Children's home run by White Lodge Centre in Runnymede

Inspection for report children’s home: SC013828 1 SC013828 Registered provider: White Lodge Centre Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home provides short-break care for up to six children who primarily have physical and/or learning disabilities. The home is located on a multi-purpose site, and is operated by a large charitable organisation. The manager has been registered with Ofsted since February 2020.

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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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Information about this children’s home

We last visited this setting on 2 November 2020 to carry out an assurance visit. The report is published on the Ofsted website.

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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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC013828 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/06/2019 Full Good 12/02/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness 16/08/2018 Full Good 12/12/2017 Interim Declined in effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: SC013828 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy coming to stay at this home. This was confirmed by the smiles of the children and the parents that were spoken to. Staff care for the children with warmth and kindness. This creates an atmosphere that is nurturing and supportive, in which the children have fun and make new friends.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

As a result of coming to stay at the home, the children’s independence skills improve. Staff encourage the children to work towards achievable goals as part of their daily routine. This helps provide the children with the building blocks and confidence to develop new life skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children take part in lots of enjoyable activities and have a strong presence in the local community, visiting shops, local parks, restaurants and local attractions. Staff carefully plan activities that they know the children will enjoy, alongside creating opportunities for the children to try new pursuits. One parent said that their child had more opportunities at the home to experience new activities than at their family home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff welcome and value the uniqueness of each child and keep individual items of importance for the children. This means that the children can personalise their bedrooms. Children experience stable relationships with the staff, who know and understand them well.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Parents said that the children settle quickly at the home, and that their individual needs are well catered for. For example, a new child joining the home is bringing in his tortoise to visit on his next stay, to show to the other children. Staff recognise the importance and value of working closely with the children, families and other professionals so that the children receive a consistent and planned approach in their care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, there has been a considerable amount of refurbishment to the home, such as the children’s bedrooms and the main lounge area. There are imminent plans for a total renovation of the kitchen, which is in a poor state of repair. This will enhance the children’s day-to-day living experience in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is well resourced for the needs of the children and includes a sensory and teenage room, the use of a hydrotherapy pool, and a large garden that offers a range of play equipment. The structure and adaptions at the home ensure that the children’s health and well-being needs are well met.

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

Staff understand their roles and responsibilities to keep children safe and are alert to any signs that the children may be at risk or suffering from harm. Child-focused daily Inspection report for children’s home: SC013828 4 handover meetings, in conjunction with the open communication between the staff and the managers, reduce risks to the children.

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

The children’s plans and assessments are child-centred, detailed and of good quality. Care planning sets out what is important for the staff to know about the children. Staff respond well to the children’s needs, likes and wishes with understanding and empathy. As a result, when the children become distressed or frustrated, the staff are confident to draw on agreed approaches to keep them safe.

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

Staff have good awareness and knowledge of alternative methods of communication. Staff use these skills to help expand the children’s communication skills. Consequently, the children are relaxed with the staff and seek out comfort and reassurance from them.

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

Staff support the children who communicate non-verbally through a variety of methods, for example by recognising the children’s body language following an activity or after a new taste of food. As a result, the children learn that they have choices and can influence the environment around them.

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

Safeguarding practice is good at the home. However, the records of individual child protection incidents are not consistently collated in a clear and chronological order. This has the potential to hinder management oversight in ensuring prompt follow-up actions.

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

The registered manager has prioritised and improved the home’s systems for the handling, recording and safe administration of medicines. However, medication changes in the children’s individual care plans are not signed and dated by the staff when changes are made. This has the potential to cause confusion and increase the risk of mistakes occurring.

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

For one child who has recently joined the home, the staff have not assessed or understood his online activity. Staff were unaware if the child’s data allowance contract, which was set up by his parent, had appropriate blocks for unsuitable content. Furthermore, a social media site that the child was using did not have appropriate security settings. This meant that the child’s online activities were not being safely managed by the staff. This was rectified the during the inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager and deputy manager inspire a nurturing, respectful and child-centred culture at the home. They are supported well by the newly appointed and ambitious senior management team. The current focus on improving staff retention and development opportunities for the team ensures that high-quality care is sustained.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff said that they are well supported and receive regular formal and informal supervision from the visible management team. Since the last inspection, the quality of the staff supervision and frequency has improved. Inspection report for children’s home: SC013828 5 The registered manager has a good understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the home. This includes the needs of the children and how the staff are meeting these. The current updating and modernisation of the home’s online systems and processes has started to have a positive impact on reducing administration pressures. This has increased management capacity to ensure continuous improvement of the care provided for the children in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The system for monitoring and prioritising maintenance requests is inconsistent. Some repairs are not quickly rectified or fixed to a good standard. This compromises the level of comfort that the children may experience in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The independent visitor’s reports are not consistently submitted to Ofsted in a timely way. This hinders Ofsted’s ability to scrutinise practice. A repeat requirement has been made. Effective action has been taken to address all other requirements from the previous inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager and leaders work well with the wider professional network. Positive relationships between staff, parents and professionals ensure that the best interests of the children are at the centre of practice. Inspection report for children’s home: SC013828 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 registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children’s home at least once a month.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must provide a copy of the independent person’s report to—

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered manager must ensure that a copy of the report is sent to Ofsted no later than the end of the month that follows the month in which the visit took place.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 15 May 2022

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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

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)) 15 May 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: SC013828 7 In particular; ensure the assessment and safe management of children’s online safety, ensure that the home is maintained to an acceptable standard within reasonable timescales and ensure that there is compliance with relevant health and safety legislations, including food hygiene.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of completing timely and clear recording, specifically in relation to the outcomes and decision-making following any safeguarding concerns. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should ensure that during short-break visits, staff are responsible for maintaining a child’s ongoing health treatment, including the management of medication on arrival and departure from the home and recording and sharing information about when medicine was administered. This includes the staff signing and dating of all records when there are changes to the children’s medication. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 35, paragraph 7.20)

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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: SC013828 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: White Lodge Centre, White Lodge, Holloway Hill, Lyne, Chertsey, Surrey KT16 0FA

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Inspector

Anne-Marie Davies, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC013828 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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