New Spring Family Care Limited

Inspection report for residential family centre 1 New Spring Family Care Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this residential family centre

This residential family centre is registered to accommodate up to five families at any one time. The residential family centre is privately owned. Families access the centre at the direction of the family court or the local authority for the purposes of assessment.

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Information about this residential family centre

The manager registered with Ofsted in September 2017, when the residential family centre started operating.

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Information about this residential family centre

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 parents, taking into account

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good

How well children and parents 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 residential family centre provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Date of previous inspection: 1 August 2018

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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 residential family centre 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Parents value the support and guidance that they receive from the staff team and say that staff genuinely want parents to succeed in their assessments. Parents feel listened to and respected. The staff team provides a relaxed and nurturing environment for parents and their children. Consequently, children are thriving, and most parents are making positive progress in their parenting skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Social workers are very complimentary about the care provided to parents and their children. There is collaborative working and excellent communication with local authorities. One social worker said, ‘Staff respond to parents well and offer fabulous support. It is one of the loveliest residential family centres I have worked with.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

A structured programme of parenting courses, activities and baby clubs ensures that educating parents is a priority. Daily routines are promoted, including supporting parents to develop their independence skills. In addition to this, weekly key-work sessions provide parents with the opportunity to discuss their progress openly and honestly with their allocated worker. Parents reported that these sessions improve their confidence in their parenting capabilities and help them to build trusting bonds with the staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

Capability assessments and monitoring systems provide clear evidence of progress parents have made and identify areas that they need to develop. The centre employs a qualified social worker to undertake family assessments. Final assessments are of good quality. They highlight strengths and weaknesses, the current parental capacity, any concerns relating to safeguarding and clear recommendations.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

The staff team works closely with health visitors to ensure that both the child and the parent’s health needs are met. The centre also has strong links with specialist professionals, such as mental health agencies, to ensure that parents have the support to be able to safely care for their child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and parents: good

The main communal areas of the centre provide a comfortable and homely environment for families. Additionally, all bedrooms have recently been redecorated and are well maintained. However, the kitchen area needs refurbishing and one of the bathrooms had been damaged. The manager took action during the inspection to ensure that the damage in the bathroom was repaired. The manager has already submitted a request to have the kitchen refurbished.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Staff act as good role models for parents. Staff provide parents with clear guidelines and consistent boundaries to help them to make better choices. This particularly Inspection report for residential family centre 3 relates to support surrounding mental health and helping parents to recognise vulnerabilities relating to domestic violence and unsafe relationships.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Parents are given a detailed induction to the centre, which includes clear expectations relating to acceptable behaviour. Risks for parents and their children are appropriately identified. Staff are provided with clear strategies to follow to reduce risks, such as if a parent is at risk of self-harm or substance misuse. Parents are rarely reported missing from the centre. Staff manage these incidents in line with missing protocols and always ensure that the safety of parents and their children are considered.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Social workers say that the staff team is insightful and recognises risk factors promptly. Senior managers have taken immediate action and consulted with appropriate safeguarding agencies when they suspected there were concerns relating to parents being at risk of exploitation. Consequently, one parent’s placement was appropriately ended due to the potential risks to other residents and their children.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Conflicts between parents are dealt with by staff and senior managers promptly. Complaints are managed transparently, and parents are kept updated throughout the process. Mediation work and residents’ meetings have helped resolve any concerns and promoted a settled home.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Medication management is significantly improved. Medication is safely stored and accounted for, and records are organised. A shortfall has been identified in relation to the number of staff trained in paediatric first aid. However, the manager took immediate action to adjust the rotas to ensure that all shifts were appropriately covered by a trained member of staff.

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How well children and parents are helped and protected: good

Safer recruitment is not consistently robust. Senior managers have not clarified one employee’s reason for leaving a previous role in the care sector. Additionally, there are some discrepancies with one Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, in relation to obtaining a recent or online update service DBS check prior to a staff member’s employment starting.

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good

There have been some changes to the management arrangements. A newly appointed manager left her role after a short period of time. The original manager remained in place and did not cancel her registration. A care manager and social worker provide a good support system to the manager. Collectively, they know the parents and their children well. They are realistic in their expectations of parents and understand the capabilities or areas of development required for each family.

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good

Senior management oversight of staff development and support requires some improvements. Team meetings do not take place regularly. Additionally, some staff are not provided with regular practice-related supervisions in line with the company’s Inspection report for residential family centre 4 own policy. This is a missed opportunity to communicate changes, empower the staff team and develop individual practice.

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good

Staff have a good understanding of their roles and responsibilities. Specific staff are trained to deliver courses to parents as part of their parenting assessment, such as the freedom programme and baby yoga. However, there are some significant gaps in mandatory training for some staff that the manager has not addressed.

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good

The manager failed to notify Ofsted when a parent was admitted to hospital overnight or of the plans for the child while their parent was in hospital.

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good

Staff say that they enjoy their roles, and they are passionate about getting the best outcomes for parents and their children. Overall, staff feel supported by senior managers. There is an open-door policy for staff in relation to raising any concerns, discussing new ideas and gaining clarity about certain aspects of their roles.

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good

A new independent person has been appointed to carry out visits, meaning there is now impartial and independent scrutiny of the service. The quality of the independent person’s reports has improved, with regular feedback from parents and professionals included. The manager completes her own monitoring report, which provides a comprehensive evaluation of the quality of care and a clear action plan for the coming months. Inspection report for residential family centre 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, Residential Family Centre Regulations 2002 and the national minimum standards. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person shall make arrangements, by training persons working at the residential family centre or by other measures, to prevent residents being harmed or suffering abuse or being placed at risk of harm or abuse. (Regulation 11 (5))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to all staff having been trained in paediatric first aid. 20 March 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person shall ensure that all persons employed by him—

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Requirement Due date

receive appropriate training, supervision and appraisal. (Regulation 17 (5)(a))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to all staff having been provided with the company’s mandatory training as set out in the centre’s statement of purpose, such as fire marshal, equality and diversity, and health and safety training.

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Requirement Due date

In addition to this, staff should be provided with training that is specific to the needs of the residents and their children, such as mental health, substance misuse and Prevent training. 6 April 2022

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Requirement Due date

If, in relation to a residential family centre, any of the events listed in column 1 of the table in Schedule 5 takes place, the registered person shall without delay notify the persons indicated in respect of the event in column 2 of the table. (Regulation 26 (1)) 6 April 2022 Inspection report for residential family centre 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the centre provides a comfortable and homely environment and is well maintained and decorated. This is in relation to the kitchen area. (Residential family centres NMS 11.2, page 19)  The registered person should ensure that they can demonstrate, including from written and electronic records, that they consistently follow good recruitment practice, and all applicable current statutory requirements and guidance, in staff recruitment. This includes DBS checks and all requirements in Schedule 2 of the Residential Family Centres Regulations 2002, as amended. (Residential family centres NMS 14.2, page 22)  The registered person should ensure that staff have access to support and advice to provide a comprehensive service for parents and their children, and are provided with regular supervision by appropriately qualified and experienced staff. This specifically relates to staff being provided with regular practice-related

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Recommendations

supervisions and regular staff team meetings. (Residential family centres NMS 17.4. page 26)

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and parents 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 Residential Family Centre Regulations 2002 and the national minimum standards. Inspection report for residential family centre 7

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Residential family centre details

Registered provider: New Spring Family Care Limited

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Residential family centre details

Registered provider address: 24 Padway, Penwortham, Preston PR1 9EL

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Residential family centre details

Email address: admin@newspringfamilycare.co.uk

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Inspector

Cheryl Field, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for residential family centre 8 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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