Children's Home run by West Cumbria Care and Support in Cumberland

Inspection report for children's home: 1247670 1 Registered provider: West Cumbria Care and Support Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is registered by a charitable organisation to provide care under short- break arrangements for up to five children. The home is registered for children who have learning disabilities and physical disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

There is a registered manager in post. He registered with Ofsted in December 2016.

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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 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 requires improvement to be good

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good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Date of last inspection: 29 January 2020

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 1247670 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

29/01/2020 Full Outstanding 27/11/2018 Full Outstanding 21/03/2018 Interim Improved effectiveness 09/08/2017 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children's home: 1247670 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

This short-break service provides good quality individualised care for a number of children who have complex needs and disabilities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is maintained to a good standard. This is evident in the decor and furniture, which create a homely and relaxed environment. Children have access to a range of specialist equipment that they require to meet their needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There is a consistent team of staff in place who are knowledgeable and passionate about the care that they provide. Staff teamwork promotes positive experiences for children, and inspectors observed staff providing good-quality care. Staff enable children to make choices about food and activities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff celebrate all children’s achievements. They offer a wide range of activities to enhance their lives. These memories are captured in ‘my journey’ memory books that give children a sense of belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Although children do not reside permanently at the home, staff regularly visit educational settings and take part in children’s reviews and meetings. This effective partnership working ensures that they are fully aware of children’s educational needs and continually share important information.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There is positive feedback from families and professionals. One parent said, ‘One of the team’s strengths is their can-do attitude, and I know my child is safe and well cared for.’ Another parent said that there is good communication, and the home caters for all her child’s needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy well-planned stays and are suitably matched together. Children are introduced to the service by a series of tea visits. However, the manager must ensure that he provides a clear assessment of the compatibility of children who stay in the home. Additionally, the manager must ensure that he has an up-to-date copy of all children’s relevant plans, including the local authority care plan.

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

Positive behaviour is promoted with the use of de-escalation techniques, such as the use of water play and other sensory activities, to help reduce children’s anxiety. As a result, there have been no incidents of physical intervention, and other incidents are minimal.

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

Robust checks are in place to ensure that all children receive the correct dose of medication. Medication is stored in a safe place and records are detailed. When there are queries, staff ensure that these are followed up with parents or seek advice from all relevant healthcare professionals. Inspection report for children's home: 1247670 4 Recruitment procedures and practices are safe and effective. All staff are checked and vetted before starting work. These checks ensure that only suitable adults are employed to work with children in the home.

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

Staff speak confidently about all children’s known risks. However, risk assessments are overly generic and not specific to the child’s individualised risks. The manager needs to ensure that each child has a risk management plan that clearly reflects the risks for each child.

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good

There is a suitably qualified and experienced manager in post. He has high aspirations for children. The manager has created a warm and nurturing environment for children.

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good

The manager’s monitoring and review systems require improvement. The manager needs to ensure that he has developed effective and robust monitoring and auditing systems for children’s plans, medication records and the evaluation of incidents. This lack of oversight does not ensure that the manager can recognise where learning and development are required.

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good

Leaders and managers have not ensured that staff are adequately trained. For example, gaps were identified in autism awareness, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and communication training. This means that not all staff have sufficient knowledge and skills to meet the needs of all children.

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good

The registered manager has produced a report about the quality of care at the home. However, this does not clearly identify the strengths and areas of development and does not contain a clear action plan. Furthermore, this does not include direct feedback and/or opinions from children about the quality of care. This does not give the manager an opportunity to identify any improvements required.

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good

Staff speak highly of the support that they receive from the manager. The manager ensures that regular supervision takes place. However, records are variable in quality, and it is not clear whether staff have had the opportunity to read and check information within these records. Furthermore, team meetings have not taken place regularly, and not all staff have read and signed the meeting minutes. This limits staff development, sharing of information and opportunities for staff to learn and reflect on their practice.

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good

Multi-agency working is a strength of the service. The managers and staff ensure that they work collaboratively with a range of agencies, such as schools, complex- needs nurses and behaviour support teams. The plans are compiled in conjunction with a range of other professionals. For example, a child who has epilepsy has a Inspection report for children's home: 1247670 5 plan that has been devised with the child’s healthcare practitioners. This sharing of information means that all care provided is holistic. Inspection report for children's home: 1247670 6

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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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)) 15 April 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

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

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of 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; 15 April 2022 Inspection report for children's home: 1247670 7 demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; and

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and

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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)(c)(f)(g)(i)(ii)(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;

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Requirement Due date

ensure the effective induction of each child into the home;

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Requirement Due date

manage and review the placement of each child in the home; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child’s relevant plans are followed. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that there is a clear assessment in place of children’s compatibility. Up-to-date versions of all relevant local authority plans must be within children’s files. 15 April 2022

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Requirement Due date

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. 15 April 2022 Inspection report for children's home: 1247670 8 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.

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Requirement Due date

After completing a quality-of-care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review (“the quality of care review report”). (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c) (3))

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that a record of supervision is kept for covering outcomes of supervision and to ensure that both the person giving the supervision and staff member have a copy of the record. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.4)

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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: 1247670 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: West Cumbria Care and Support

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 26 Stanley Street, Workington CA14 2JD

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Catherine Parker

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Inspectors

Judith Birchall, Social Care Inspector Rose Maddocks, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 1247670 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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