Children's Home run by Barnardo’s in Oxfordshire

Inspection report children's home: SC069128 1 SC069128 Registered provider: Barnardo’s Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The service caters for a maximum of seven children at any one time, including one emergency bed. It provides a residential short-break service for children who are disabled. The service is provided by a national charity in partnership with a local authority. Most of the children using the service have complex health needs.

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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 5 November 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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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

Date of last inspection: 19 November 2019

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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: SC069128 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/11/2019 Full Good 14/03/2019 Full Good 28/06/2017 Full Good 16/01/2017 Full Good Inspection report children's home: SC069128 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s needs are catered for, and staff make necessary preparations before children visit the home. They welcome children to the home when they arrive, and this helps them settle into planned routines. Children enjoy staying with their friends, and their stays are well matched with children who share similar interests. On some occasions, the staff team co-ordinates with the schools and parents to arrange visits with children from the same educational setting, making this experience feel like a sleepover with their friends. As a result, children enjoy their stay. One child looked so excited when he talked about his visits and how he enjoys spending time with his friends and staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Parents and professionals share good relationships with staff. Parents appreciate the care given to their children by staff. They trust that staff keep their children safe and have secure relationships with the children. Staff involve parents in creating new profiles for children. They use these to ensure that all care given to children is consistent and their needs are met, both at their family home and during their visits to the respite service. Information is shared promptly with parents and other professionals. Social workers praised the effort that staff put into attending children’s meetings and advocating for them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are met. Staff use information shared by medical professionals, parents and schools to broaden their understanding of children’s health needs. They pay attention to the progress made by children in their health and well-being. Staff strive to maintain consistency in the care provided to children by using some of the educational approaches to supporting the children. Assessments and plans are shared by child mental health services and other medical practitioners. These are used to implement internal assessments for staff to use when attending to children’s health needs. One parent was complimentary in saying that, even though her child had so many complex needs, staff were able to provide good care due to their training and skill set.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make daily choices, and these are fulfilled. They are given opportunities to have an input into the running of the home, and those who cannot verbally engage with staff are approached using a wide range of communication strategies. Staff also provide children with one-to-one space where they encourage them to air their views, feelings, wishes or enjoy the quiet space and time away from others. As a result, children feel listened to and valued.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from a homely and nurturing environment. The home is well decorated and has a garden that is fitted with sensory effects. This makes it a fun place for children to visit. It is kept clean and tidy, and both children and staff take pride in their home. One child informed the inspector that he likes helping staff clean up the home and take out the bin during visits. However, the locking away of the TV and chaining it to the wall in the lounge area detract from an otherwise Inspection report children's home: SC069128 4 homely decor. The decommissioning of the jacuzzi has also taken away a feature that children enjoy using for relaxation and their health needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children take part in activities during their visits. Staff plan activities with children and encourage them to take part in these with other children who have similar interests. These include visits to the beach, walks to the local park and shopping. These help children to interact positively with others, building and maintain positive friendships, while exploring new interests. A child said, ‘I like helping staff and going shopping and to the beach.’

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

The safeguarding of children is embedded into practice. When safeguarding issues occur, the manager discusses these with staff on a one-to-one basis. She also conducts lessons learned discussions in team meetings, resulting in practical changes being made. This has improved the staff’s ability to keep children safe.

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

Staff support children to make safer choices and encourage them to access the community safely. Staff use several means of communication and tools to hold discussions with children about how to keep safe. They use their time out in the community to explain and guide children on how to access places and engage safely with people they meet. As a result, children do not go missing from the home. Staff know what to do if children were to go missing. They complete activity forms indicating where they are taking the children and risk assess the visit before leaving. Staff also carry identity cards, and children’s profiles which contain necessary information should a child go missing.

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

Physical interventions are rarely used by staff. When used, they support children to calm using strategies recorded in their care plans. Incidents are clearly recorded to explain the circumstances and actions taken to support children. Managers and staff evaluate incidents and reflect on these with children. This enables the children to explore better ways of managing their feelings and emotions. The manager has met the previous requirement, as she has oversight of the reports and ensures that these are shared with relevant individuals.

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

Due to a few reported medication errors, leaders and managers have implemented stringent measures to reduce reoccurrence. Staff now work alongside an internal nursing staff team, to ensure that all medication checks are completed when children arrive at the home. This process is witnessed by another member of staff and once finished, it is signed by two team members. The administration of medication is completed with the utmost diligence. Staff receive training and regular refresher courses in this area, and their competency is assessed by nurses before they are involved in this process.

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

Leaders and managers carefully select and recruit staff to ensure that only suitable people are employed to work with children. Inspection report children's home: SC069128 5 Good fire safety measures are in place. All children take part in fire drills, to ensure that they are aware of how to respond in case of a fire.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A new manager has been appointed to the home and has applied to Ofsted to be registered. She is providing leadership and guidance to staff and ensuring that they understand her vision for the home. She has made extensive changes to the environment, approaches and procedures, which has resulted in improvements.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has implemented new processes to address shortfalls, requirements and recommendations from the last inspection. She has implemented systems to monitor children’s progress and identify achievable outcomes from the point of referral to when they attend respite. As part of a previous requirement, the manager completes a six-monthly review of monitoring progress and addressing any issues arising in the care of children. She also gathers feedback from children, parents and professionals and uses this as a guide to improve the care given to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Management and staff use a booking system to arrange children’s visits. Additionally, an impact assessment process has been implemented by the manager, which clarifies whether new children referred to the home are a positive match with those who have confirmed visits. This new process has also been added to the home’s statement of purpose. This meets the recommendation made in the last inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff ensure that all children’s documents are stored away safely. They ensure that all offices and storage spaces are locked and only accessible to relevant individuals. Old documents are scanned and stored in the company’s electronic systems with original copies shared with children’s local authorities. This recommendation has been met from the last inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

All staff have received relevant core training. They also receive extra training from the nursing team, in line with the current trends and children’s health needs. The nurses complete yearly intensive training, to support staff in using equipment and understanding of different medical complications and treatments for children. This helps staff to respond to children in a consistent manner.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager priorities staff supervision. She ensures that staff receive regular, meaningful supervision sessions and staff meetings. She uses these to support staff to gain knowledge to improve their professional development and address staffing and other practice issues. However, the absence of a stable senior management team has affected the support given to the manager, resulting in her not receiving regular supervisions. This means that the manager is not receiving the required guidance and coaching in her new role. Inspection report children's home: SC069128 6 Leaders and managers are aware of the strengths of the home and address areas of development effectively. The manager identified an area of weakness in the poor quality of the independent visitor’s reports and how the visits lacked impact on the progress of the home. As a result, the manager and the senior leaders have recruited a new independent visitor. The visitor has since provided a productive visit

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

accompanied by a well-documented report, which the manager and the staff team have used to review the quality of care provided to children. Inspection report children's home: SC069128 7

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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 registered person must ensure that all employees receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(b)) 9 January 2022

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that the home is a homely and domestic environment. Children’s homes must comply with relevant health and safety legislations (alarms, food hygiene etc.); however, in doing so, homes should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than ‘institutional’ impression. (‘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 children's home: SC069128 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Barnardo’s, Tanners Lane, Barkingside, Ilford IG6 1QG

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Michelle Kukielka

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Inspector

Alphie Khumalo, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: SC069128 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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