Children's Home run by Bryn Melyn Care Limited in Shropshire

Inspection report for children's home: 1276010 1 Registered provider: Bryn Melyn Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The service is owned by a private company. The home is registered to provide care to three children who have complex emotional behavioural difficulties (social and emotional difficulties).

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Information about this children’s home

The manager of this home has been registered with Ofsted since May 2018. He has completed the Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management for Health and Social Care and Children and Young People’s Services (residential management pathway).

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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 good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be 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: 1276010 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/03/2020 Full Good 12/09/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 1276010 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There are currently three children living in the home and they have lived in the home for several years.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress in the important areas of their lives. This is due to the support and help provided by staff. Staff understand children’s starting points and help them to celebrate their achievements. One child stated that he loves living in the home. Another child commented that ‘the best thing about the home is the staff’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff build good-quality and trusting relationships with the children. This means that staff know the children’s individual needs very well. Also, they are quick to respond when children become anxious or experience difficult periods in their lives. For example, staff took immediate action to support one child when she made them aware of difficulties at school. This support helps children to make and sustain progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work creatively to ensure that children enjoy positive experiences. During COVID-19 restrictions, staff and children worked together to save money to plan for holidays and trips away from the home. This meant that one child was able to experience a holiday in New York. Also, during the inspection, another child returned from a holiday in Spain. These experiences help to create lifelong memories for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff prioritise children’s educational needs. They work with educational specialists to understand children’s barriers to learning and attending school. Staff provide targeted support to enable the children to return to formal education and improve their attendance. For example, prior to living in the home, two children refused to attend school or engage with their learning. However, their attendance is now over 75% and they are making good progress. In reference to one child, an external professional stated, ‘It is a fantastic home for [the child],’ and ‘It is tremendous how far he has come.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work hard to capture children’s views about the home. They recognise the importance of key-work sessions and hold regular meetings with children. Furthermore, leaders monitor the quality of this work and provide good support. The registered manager takes the time to respond to children’s wishes and reassure them. This sends a message to children that their voice is important and improves their self-worth.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is homely and welcoming for children. Children’s bedrooms are personalised and suitable to meet their individual interests. However, there are areas in the home and the garden which require some improvement and redecoration. Inspection report for children's home: 1276010 4

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

Children feel safe as a result of living in this home. Staff ensure that there are clear boundaries and expectations in place. Staff talk to children about their vulnerabilities and support them to overcome their anxieties and difficulties. This means that children feel safe and the number of significant incidents with children reduces over time.

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

Children’s assessments are well-recorded and evaluate risks effectively. They are regularly reviewed and updated. This means that information is always relevant, and staff know what to do to support children. For example, staff demonstrated to the inspector their knowledge of the safeguards used to keep children safe when using the internet. These safeguards help children to become safer in the home.

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

Staff understand and use the home’s therapeutic model in their work with children. This helps staff to manage significant incidents and support children through times of crisis. Children respond well to this approach. Consequently, the number of incidents requiring physical intervention with children has reduced.

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

The registered manager has oversight and regularly reviews incidents with children. Following all incidents, he ensures that children are spoken to by staff who have not been involved in the event. This allows children to reflect, share their views and learn from their experiences. In contrast, the registered manager has not evaluated or recorded the effectiveness of the measures of physical restraint used. This means that staff cannot always be sure that the behaviour management strategies they use are effective.

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

The number of incidents when children have gone missing from the home is low. On occasions when this has happened, staff have followed the guidance recorded in children’s plans, including going out to search for children. Also, they have worked with the relevant professionals to return children safely to the home. These actions help to safeguard children.

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

Children have not consistently received return home interviews from an independent person following incidents when they have gone missing from the home. The registered manager has requested that these take place. However, he has failed to escalate concerns when he has not received a response from external professionals. This lack of action has the potential to leave children vulnerable.

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

Leaders have not followed safe recruitment practice when employing new staff to work in the home. For example, one member of staff commenced working with children in the home before criminal record checks had been completed. The registered manager had put in place a risk assessment to mitigate against the risks. However, this was ineffective and not adhered to. These shortfalls mean that leaders cannot be fully assured about the suitability of people they employ and has the potential to compromise children’s safety. Inspection report for children's home: 1276010 5

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good

The home is led by a suitably qualified and experienced registered manager. He is supported by a deputy manager who is keen to learn and develop. They are child focused, approachable and share a positive relationship which helps to provide consistent support to staff and children. In contrast, the home has had four different responsible individuals since the last inspection. This has led to inconsistent support systems for the management team.

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good

The registered manager does not always ensure that monitoring systems in place consistently result in improvements to the home. For example, he had failed to record his plans for improving the home’s environment. Furthermore, his systems failed to identify shortfalls in staff training, recruitment and children’s records. Consequently, three of the recommendations made at the home’s last inspection were not met. These shortfalls have the potential to affect the quality of care received by children.

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good

Staff receive some level of training and development which is specific to the needs of the children. Also, leaders have planned for staff to receive future upskilling in supporting children at risk of going missing from the home and child exploitation. However, two staff members had not completed up-to-date training in child protection and safeguarding. This does not assure the regulator that all staff have the skills and up-to-date knowledge to meet the needs of children.

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good

The registered manager ensures that the home is suitably staffed. Staff work as a team to cover gaps in the home’s rota. This means that staff provide consistent care for children. In contrast, in an isolated incident, staff did not communicate or work together effectively to meet the needs of one child. For example, poor communication and planning meant that the child went missing from the home. The registered manager identified these shortfalls in his evaluation and ensured that the child was spoken to and reassured. However, he could not assure the inspector that he had addressed the shortfalls with the staff. This has the potential to leave children vulnerable.

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good

An independent person has carried out external monitoring of the home every month. While these visits are completed within time frames, they do not fully focus on developing or improving the home. Furthermore, the visitor does not consistently speak to children or seek their views and wishes. Consequently, the external monitoring systems do not improve the quality of care for children.

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good

Leaders are beginning to make changes and have introduced new processes to monitor the quality of care received by children. This has enabled the registered manager to review his own decision-making in relation to notifying Ofsted of significant incidents with children. As a result, he has acknowledged previous shortfalls and ensured that recent incidents have been notified. This means that the regulator can carry out its monitoring function to ensure that appropriate action is taken by the provider to safeguard children. Inspection report for children's home: 1276010 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

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

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Requirement Due date

seek to involve each child’s placing authority effectively in the child’s care, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans; and

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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 (a)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, managers should ensure that they raise concerns with the appropriate professionals when encountering delays in children receiving return home interviews from an independent person. 11 January 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

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; and 11 January 2022 Inspection report for children's home: 1276010 7 use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(c)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, managers should ensure that they have systems in place to monitor the quality of care received by children in the home effectively. These systems need to ensure that shortfalls in staff’s performance, staff training, staff recruitment and children’s records are identified and addressed.

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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

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

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Requirement Due date

In particular, managers should ensure that the relevant background and criminal record checks are carried out on staff before they work in the home with children. 11 January 2022

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Requirement Due date

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; and

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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

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure. (Regulation 35 (1)(a)(b) (3)(a)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, managers should ensure that all behaviour management records are regularly reviewed and that they record the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure. 11 January 2022 Inspection report for children's home: 1276010 8 The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children’s home at least once each month.

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Requirement Due date

When the independent person is carrying out a visit, the registered person must help the independent person—

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Requirement Due date

if they consent, to interview in private such of the children, their parents, relatives and persons working at the home as the independent person requires.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person’s report may recommend actions that the registered person may take in relation to the home and timescales within which the registered person must consider whether or not to take those actions. (Regulation 44 (1) (2)(a) (5))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, managers should ensure that the independent person is regularly providing children with the opportunity to express their views and wishes about the home. Furthermore, the independent person’s report should ensure that recommendations are made for improving the quality of care received by children in the home. 11 January 2022

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Recommendation

 The registered person must ensure that the children’s home is a nurturing and supportive environment that meets the needs of their children. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9).

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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: 1276010 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Bryn Melyn Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Atria, Spa Road, Bolton BL1 4AG

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Inspector

Dean Wilton, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 1276010 10 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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