Children's home run by Witherslack Group Limited in Westmorland and Furness

Inspection report for children’s home: SC475710 1 SC475710 Registered provider: Witherslack Group Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned and managed by a private provider. It is registered to provide care for up to eight children who may have emotional and/or social difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The current manager is qualified and registered with Ofsted on 24 April 2020.

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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 2 March 2021 to carry out a monitoring visit. There were no serious or widespread concerns identified during the inspection. The report is published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about this children’s home

There were seven children living in the home at the time of the inspection. All of the children were observed and/or spoken to by the inspectors.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC475710 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

30/07/2019 Full Good 21/08/2018 Full Good 04/07/2018 Full Inadequate 05/12/2017 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: SC475710 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have made progress in various aspects of their lives. They have developed stronger relationships with their peers, increased their educational attainment and improved their self-confidence. This has a positive effect on how they feel about their future. The children’s family members described the children’s progress as ‘unrecognisable’, ‘amazing’, ‘super’ and ‘fantastic’. This was mirrored by a child who said that they have progressed ‘100%’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have positive relationships with the staff. The manager and the staff are affectionate and caring towards the children, giving them hugs and sharing jokes. This helps create a positive atmosphere in the house, where children can be seen smiling and relaxing.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is well maintained and has a homely atmosphere. The children benefit from the spacious accommodation, where they can play and socialise together or be alone in private. Children like their bedrooms. The staff help the children to feel comfortable in the home. They listen to the children’s ideas about how they want their home and their bedrooms to look. In response to a child’s requests, their bedroom has been decorated with new lights and had new storage installed. This child said that they slept better in their new double bed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make progress with their education from their starting points. For some children, they have returned back to school after a long period of absence and, for others, they are exceeding their educational targets. When children experience difficulties in education, the manager and staff provide the children with appropriate support and consult with other professionals. This helps to create a plan for the child which helps to address any barriers to their education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive help to have positive relationships with the people who are important to them. For some children, this has helped them to repair and improve their relationships with their family. The staff help the children to prepare for their family time, provide transport for these visits and, where necessary, stay with the children to ensure that they are safe. A family member said: ‘They [the staff] have genuinely saved my and my child’s relationship.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to be healthy. When the children need to visit a health professional, the staff support the child to attend appointments and to follow medical advice. When necessary, this includes encouraging the children to take prescribed medication. However, staff do not consistently follow the home’s policy on administering medication. For example, some records were not correctly signed, and the staff had failed to count the children’s medication on a daily basis. This shortfall had not been identified through the manager’s audit systems and is a breach of regulations. Inspection report for children’s home: SC475710 4 Children have access to a range of fun opportunities that promote their self- confidence and sense of achievement. With children’s talents and interests in mind, the staff provide the children with a range of activities and encourage them to try something new. This helps the children to follow their interests and also have the

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

confidence to explore activities that they would previously avoid. For example, some children joined a club and attended a community party.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When staff are worried about a child or the progress that they are making, the manager and the staff advocate well for the child. This includes appointing an independent advocate to the child, to ensure that the child’s views are represented and clearly understood. However, in one example, the manager did not challenge other professionals in timely manner, which resulted in a delay in progressing the care plan for one child. This had a negative impact on the child’s experience and progress.

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

Children say that they feel safe in the home. They know who they can speak to if they have any worries or concerns. They know how to make a complaint and feel confident that the staff listen to them.

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

Risks to the children have reduced. For some children, there has been a significant reduction in the number of missing-from-home episodes and from the risks associated with child exploitation. Children’s risk assessments are individual and reviewed regularly by the manager and staff. Risk assessments include children’s vulnerabilities and the strategies that the staff should follow to reduce these risks.

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

The staff provide the children with support to develop good behaviour. The staff understand children’s needs and the triggers for incidents. The staff consult with the in-house therapy team to devise strategies to manage the children’s behaviour. They focus on de-escalation techniques and providing the children with emotional support. This helps to reduce the number of incidents involving the children.

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

Staff manage any incidents of bullying between the children effectively. Staff recognise the children’s individual needs and the group dynamics. When incidents are identified, the staff intervene and complete individual sessions with the children. This helps the children to understand each other’s points of view and to get along better. In addition, the staff provide the children with group activities to promote their relationships.

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

The use of physical intervention by staff is rare. It is only used to keep the children safe or to protect others. The staff complete a record of the incident and the manager reviews the actions taken by the staff, including speaking with the child. However, in two examples, the manager did not review the incident in the required timescales.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home has experienced significant changes during the past 12 months in areas such as staffing, management of the home and some children moving in or out. Inspection report for children’s home: SC475710 5 COVID-19 has affected staff retention and recruitment. The high staff turnover has resulted in disruption for the children and placed additional pressures on the staff. Despite these challenges, staff morale is high, and the staff say that they feel well supported in their role. Staff are enthusiastic and work hard to help the children to feel settled and cope with these changes. The manager has a recruitment strategy in place to address this.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The management team, comprising of the manager, deputy staff and the team leaders, has a positive vision for the home. The team members have high aspirations for all of the children and provide the children with the best possible care. By reflecting on the feedback that they have received from professionals, staff, the children and their parents, the team has made positive changes in the home which have benefited all the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and the staff develop excellent working relationships with the children’s family members and professionals who are part of each child’s network. Communication is good because the staff regularly share information and, where appropriate, send weekly written updates to parents.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a good understanding of the home’s strengths and weaknesses. He uses his monitoring systems to track the children’s progress and to review the quality of care they receive. However, the inspectors found some shortfalls in the manager’s oversight, for example the quality of written documentation and in one area of one of the child’s bedroom. Some of the issues were quickly rectified by the manager during the inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Most of the staff have completed or are progressing through the home’s mandatory training programme. The staff have access to a variety of development opportunities, which include trial periods in different roles and training in therapeutic parenting. Staff say that they benefit from this learning, which helps them to develop the skills that they need to care for the children. In most cases, the staff training is up to date. However, the inspectors found examples where staff had not received any training relevant to some of the children’s individual needs. The manager has implemented a plan to address this. Inspection report for children’s home: SC475710 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, the 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

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 5 (c)) 1 June 2022

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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

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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

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; and

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(h)) 1 June 2022

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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

a record is kept of the administration of medicine to each child. (Regulation 23 (1)(2)(c)) 1 June 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: SC475710 7 The registered person must prepare and implement a policy (“the behaviour management policy”) which sets out—

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Requirement Due date

how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so ("the authorised person")—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (1)(a) (3)(b)(i)(ii)(c)) 1 June 2022

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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: SC475710 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Witherslack Group Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Witherslack Group, Lupton Tower, Lupton, Carnforth LA6 2PR

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Inspectors

Catherine Heron, Social Care Inspector Julia Hagan, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC475710 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

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