Children's home run by Lancashire County Council in Preston

Inspection report for children's home: SC035459 1 SC035459 Registered provider: Lancashire County Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home provides residential short breaks for up to six disabled children. The home is run by a local authority.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since July 2012.

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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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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected outstanding

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

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outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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outstanding

Date of last inspection: 17 December 2019

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: SC035459 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

17/12/2019 Full Outstanding 05/12/2018 Full Outstanding 27/09/2017 Full Outstanding 26/01/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report for children's home: SC035459 3

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outstanding

Children receive well-planned, highly individualised care. As a result, they are making significant progress in many aspects of their lives.

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outstanding

Children enjoy their short breaks at this home. Their lives are enriched by experiences they have during their stays. Children are supported to try new activities and learn new skills. One parent said, ‘[Name of child] loves it there. He gets so excited when he goes there. His face lights up and he claps and laughs when I say the name of the home.’

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outstanding

Introductions to the home are sensitively planned and well managed. Staff take time to get to know the children, and transitions are conducted at the child’s pace. This helps children to feel secure and to settle quickly. One social worker said, ‘The team at [name of home] are brilliant. They work very hard to get to know the children and their likes, dislikes and what is important to and for them.’

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outstanding

Careful planning ensures that children are well matched in terms of their needs, abilities and interests. This is supporting children to meet new people and develop new friendships.

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outstanding

Children benefit from a consistent staff team. This helps children to build positive and trusting relationships with staff over a long period of time.

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outstanding

Staff are creative and ensure there are lots of opportunities for children to have fun and play. For example, there are lots of toys and dressing up clothes available to inspire imaginative play. In addition, staff have developed individualised sensory stories for children. These are designed around the child and are immersive and engaging sensory activities.

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outstanding

Staff are skilled communicators. They have an excellent understanding of children’s communication methods. There is a strong focus on developing children’s communication skills and maximising opportunities for them to communicate and make choices. One social worker said, ‘[Name of child] used to be very shy, but he is asserting his opinion more and making more choices. Staff have built his confidence and he has blossomed.’ Children who communicate non-verbally are supported to actively participate in day-to-day decisions about their care.

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outstanding

Families express a high level of satisfaction with both the quality of care their child receives and the support extended to their family by staff. For example, during a period of national lockdown due to COVID-19, staff organised food parcels and activity packs for vulnerable children. This support and regular contact were important for children and families who were isolated due to the requirement for them to shield. Inspection report for children's home: SC035459 4 Children’s bedrooms are personalised in advance of their stays at the home. This helps children to settle as they have access to possessions that are comforting and familiar to them. However, some aspects of the property are tired, and some furniture is in need of replacement. This detracts from the homely and nurturing environment that staff are trying hard to create. A recommendation has been made to ensure that repairs and replacements are organised in a timely fashion.

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outstanding

Children benefit from a high level of staff supervision and support. Supervision levels are tailored to meet each child’s individual needs. This ensures that children are safe and protected from harm. Parents told the inspector that they have a high degree of confidence in the staff team’s ability to care for their child safely.

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outstanding

Multi-agency collaboration is a strength of this home. Staff are proactive in engaging and working with other professionals to ensure children are cared for in a consistent way. For example, managers played a pivotal role in supporting hospital staff to understand and better manage the complex needs of one child who attends the hospital regularly. As a result of manager’s intervention, the child is more settled during their hospital treatment, and this has a significant impact on the child’s long- term health and well-being.

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outstanding

Children enjoy their visits to the home and are settled during their stays. Some children can display behaviour which is challenging, but this is rare. Following any incident, staff reflect on their practice and try to learn what could be done differently to support the child and ease the child’s frustrations or anxieties. Staff try hard to interpret what the child is communicating through their behaviour and to understand the functions of that behaviour for the child. As a result of this approach, some children are displaying fewer challenging behaviours. One parent said, ‘[Name of home] has been game changing for us as a family. Staff constantly reflect and re- evaluate what they are doing, making small adjustments to make sure they are meeting my child’s needs.’

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outstanding

All children have comprehensive risk management plans that clearly identify the children’s known risks and vulnerabilities. These plans give clear instructions to staff about how risks to children should be safely managed. This helps to ensure that staff respond consistently and that risks to children are reduced.

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outstanding

Children are cared for by staff who know them well and understand their complex needs and behaviours. As a result, staff can quickly identify potential triggers and spot when a child’s behaviour changes. This helps staff to diffuse and de-escalate situations effectively. Staff only use physical interventions to manage children’s behaviours as a last resort. Inspection report for children's home: SC035459 5 Careful planning and robust risk management mean that children can access community activities safely. The manager ensures that there are sufficient staff available for children to enjoy activities both as a group and on an individual basis. This means that the child’s disability is not a barrier to their community participation.

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outstanding

Children’s complex health needs are well understood and safely managed by staff. The registered manager ensures that staff receive specialist training that is aligned to children’s health needs. In addition, staff support some children to better understand and manage their health conditions. For example, staff use child-friendly language to explain to one child the impact of his diet on his long-term health condition.

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outstanding

There are robust systems in place to ensure the safe administration of medication to children. In addition, managers have liaised effectively with health professionals to ensure that when children’s medications change quickly, the correct consents are in place for staff to administer the new medication. This means that children can continue to access their short break and do not experience a disruption to their care unnecessarily.

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outstanding

The registered manager developed and introduced bespoke risk assessments for children in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic. These risk assessments considered national and local guidance alongside the child’s individual vulnerabilities. Staff used these risk assessments to support their decision-making about how children should be cared for and the activities they could safely engage in during their stay. This approach was effective in supporting children to stay healthy and in minimising the risk of infection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager has a wealth of experience and a depth of knowledge of working with disabled children. He is supported by two equally skilled assistant team managers, and together they form a highly effective leadership team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager is a confident and inspirational leader. He leads by example and has high expectations of the staff team. He has successfully embedded a child-centred culture within the home. The manager encourages staff to be creative and solution focused in their approaches with children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager is passionate about delivering high-quality care that supports children to be happy and to reach their full potential. He enjoys spending time with the children and ensures that he is accessible to them. As a result, he demonstrates an in-depth knowledge of children’s complex needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The staff team is consistent and staff retention is high. Staff feel supported and valued by their managers and colleagues. One member of staff said, ‘I feel very blessed and privileged to work somewhere so wonderful. As a staff team, we all work really hard and support each other to deliver the best service we can.’ Inspection report for children's home: SC035459 6 Staff receive regular supervision and benefit from extensive training that is aligned to the complex needs of the children they care for. All staff hold a nationally recognised childcare qualification.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager works effectively with other professionals to ensure that children receive well-planned, consistent care. For example, there is close collaboration with children’s schools to ensure there is a shared knowledge base about children’s communication needs. Furthermore, professionals speak highly of the manager and are confident in the staff team’s ability to meet children’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

There are robust monitoring systems in place that support the manager to understand the home’s strengths and areas for development. In addition, he regularly seeks the views of children and families to drive continuous improvement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager generates new and innovative ideas to sustain high-quality care for children. For example, he has introduced a child-centred transition booklet to support and prepare children for their first stay at the home. This document is individualised for each child and is designed to alleviate any anxieties the child may have. A similar booklet has been developed for the child’s siblings to aid their understanding of the home and how their sibling will be supported there. Inspection report for children's home: SC035459 7

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that the home is maintained and furnished to a good standard. Any repairs to the building should be completed in a timely fashion and replacement furniture should be ordered when required and without unnecessary delay. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9).

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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: SC035459 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: PO Box 78, County Hall, Fishergate, Preston PR1 8XJ

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Inspector

Sophie Thomson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC035459 9 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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