Children's home run by Witherslack Group Limited in Westmorland and Furness

Inspection report for children’s home: SC475715 1 SC475715 Registered provider: Witherslack Group Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is operated by a private company. The home provides care for up to seven children who have complex social and/or emotional needs.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted August 2020 and is appropriately qualified.

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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 9 February 2021 to carry out a monitoring 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

Date of last inspection: 24 September 2019

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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: SC475715 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/09/2019 Full Outstanding 29/01/2019 Full Outstanding 24/07/2017 Full Outstanding 03/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: SC475715 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress in all aspects of their lives as a result of living in this home. This is because they are encouraged to develop and share positive and trusting relationships with staff. Staff understand children’s starting points and celebrate their success with them. One child summed up the ethos of the home by stating, ‘This home feels like a normal home and not a children’s home.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children were overwhelmingly positive about the home. One child said, ‘I love it here. It is the best home I have ever lived in.’ Another commented, ‘I feel safe, staff are firm but very fair,’ and that ‘the home was easily outstanding.’ This supportive approach from staff helps children to develop and become more confident in their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff recognise and promote the importance of family time for children. They effectively plan the time that children spend with their loved ones. Also, staff work with children and their families to overcome any difficulties. One external professional stated that the ‘relationship between [the child] and his parents has massively improved since living in the home.’ This means that children maintain and, in some cases, re-connect with those people important in their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff capture and celebrate children’s memories and achievements effectively. One child recently celebrated his birthday and a party was attended by those people important to him. The child took pride in showing the inspector photos of the occasion. These celebrations help children to feel valued, and that they belong in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Transitions into and from the home are well managed. Staff advocate for children and ensure that they are provided with important information. For one child, staff completed several visits and took the time to build relationships prior to him moving into the home. This reassurance helps most children to settle quickly into the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s educational needs are prioritised. Staff work with education professionals to help children to overcome any barriers to their learning. For example, staff and the registered manager attend individualised meetings to review children’s progress and school attendance. These meetings are used to identify individual strategies to support children in line with their needs. This support helps to keep most children engaged in their learning.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children engage in a range of leisure activities and connect well with the local community. One child spoke proudly of his success in the fire cadets and was preparing to attend a session during the inspection. Two other children work part- time at a local ice-cream shop. These connections help children to become more socially aware and enhances their self-esteem. Inspection report for children’s home: SC475715 4 Overall, the home’s environment is welcoming and homely. Children’s bedrooms are well furnished and personalised. However, some children’s bedrooms and other areas of the home require redecoration work and cleaning. Furthermore, staff had failed to identify a potential fire risk with electrical wires in one child’s bedroom. This shortfall has the potential to impact on children’s safety. However, the matter was addressed immediately during this inspection by the registered manager.

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

Children become safer as a result of living in the home. Staff understand children’s needs and follow children’s plans effectively. They provide clear boundaries and structure, which reassures children. This helps some children to make remarkable progress from their starting points.

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

Individualised missing-from-home risk management plans are in place for all children. They follow relevant protocols, including going out to search for children. In addition, they work with external professionals to share intelligence that is used to support children to safely return home. Staff ensure that follow up return home interviews are completed by an independent person. Following these interviews, staff receive reports that provide clear and up-to-date information about the missing from home episode. These actions demonstrate to children that staff care about their welfare safety.

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

Overall, staff support children to manage their anxieties. Staff use the positive relationships established with children to de-escalate incidents. This means that for some children, the number of incidents requiring physical intervention significantly reduces. Also, the registered manager ensures that children are spoken to and work is completed to repair the relationship with staff. However, on one occasion, staff failed to take appropriate action to support a child when they were in distress. Staff blocked doors and prevented the child from leaving the home unnecessarily. This led to the child becoming further distressed, resulting in staff carrying out a physical restraint. The registered manager failed to identify this in her review of the incident. In addition, she does not always carry out debriefs with staff following incidents within the required timeframes. These shortfalls have the potential to compromise

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

Children’s risk management plans are regularly reviewed and updated by staff. Staff work with the home’s clinical team to review and inform assessments. This means that strategies used to safeguard children are specific and well-planned. However, assessments completed prior to children moving into the home do not always effectively assess the impact and risks that some children can present to each other. This shortfall has the potential to leave children vulnerable.

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

Children’s bedroom doors are fitted with alarms. This means that staff are alerted when children enter and leave their bedrooms at night. However, the registered manager has failed to regularly review this form of surveillance. Also, she has failed to gain the consent from children’s placing authorities. Consequently, the alarms have remained in place when there are no risks to some children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC475715 5

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A suitably qualified registered manager leads the home effectively. The manager is passionate and keeps children at the heart of all she does. She has high expectations and strives to ensure that children are supported to make progress in all areas of their lives. She is organised and has introduced support systems for staff and children. These systems have helped to improve the quality of consultation and communication in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel well supported in the home. They describe the management team as supportive and child focused. Supervision and appraisals are completed regularly and they are used to develop and improve staff practice. As a result, some staff have been promoted to take on leadership positions in the organisation since the last inspection. This culture helps to improve the quality of care received by children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are suitably qualified, trained and equipped with the skills to meet the needs of the children. For example, staff have completed specific child exploitation training. In addition, physical restraint training has been adapted to enable staff to meet children’s individualised needs. This means that staff have the skills and experience to support children effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a stable and consistent staff team in place. Staff work well together and they have worked hard to cover gaps in the home’s rota. The manager is also recruiting to the staff vacancies in the home. This ensures that children have consistent and predictable care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager and staff work effectively with children’s families and professionals involved in children’s lives. Feedback provided was very positive and complimentary. One stated that, ‘The manager and staff are child focused and act as advocates for the children.’ Another professional summarised one child’s progress by stating, ‘He is a different person to the young man who was upset and angry at his previous home. I am so incredibly proud of how far he has come.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Overall, the registered manager understands the home’s strengths and weaknesses. She uses internal and external monitoring systems to regularly review the care received by children in the home. However, these systems are inconsistent and do not always identify shortfalls or areas for improvement. Consequently, the monitoring systems in place do not consistently improve the quality of care for children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC475715 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 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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders should ensure that they have systems in place to monitor the quality of care received by children in the home effectively. 27 April 2022

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Requirement Due date

Restraint in relation to a child must be necessary and proportionate. (Regulation 20 (2))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the provider should ensure that staff do not deprive children of their liberty and that the use of physical restraint with children is necessary and proportionate. 27 April 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may only use devices for the monitoring or surveillance of children if—

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Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is for the purpose of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the child concerned, or other children;

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Requirement Due date

the child’s placing authority consents in writing to the monitoring or surveillance; 27 April 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: SC475715 7 so far as reasonably practicable in the light of the child’s age and understanding, the child is informed in advance of the intention to do the monitoring or surveillance; and

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Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is no more intrusive than necessary, having regard to the child’s need for privacy. (Regulation 24 (1)(a)(b)(c)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the provider should ensure that the use of alarms on children’s bedroom doors is regularly reviewed and not used for any longer than is necessary. Furthermore, the provider is to ensure that consent for this type of surveillance is gained from children’s placing authorities.

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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. (Regulation 35 (3)(b)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, managers should ensure that all behaviour- management records are regularly reviewed, and that staff are debriefed within the required timeframes following incidents requiring physical restraint with children. 27 April 2022

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them when assessing the impact of new children moving into the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the children’s home is a nurturing and supportive environment that meets the needs of their children. The home should, as far as possible, maintain a domestic rather than ‘institutional’ impression. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9) Inspection report for children’s home: SC475715 8

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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: SC475715 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Witherslack Group, Lupton Tower, Lupton, Carnforth LA6 2PR

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Inspector

Dean Wilton, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC475715 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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