Children's Home run by Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust in North Northamptonshire

Inspection report children's home: SC465287 1 SC465287 Registered provider: Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This short-break service provides care for children who have learning and physical disabilities. Children will all have associated health and/or personal care needs. The home is operated by a healthcare foundation trust.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

There is a manager registered with Ofsted.

p.1

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.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Date of last inspection: 11 February 2020

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: SC465287 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/02/2020 Full Good 19/02/2019 Full Good 17/05/2017 Full Good 05/01/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report for children's home: SC465287 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children get excited about staying at this short-break service. A social worker said: ‘staff ensure that home comforts are provided for the children, for example lavender spray on a child’s pillow.’ Children experience enjoyable activities. The staff team provides good and nurturing care. This helps children feel comfortable and make progress in this service.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff know the children very well. They work in partnership with parents, involved professionals and schools. Staff know what the children’s favourite activities and toys are. They make certain that these are available for the children when they have their breaks. Staff have warm, nurturing relationships with children. Consequently, children are comfortable, happy and relaxed with the staff.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy accessing the sensory room. They have lots of toys, books, DVDs and games to choose from. They go for walks in the local area and drive out in the bus. The garden is difficult to access for some children, particularly those in a wheelchair or who struggle with their mobility. However, managers and staff have made certain that there is accessible play equipment available. A brightly painted mural on the garden fence has been completed by a local artist. This is in recognition of a local charity fundraising for the service. There are decorations over the patio areas, following a ‘squirrel fest’ celebration in the summer. Children enjoy stimulating activities inside and outside the home.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have complex healthcare needs. Qualified nurses fully support the children with their health needs. Staff receive good-quality training to ensure that all children’s needs are known and understood. This ensures that the complex health needs of children can be competently supported by staff with the support of nursing staff. Children’s more intimate care needs are undertaken by trusted and familiar faces. This provides children with reassurance and confidence.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s views, wishes and feelings are valued and actively sought out by staff. Staff have a good understanding of how each child communicates their needs, wishes and feelings. Staff respond appropriately to children. This helps children to express their views and feelings over the care they receive. For example, children have recently held a forum about the decoration in bedrooms. These views are important for staff and they are acted on whenever possible.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The individual needs of children are concisely recorded within their care plans. For example, personal care routines and communication needs are included in their plans. This supports staff to work directly with children. However, a range of documents relating to children, such as care plans and personal emergency evacuation plans, are not consistently kept up to date. This is important to ensure that staff have access to the most current information. However, staff know the children well and implement plans consistently. Inspection report for children's home: SC465287 4 The environment does not meet the needs of the children in terms of space. This includes a lack of storage space and parking. There is not a quiet area for children to listen to a story. Bathroom facilities are shared between staff and children. Most bedrooms and bathrooms are small, making it difficult to manoeuvre wheelchairs. Staff are creative and manage the environment to the best of their abilities. This

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

ensures that children’s activities are not negatively impacted on. There are plans to develop the service to ensure that it does meet the children’s needs, but these are in the very early stages.

p.4

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

Children are safe. Staff have a good understanding of the home’s child protection procedures and act quickly if they have any concerns.

p.4

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

Good risk management helps to keep children safe from harm. For example, the service accepted more children as COVID-19 restrictions were eased. The managers and staff introduced the use of bubbles, good personal protective equipment and enhanced, strict hygiene and cleaning regimes. This helped to keep everyone safe.

p.4

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

Parental consent for swimming, sunscreen, photos and homely remedies have not been updated for some years. For one child, the correct consent was not obtained for the use of camera equipment in their bedroom, nor was the relevant care plan updated to reflect this. However, the use of the camera appears safe and appropriate.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is experienced. She is on track to complete the appropriate qualification for her role as a registered manager. She is also a qualified nurse. She has a good understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the service. She has developed plans to address shortfalls. However, plans to improve the environment have been delayed due to contractual issues within the health trust.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel well supported by each other and the management team. The management team models good practice. Managers are very much part of the team that supports the children.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff appreciate this. Staff have access to good training opportunities that ensure that they have the right skills and knowledge to meet the complex needs of the children in their care.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff are experienced and well established. They have shown extraordinary resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic and throughout the lockdown restrictions. Staff have gone over and above to support parents during this time. They have offered additional support, such as shopping and collecting prescriptions, when parents have been shielding with their child. The service has not closed at all because risks have been managed well. Consequently, there has been no cases of COVID-19 within the group of children who attend this service. Inspection report for children's home: SC465287 5 Vetting procedures could be strengthened to ensure that all pre-employment checks are received before a new member of staff commences work. For example, there was a minor concern for one member of staff because only one reference was received prior to commencing work. This was identified when recruitment checks were audited and duly remedied.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Inspection report for children's home: SC465287 6

p.6

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.

p.6

Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

p.6

Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

p.6

Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

Requirement Due date

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

p.6

Requirement Due date

enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(i)(ii))

p.6

Requirement Due date

This relates to the lack of space for children using a wheelchair, lack of storage space, poor parking provision, a lack of a quiet area for children and no separate facilities for staff and children. The garden is not designed for children who use wheelchairs or have mobility issues. 30 May 2022

p.6

Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which—

p.6

Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

p.6

Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c)) 31 December Inspection report for children's home: SC465287 7

p.6

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the use of monitoring equipment must have the consent from the placing authority in writing at the time of placement. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.16)  The registered person, as set out in regulations 31-33, is responsible for maintaining good employment practice. They must ensure that recruitment of staff safeguards children and minimises potential risks to them. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)

p.7

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: SC465287 8

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Sudborough House, St. Marys Hospital, 77 London Road, Kettering, Northamptonshire NN15 7PW

p.8

Inspectors

Joanne Vyas, Social Care Inspector Alexandra Howitt, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC465287 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.

p.8

Inspectors

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.9

Inspectors

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.9

Inspectors

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

p.9