Children's home run by Newcastle City Council

Inspection report children’s home: SC033645 1 SC033645 Registered provider: Newcastle City Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned and managed by a local authority.

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Information about this children’s home

The home provides care for up to six children with physical disabilities and/or learning disabilities. One child may reside in the home and five children may stay under short-break arrangements.

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Information about this children’s home

There was one child living in the home, and nine children using the short-break service throughout the inspection. The inspector spoke to some of the children and observed their interactions with the staff.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in May 2017.

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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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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: 1 October 2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC033645 2 Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC033645 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

01/10/2019 Full Outstanding 04/10/2018 Full Outstanding 05/03/2018 Full Outstanding 28/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC033645 4

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improvement to be good

Children’s stays have been significantly disrupted during the COVID-19 pandemic. The provider has closed the short-break service on three occasions, so it was unable to operate as usual. In addition, the demand for children’s stays has significantly increased. This has affected how often children can stay.

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improvement to be good

Children’s stays are well planned and considered alongside the needs of the children who reside in the home. Working in partnership with relevant professionals and the child’s family members, the staff plan, organise introductions and prepare for the child’s stay. In addition, the staff write an overview of the child’s visit. This highlights noteworthy events and activities. This is shared with the child’s social worker and, where appropriate, the child’s parents.

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improvement to be good

Children enjoy their time in the home. They express happiness and excitement when they arrive. The staff greet the children with enthusiasm and a warm welcome. When describing their stay, one child said they ‘liked’ the home and want to visit ‘more’ often. A family member really valued the service. They described it as a ‘godsend’ and said that they wished they had found it sooner.

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improvement to be good

Children are supported to be healthy. The staff ensure that the children attend their medical appointments, and when appropriate they involve the children’s parents. Home-cooked meals are provided daily in accordance with the children’s dietary needs. When children receive nutrition and fluid via a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy, the feed and the quantity are well documented.

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improvement to be good

Children are supported to attend school. The staff help the children to prepare for the school day by talking about the day ahead and what to expect. The staff liaise with education professionals and share relevant information about the child and their stay. This helps the children to feel safe and supported, because they experience a consistent approach when they access their education.

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improvement to be good

The quality of children’s care plans requires improvement. Some children have made progress. However, this is not well documented or evaluated. Children’s targets lack aspiration, and are out of date. In addition, the manager does not have an effective system in place to consistently track the children’s progress. This means that not all of the children are helped to achieve their full potential, and their progress is not measured.

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improvement to be good

Children are valued and treated with dignity and respect. They are supported by staff to express themselves using their unique communication skills. Staff use this feedback to inform the children’s day-to-day care. However, when there are disagreements within a child’s network about what is best for the child, or there are delays in the child receiving a service, the manager does not involve an advocate for Inspection report children’s home: SC033645 5 the child. This means that the children do not benefit from having an additional, independent adult who can advocate for their rights.

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improvement to be good

The home is spacious, with communal areas for the children to be together as a group. However, various areas of the home require redecoration and repair, some of which are overdue. The manager does not keep an up-to-date record of the home’s conditions. This results in potential hazards being overlooked, such as an unsafe electrical socket in a child’s bedroom. This was brought to the manager’s attention and was quickly resolved during the inspection.

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improvement to be good

Children benefit from the newly fitted bathroom suite, featuring a jacuzzi bath which plays music and displays lights. In one written example, a child was described as ‘relaxed’ and ‘settled’ during bath time. It stated: ‘[The child’s] eyes were closing, while the sun streamed through the windows onto her face. She looked content.’

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improvement to be good

The children have outdoor space to enjoy. They were involved in choosing the new swing, accessible roundabout and low-level trampoline for their new play area. However, the delay in installing the new pavement and removing the trees means that the garden area is not always accessible to the children.

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improvement to be good

The staff provide the children with different activities to enjoy. The children like the sensory room, interactive TV, toys and games. The inspector observed the children playing table tennis and a member of staff reading a story to a child. However, activities are not well planned, and do not consistently consider the needs of all the children. Some staff are not licenced to drive the home’s minibus, therefore they are unable to use it as often as they would like. The staff said that this is a barrier to providing the children with a broad range of activities.

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improvement to be good

Children’s files do not contain the required information, for example recent court orders, up-to-date education plans, health and care plans and children in care reviews. This means that the staff do not have all the relevant information about the children, to ensure that they provide consistent care in line with the children’s assessed needs.

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improvement to be good

Children appeared relaxed and comfortable in the presence of the staff, and said that they feel safe. The manager and the staff confidently engage the children and know them well. Children’s individual vulnerabilities and risks, likes and dislikes are well understood. This means that the staff are in tune with the children, and notice changes in their mood or behaviours, so that they can respond swiftly to support the children. This helps to ensure that the children’s needs are met.

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improvement to be good

Children receive high levels of supervision and support from staff during the day. At night-time, the staff carry out regular observations of the children to check on their welfare and respond to their personal care needs. The staff also use an audio system to alert them to concerns. This helps to increase the children’s safety. Inspection report children’s home: SC033645 6 Children’s medication is administered by trained staff. As a result of a medication error, the manager has carried out an investigation. In consultation with an expert agency, he has reviewed the way medication is administered, recorded and audited. However, the inspector found that some medication records were not complete, and that some staff had failed to follow the record-keeping procedure. In addition, the daily audits had failed to identify the errors.

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improvement to be good

If the staff are worried about a child, they take appropriate action and inform the relevant agencies. However, records of incidents are not detailed, which means that key information is missing. In some examples, incident forms and body maps could not be located. Poor record-keeping affects the quality of children’s records and hinders the manager’s ability to provide assurances about the children’s experiences.

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improvement to be good

Records of physical intervention are poor. The manager has failed to ensure that the staff complete a thorough and comprehensive record of the restraint. In addition, there is a lack of management scrutiny and checks, to ensure that the action taken by the staff during the restraint is necessary and proportionate.

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good

The manager is suitably qualified and has significant experience of working in children’s residential care. For a brief period, the manager was appointed to provide management support for the provider’s sister home. This has affected the quality of management oversight in this home.

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good

Staffing pressures caused by COVID-19 have resulted in staff, including the management team, covering other shifts. Staff have remained enthusiastic and dedicated. The staff said that morale has recently improved and that they enjoy their work. Some staff said they ‘loved’ their job and found it ‘rewarding’.

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good

The manager has not always operated the home in line with the conditions of registration. These were changed temporarily to allow the staff to provide full-time care for up to six children with emotional and social difficulties during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, when the conditions were reinstated to provide care for children with physical and/or learning disabilities, the manager continued to provide care for children with emotional and social difficulties. The home is now operated in line with the conditions of the registration.

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good

The manager’s audit and monitoring systems are not effective. The staff training logs and the records of the repairs needed are not up to date. In addition, there is a general lack of critical evaluation of the care provided for the children. Incidents involving the children are not scrutinised. Therefore, issues are missed and errors go unnoticed. This means that the manager does not identify poor practice, and opportunities to improve are missed. Inspection report children’s home: SC033645 7 The staff feel well supported by the manager. They said that they like his open-door policy, which means that they can seek advice from him when they require it. The staff reflect on their work and discuss the children’s needs regularly in their practice- related supervision. However, the quality of the supervision records varies. These do not consistently record that the set agenda, which includes a discussion about the

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good

children’s progress, has been followed. Inspection report children’s home: SC033645 8

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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 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

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)(f)(h)) 3 August 2022

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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.

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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;

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Requirement Due date

manage and review the placement of each child in the home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a) (2)(a)(b)(ii)) 3 August 2022 Inspection report children’s home: SC033645 9 In particular, ensure that the children’s targets and needs are clearly identified in their plans, that these plans are kept up to date and that the children’s progress is regularly reviewed.

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Requirement Due date

This also relates to ensuring that care is provided for the children in accordance with the home’s conditions of registration.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular the registered person must ensure that—

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Requirement Due date

a record is kept of the administration of medicine to each child. (Regulation 23 (2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that the children’s medication records are accurate and up to date. In addition, this relates to ensuring that staff follow the provider’s medication and record-keeping policy. 3 August 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 the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

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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

the name of the person who used the measure (“the user”), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and 3 August 2022 Inspection report children’s home: SC033645 10 a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of 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

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 (a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(vii)(viii)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to restraint records.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child; and

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Requirement Due date

are kept up to date. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to documents in the children’s records such as education, health and care plans and the local authority care plans, and any subsequent reviews of these. 3 August 2022

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home is maintained to a good standard. This specifically relates to repairs, furnishings and the garden area. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that all of the children have access to appropriate advocacy support, and where possible this is provided by a person who the child chooses. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 23, paragraph 4.16)

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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) Inspection report children’s home: SC033645 11 Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’. Inspection report children’s home: SC033645 12

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Newcastle City Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Newcastle Civic Centre, Barras Bridge, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8QH

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Inspector

Catherine Heron, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC033645 13 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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