Children's home run by Flourish (Gloucestershire) Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2631690 1 Registered provider: Flourish (Gloucestershire) Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home provides care for up to three children with a learning disability. The home is operated by a private provider.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since 29 April 2021.

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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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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2631690 2

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Recent inspection history

Not previously inspected Inspection report for children’s home: 2631690 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children experience a loving, warm and welcoming home. Staff work closely as a team to provide nurture, affection and consistency for children. Memory books contain photos that capture the smiles on children’s faces as they enjoy time in and out of the home. Children play in the garden, make cakes and visit the park. In the holidays, they travel further afield, to safari parks and theme parks.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand children’s needs and celebrate their achievements. Parents receive a weekly letter from children, sharing what they have been doing. This joined-up approach helps children and their families maintain positive links and share positive experiences with each other.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to eat a healthy and varied diet and encourage active lifestyles. Staff prioritise children’s health needs. All children have received essential dental treatment since being in the home. Staff show curiosity about health and well-being, liaising with other professionals when needed. This leads to improved health for children. Staff supported children with COVID-19, minimising disruption to their routines.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children decorate their rooms according to their individual interests. One child helped to make the bathrooms more interesting through creating an underwater theme. This enables children to invest in their home and enjoy their home environment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff capture children’s views through words, gestures and comments. They act on children’s wishes, which helps children to feel valued.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children attend school full time. For one child, this is a significant improvement from their starting point. Staff work closely with children’s teachers to promote consistent approaches, which provide children with positive experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Concise plans contain key information, helping staff to support children. Child- friendly plans are in written form, however these are not yet simplified enough for children to understand.

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

Safeguarding is well managed. Staff support and supervision of children helps to keep children safe. When incidents do occur, the manager takes timely action in response. These factors protect children’s welfare.

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

Staff receive safeguarding training. Risk assessments contain a concise assessment of risk and clear plans for mitigation. Staff encourage children to safely spend time in the community and with each other. Inspection report for children’s home: 2631690 4 Behaviour is well managed. There are few incidents of restraint, which are proportionate and necessary. The manager aspires to reduce these further. The manager reviews and evaluates incidents, but this is not always clearly summarised on the incident record. On one occasion, the manager did not identify a sanction that had been used for a child and therefore this has not been recorded or evaluated appropriately.

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

Children access their whole home safely, with minimal restrictions. Staff undertake regular fire drills, however, staff participation is not always clearly recorded. A new form is in place to capture this information.

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

Recruitment processes are safe. This helps to ensure that only suitable staff are employed to work with children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

An enthusiastic manager leads the home and empowers staff to actively influence how the home runs. The staff team has begun individual and group research projects to improve aspects of the home, such as creating a sensory garden. Staff speak positively about working in the home. They receive regular reflective supervision, which promotes their learning. Team meetings contain detailed discussions about children and development activities in the home. This good work helps to maintain good standards of care, which children benefit from.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team makes use of a clinical psychologist to understand children and inform plans for them. Staff receive relevant training. However, COVID-19 has impacted on the availability of specialist training relating to the children’s needs. Key training around communication is still to take place. The training record does not contain all the information necessary for the manager to have clear oversight of staff’s development needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Professionals speak highly of staff and the progress children have made since living at the home. They report positive, timely communication and input into reports. The manager works with professionals to ensure that there are clear plans in place for children to spend time with their family in a safe and supportive way.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager uses monitoring systems to track progress in the home and identify when children meet targets. An independent person visits the home, however, the scrutiny does not result in actions that the manager can use to aid the development of the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2631690 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

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

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Requirement Due date

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

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and 18 March 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2631690 6 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)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the manager should identify when a sanction is used and ensure that the appropriate record is created and actions undertaken in line with the regulations.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that records of restraint contain a clear manager’s evaluation of the incident, including learning from staff debriefs. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.59)  The registered person should ensure that documents produced for children are written in a way that is accessible to them, with consideration of their communication needs. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.5)  The registered person should ensure that the training record captures all the training completed by staff and includes details of when refresher courses are due, to improve their ability to monitor training in the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)  The registered person should ensure that they work with the independent person

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Recommendations

to explore how to demonstrate the challenge provided and actions given to improve the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.5)

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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: 2631690 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Flourish (Gloucestershire) Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 27 West End Office Suites, Westend, Stonehouse GL10 3FA

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Samantha Summers

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Inspector

Clare Nixson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2631690 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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