Children's home run by Bramley Care Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: SC013553 1 SC013553 Registered provider: Bramley Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home can accommodate up to eight children who have a history of exhibiting harmful sexual behaviours and who require specialist support. Every child must agree to engage with the home’s therapeutic services in order for them to come here.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager of the home was registered with Ofsted in January 2022.

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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 15 December 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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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 12 November 2019

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC013553 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/11/2019 Full Good 22/11/2018 Interim Improved effectiveness 06/06/2018 Full Good 07/02/2018 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: SC013553 3

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improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, numerous staffing changes have resulted in an inconsistent staff team. Prior to living at the home, many of the children have experienced significant early years trauma and neglect. A high turnover of staff hinders children’s ability to form reliable, trusting relationships, and to feel comfortable in exploring their early life experiences.

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improvement to be good

Before children move in, a multi-agency assessment is carried out to consider the new child’s needs alongside those children who are already living there. During the assessment of the child who was most recently admitted, managers recognised that the existing children would need support to understand the new child’s social communication difficulties. However, no meaningful discussions with the children took place. Currently, relationships between the new child and the other children are very strained. During the inspection, the staff managed conflict between the children well. However, at the time the child was admitted, there was a missed opportunity to teach the other children about respect and acceptance.

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improvement to be good

The progress that children make in relation to their independence skills and their social and emotional well-being improves their life chances. However, the documents which are used to track children’s progress are not routinely updated. As a result, the documents do not demonstrate that children are being supported to achieve goals which are important to them.

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improvement to be good

Children are supported to engage in education at the organisation’s school or at college in the local community. Barriers to attending education are explored with children, and support is put in place to overcome them. In one example, a child was struggling to accept the high level of staff supervision he needed at college. The child has been enabled to return to the organisation’s school instead. The child’s chances of making progress in education have improved as a result of this flexible approach.

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improvement to be good

Working closely with the people who are important to children is given high priority. The parents and other professionals spoken to during the inspection reported that communication with the home is effective and open.

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improvement to be good

When incidents of self-harm occur, staff take effective action, including seeking medical support for the child. The child’s therapist is made aware of the self-harm incident so that the child’s well-being can be assessed at the earliest opportunity. The therapist discusses strategies to reduce the risk of a recurrence with the child. Inspection report for children’s home: SC013553 4 However, children’s risk assessments and self-harm prevention plans are weak. They do not provide staff with information about the actions they need to take to reduce the child’s risk of self-harm. The documents also do not give sufficient detail about how to help children develop the skills they need to become increasingly safe.

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improvement to be good

In recent months, a serious safeguarding incident occurred which placed a child at risk of harm by a member of agency staff. Steps were taken to ensure children’s immediate safety, but the investigating manager did not follow the organisation’s safeguarding policy. Statements were taken from children before the incident was reported to external safeguarding professionals. This had the potential to impede independent scrutiny of the incident.

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improvement to be good

Some areas of the home have a neglected presentation. This includes some fixtures and fittings which are dirty, damaged or have offensive graffiti on them. Managers have recognised this and have identified the areas which need immediate attention. However, the scope of the refurbishment works is yet to be confirmed. As a result, children are not experiencing care in a clean, comfortable, homely environment.

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improvement to be good

Managers encourage staff to respond to behavioural incidents in a way which promotes learning for the child. The use of sanctions is rare and is limited to asking children to contribute a small amount of money to repair or replace items which they have damaged. The overall approach supports children to have a positive experience of learning how to make amends for their mistakes.

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improvement to be good

Managers implement safe recruitment practice. This includes ensuring that before agency staff work here, the agency has fulfilled its responsibility to make sure staff are safe to work with children. These measures reduce the risk of unsuitable adults being employed at the home.

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good

There have been significant periods of disruption at the home in recent months. The COVID-19 pandemic, personnel and staffing issues, and the complex needs of the children have contributed to this. The registered manager has worked hard to minimise the impact of this difficult period on children. However, there has been a negative effect on the quality of management monitoring and oversight of the home.

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good

Managers have not made sure that children’s records provide staff with key information. For example, children’s individual police profiles do not include dates of all missing episodes. Several children’s behaviour management plans are incomplete or have handwritten additions which do not identify the author. Some records contain information which is contradictory in relation to strategies to reduce risk. As a result, children’s plans do not reliably inform staff how to care for children and keep them safe. Inspection report for children’s home: SC013553 5 Following incidents of physical restraint, the registered manager completes debriefs with the children and staff involved. The date of these meetings is not recorded. Additionally, records of physical restraint do not demonstrate that the registered manager thoroughly reviews incidents to ensure staff took appropriate action to avoid the use of the measure. These shortfalls mean that the records do not

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good

demonstrate that all incidents of physical restraint are subject to sufficient, timely scrutiny by managers.

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good

The registered manager has not notified Ofsted about all serious events. This limits the regulator’s ability to monitor the management’s response to incidents.

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good

The registered manager is responding more robustly to incidents which result in police attending the home. The incident records demonstrate that the registered manager is challenging staff decisions to call the police to support with behaviour management.

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good

The registered manager makes good use of the independent person’s reports to inform service developments. Recent recruitment has resulted in a full staffing complement. As a result, there is a firm basis for improvement in the quality of care to be made. Inspection report for children’s home: SC013553 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

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies.

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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)(a)(i)(v)(vi)(vii)(d)) 28 February 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

promotes their welfare. 28 February 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: SC013553 7 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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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)(h))

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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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

help each child to develop socially aware behaviour; and that

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Requirement Due date

each child is encouraged to build and maintain positive relationships with others. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(ii) (b)) 28 February 2022

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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

details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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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

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 (3)(a)(v)(b)(i)(c)) 28 February 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: SC013553 8 The registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(b)(c)) 28 February 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(e)) 28 February 2022

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that the home’s staff recognise and celebrate the achievements of their children. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 31, paragraph 6.7)

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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: SC013553 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Bramley Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Nicholas House, Riverfront, Enfield, Essex EN1 3FG

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Inspector

Helen Simmons, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC013553 10 regulates and inspects 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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