the home. Staff communicate well with educational professionals and ensure that children are well prepared for their school day. Key-work sessions help children to prepare for changes to school routines and holidays. During the COVID-19 pandemic, staff helped to facilitate the children’s learning at home, supporting them to complete work set by their teachers and encouraging their participation in different projects around the home. The registered manager ensures that children have up-to-date education plans in place that support staff to understand children’s abilities to learn. This helps staff to support children to meet their learning targets.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy spending time with people who are important to them. During the pandemic, children made good use of video calls to keep in touch with family members. These were well supported by staff. The registered manager has regular contact with children’s parents and grandparents. This helps to build positive working relationships which benefit children. Some children now see their families more often, in line with their plans.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that care is personalised. They support children to develop new skills in line with their development needs. Children learn to cook meals and complete household chores such as washing dishes. They have also learned about recycling to help protect the environment. Some children communicate using sign language or Pragmatic Organisation Dynamic Display (PODD) books containing symbols and words to support communication, and staff encourage them. This helps children to develop their independence and improve their communication skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The main part of the home is decorated and furnished to a good standard. Staff have recently added Halloween-themed decorations around the home. Specialised equipment is in good working order and helps staff to care for children who live in the home. Staff support children to personalise their bedrooms. One child has lots of pictures of people who are important to him displayed on his wall and on a blanket. The inspector observed a staff member wrapping the blanket around a cushion for the young person to hug. This creative and thoughtful practice promotes children’s emotional health and well-being. Inspection report children's home: SC376211 4 There are good systems in place for managing medication. Staff keep detailed records of medication entering the home and amounts administered to children. Medication is given to children as directed by the prescriber. There are always staff working who have up-to-date training in the safe administration of medication. This

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff register children with local health services and support them to attend routine health appointments. When there are barriers to meeting health care needs, referrals are made to specialist teams who can consider alternative treatment options. A child who required a hospital stay was exceptionally well supported by dedicated staff. Some children’s plans lack detailed guidance for staff about how to manage all aspects of children’s health. This is a recording issue and to date has not impacted on a child’s health.

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improvement to be good

Records of physical intervention suggest that it is rarely used. However, sometimes staff guide children away from difficult situations. When this happens, staff make a note of the interaction in the child’s daily record. The inspector observed staff using a guide that became restrictive, this was still classed as a guide rather than a restrictive physical intervention. This makes it difficult to know the frequency of such incidents and whether they are recorded and reviewed appropriately. When staff do record an incident of physical intervention, descriptions of the techniques used by staff are not always clear.

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improvement to be good

Staff also use other forms of intervention. For example, during mealtimes, staff turn a child’s electronic wheelchair to a manual setting so he does not move around. This is a strategy used to encourage him to eat his meals. However, this practice is not agreed as part of the child’s care plan and restricts his freedom of movement.

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improvement to be good

Some aspects of safer recruitment are good, though others require improvement. For example, managers do not scrutinise information in all staff’s employment histories and so conflicting information in two staff’s records has not been identified and gaps in employment not explained.

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improvement to be good

Some of the external buildings in the garden are in need of repair. For example, several roof tiles are loose or misplaced, and there is a large hole in the storeroom that holds cleaning materials. The designated smoking area is not maintained well; there are dried leaves and excessive cigarette litter in the bucket that staff use to extinguish cigarettes. The lack of oversight of the external buildings increases the risk of accidental injury and fire.

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improvement to be good

When children raise concerns, these are responded to promptly and effectively. For example, allegations are shared with relevant professionals in a timely way and investigated. This good practice promotes children’s safety and welfare. Inspection report children's home: SC376211 5 The registered manager and staff promote positive interactions. Rewards are given to celebrate children’s achievements. Team meetings provide the manager and staff with opportunities to review the effectiveness of measures to help children to make better choices about their behaviour. Staff remind children to use ‘kind hands’. Overall, good behaviour management helps children’s behaviours improve and enables them to get along with others.

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improvement to be good

Children have access to the internet through mobile electronic devices. Parental settings are installed to promote children’s safety. Some children are supervised when using their devices and helped to navigate websites they want to explore.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff speak highly of the support they receive from the registered manager, who ensures that they receive regular supervision. New staff have probationary review meetings that compliment supervision and show career progression. Staff also find group supervision sessions valuable as they provide other opportunities to review children’s plans. This good support helps staff to keep consistent working practices.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children benefit from a stable, experienced staff team that provides consistent care. Staff love working in the home and speak affectionately about the children. Most staff hold a relevant qualification, and two staff are working towards completing their qualifications within the required timescales.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager and staff work in partnership with school staff, social workers and family members. As a result, children are provided with the best possible opportunities and support. Parents and social workers are positive about the management of the service, the care that children receive and the quality of communication between the staff and themselves.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has some good monitoring systems in place, but these are not always used effectively. For example, the manager receives an alert when staff training is going to expire. Despite this function, some staff’s training has recently expired. The manager had not considered the impact this may have and if there needs to be adjustments to individuals’ roles while they are waiting to complete the necessary training. Inspection report children's home: SC376211 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 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))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure the external buildings and garden area are well maintained. 3 December 2021

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or

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Requirement Due date

if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home,

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Requirement Due date

if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a)(b) (3)(d))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to the registered manager ensuring that conflicting dates of employment are clarified, and employment gaps are found and understood. 3 December 2021 Inspection report children's home: SC376211 7 The registered person must prepare and implement a policy ("the behaviour management policy") which sets out—

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Requirement Due date

the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home.

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration. (Regulation 35 (1)(b) (3)(a)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered manager must ensure that there is clear guidance for the use of mechanical restraint and that this is only used as a part of an agreed plan and is kept under review. In addition, ensure that the description of restraint techniques is sufficiently detailed to provide a clear explanation to the reader of the record. 3 December 2021

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that all children’s case records are kept up to date while they remain in the home. This particularly relates to the registered manager ensuring that children’s plans are clear and provide staff with written guidance on how to meet their care needs. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3)

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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: SC376211 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: CareTech Community Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 5th Floor Metropolitan House, 3 Darkes Lane, Potters Bar, Hertfordshire EN6 1AG

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Inspector

Helen Malanaphy, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: SC376211 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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