Children's Home run by Wynford House Limited in Birmingham

Inspection report children’s home: 2567658 1 Registered provider: Wynford House Limited Interim inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A private company owns this home. It is registered to provide care for up to two children aged from eight to 18 years with social and/or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

There has been no registered manager since 1 June 2021.

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Inspection date: 27 January 2022

Judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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Inspection date: 27 January 2022

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 2567658 2

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

This home was judged requires improvement to be good at the last full inspection. At the interim inspection, Ofsted judges that it has declined in effectiveness.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Staff have not been provided with the necessary training to meet the needs of the child living in the home. Most staff have not received training in relation to self- harm, safeguarding, child sexual exploitation, substance misuse, missing from care, or first aid. Furthermore, only two staff are trained to carry out physical interventions. The lack of essential training means that staff do not have the ability to recognise and respond effectively to signs that children may be at risk of harm.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Staff told the inspector that they did not receive clear guidance on how to keep the child safe. The poor quality of risk management plans and the lack of effective leadership have caused one staff member to feel that they have to ‘guess’ day-by- day what they are meant to do.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The child is identified to be at potential risk of significant harm due to their emotional health. Despite this, the risk management plans for this child are inadequate and do not provide sufficient guidance to staff. Furthermore, the child is looked after by staff who have not had training to deal with the vulnerabilities displayed by the child.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Staff and managers have failed to ensure that the child has an appropriate bedroom to sleep in. The bedroom was in a dirty and unkempt condition. The child had a broken cupboard to store her clothing in, and towels were being used instead of curtains to cover the windows.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

At the full inspection on 24 and 25 August 2021, concerns about fire safety in the home were identified and a requirement under regulation 25 was raised. At the time of that inspection, the responsible individual told the inspector that immediate steps would be taken to address the concerns. At the interim inspection on 27 January 2022, the inspector identified that the remedial action had not been taken and further concerns about fire safety in the home were identified. Fire doors were found to be broken and poorly maintained. The failure to monitor and act on the fire safety of the home means that the child currently living in the home would be at increased risk of harm should there be a fire.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Staff are not safely recruited. Employment references have not been verified and gaps in employment are not always explored. Application forms are incomplete and required employment references have not been sought and verified. One member of staff’s Disclosure and Barring Service certificate could not be located although was shared by the member of staff during the inspection. Inspection report children’s home: 2567658 3 Oversight of the home by the manager and responsible individual has been poor. A lack of consistent oversight of the manager has contributed to the failure to identify a deterioration in the quality of care provided to children. Monitoring systems have not enabled them to identify and take proactive action to address the shortfalls in the quality of care provided to the child living in the home at the time of inspection. Three requirements raised at the full inspection in August 2021 have not been met.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

As a result, the child has been exposed to harm.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

At the time of the inspection, it was identified that there were plans to move another child into the home. This further demonstrates that managers, including the responsible individual, have a poor understanding of the home’s ability to meet the needs of the existing child and any new children.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Records relating to the care provided to children are not readily available. The managers said that this is because the records are stored electronically, and the internet access is intermittent in certain areas of the home. This issue has been known about since the last full inspection. Planned actions to address this have not been followed through.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The home has been without a registered manager since June 2021. The current manager resigned on the day of the inspection. This means that the home will be without a permanent manager for a further period. The responsible individual intends to be in day-to-day charge of the home until a permanent manager can be appointed.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

As a result of the concerns identified during this inspection, a notice of suspension of registration and two compliance notices under regulations 12 and 13 have been issued. Inspection report children’s home: 2567658 4

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/08/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children’s home: 2567658 5

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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

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm;

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Requirement Due date

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are located so that children are effectively safeguarded;

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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)(ii)(iii)(b)(c)(d)) 6 March 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. 6 March 2022 Inspection report children’s home: 2567658 6 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;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

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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)(e)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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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

that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

This is a repeat requirement which specifically relates to the provider ensuring that children are admitted in accordance with the internal admissions policy. 6 March 2022

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Requirement Due date

After consultation with the fire and rescue authority, the registered person must—

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Requirement Due date

take adequate precautions against the risk of fire, including the provision of suitable fire equipment in the children’s home. (Regulation 25 (1)(a)) 6 March 2022 Inspection report children’s home: 2567658 7 This is a repeat requirement which specifically relates to the provider ensuring that all fire doors are compliant with fire safety regulations.

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Requirement Due date

have the capacity, experience and skills to supervise the management of the home, or the homes, in respect of which the responsible individual is nominated. (Regulation 26 (7)(b)

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the provider ensuring that the responsible individual has effective management oversight of the home. 6 March 2022

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Requirement Due date

A person may only manage a children’s home if—

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Requirement Due date

having regard to the size of the home, its statement of purpose, and the number and needs (including any needs arising from any disability) of the children—

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Requirement Due date

the person has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills to manage the home effectively and lead the care of children. (Regulation 28 (b)(i))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the provider ensuring that there is a manager in post who has the appropriate skills, training and qualifications to ensure that there is effective oversight of the home. 6 March 2022

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Requirement Due date

the individual is of integrity and good character;

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Requirement Due date

the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform;

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Requirement Due date

the individual is mentally and physically fit for the purposes of the work that the individual is to perform; and

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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 (3)(a)(b)(c)(d))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the provider ensuring that all staff have undergone a safer recruitment and vetting check prior to employment. 6 March 2022 Inspection report children’s home: 2567658 8 The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This a repeat requirement which specifically relates to the manager ensuring that he uses the six-monthly monitoring report to drive improvement to the quality of care provided to the children. 6 March 2022

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that all information kept electronically can be easily accessed by anyone with a legitimate need to view it. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 14.2)

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Information about this inspection

This inspection focused on the effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of children and young people since the most recent full inspection.

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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: 2567658 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Wynford House Limited

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Christopher Gowlett

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Inspector

Sam Dulay-Kainth, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2567658 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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