Children's Home run by Surrey County Council in Surrey

Inspection report children’s home: SC370703 1 SC370703 Registered provider: Surrey County Council Interim inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home is owned and run by the local authority and provides care and support for up to 12 children who have an autism spectrum disorder diagnosis and/or learning disabilities. There are four apartments that are suitable either for children to live permanently at the home or with their care shared with parents.

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Information about this children’s home

A manager has not been registered with Ofsted since 16 June 2021.

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Information about this children’s home

Judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good Inspection report children’s home: SC370703 2

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

This home was judged requires improvement to be good at the last full inspection. At this interim inspection, Ofsted judged that it has improved effectiveness.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The current manager of the home has been in post since 1 December 2021 and has applied to register with Ofsted. He, together with the previous interim and other senior managers, has addressed each of the requirements made at the last inspection effectively. The manager has introduced further changes that have increased staff’s morale and developed their skills to provide for children.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

A reorganisation of staff at the home, particularly key-working arrangements, has led to adults being empowered to take on responsibility for children’s care and to act cohesively as a team. As a result, communication within teams and between them and families and other professionals is more effective. Adults liaise well with others to prepare children who are moving on to alternative care arrangements. A parent and a tutor commended managers and staff for the timeliness and quality of the information provided to them.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Senior managers have addressed staff shortages in a number of ways, including reducing the number of children living at the home and temporarily curtailing the days on which shared care is available. The latter has had an adverse impact on one or two families. However, this temporary measure has ensured that there are sufficient numbers of trained staff who are known to the children to provide their care. The home has a viable contingency plan in the case of high numbers of COVID-19 infections preventing adults being able to work.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Children have benefited from a thorough refurbishment of the accommodation. Each has their own individual bedroom and adjacent lounge that are decorated and accessorised to their personal taste and reflect their interests. This enhances their experience of a homely environment.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Staff give children choices and gather their views as to whether they have enjoyed meals and activities. This gives children the ability to make decisions and to experience more of what they enjoy. However, any form of consultation is absent from the review of the quality of care, which means the manager has not drawn on children’s experiences to inform the evaluation of the service. The review also lacks an action plan to improve the care that is given to children. Leaders and managers have therefore not made Ofsted aware of how weaknesses will be addressed.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Staff are well aware of what they should do if they are concerned about safeguarding practice or a child’s well-being. Their actions keep children safe, although the inspector observed that an adult had propped open a fire door during the visit. Inspection report children’s home: SC370703 3 On occasion, it is necessary to limit a child’s access to areas of the home temporarily so as to prevent unacceptable levels of risk. However, adults have also kept a door locked to manage a child’s behaviour. This has not been subject to assessment or consideration of alternative measures which would be in keeping with the quality of care that staff otherwise give.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Managers have reviewed the recording methods and styles that staff use. This has led to new streamlined formats and better record-keeping but not uniformly so. A number of documents did not identify who had written them, and the standard of incident logs and behaviour support plans is not yet consistently high. This is also true of management reviews of these records. These have not always identified ambiguities or included a clear evaluation of practice. Opportunities to learn have therefore been missed.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Children have made progress over time. Examples given by a parent, a tutor and staff at the home include much reduced levels of aggression, greater concentration spans and the development of self-care skills. Adults achieve this at least partly through attending closely to children’s cues, knowing when they are ready to engage in learning or activities and when they need space and time to calm. Inspection report children’s home: SC370703 4

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/04/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 13/11/2019 Full Good 05/02/2019 Full Good 16/11/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC370703 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

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

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(v)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This refers, in particular, to ensuring that risk assessments are fully completed. 20 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.

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Requirement Due date

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 30 June 2022 Inspection report children’s home: SC370703 6 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

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (2)(a)(b)(c) (5))

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that they provide a homely, domestic environment. Children’s homes must comply with relevant health and safety legislations (alarms, food hygiene etc.). However, in doing so, homes should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than ‘institutional’ impression. In particular, this includes ensuring that adults do not prop fire doors open. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15 paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that children can access all shared areas of their home unless there are specific reasons why this would not meet a child’s needs. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, para 3.10)  The registered person should ensure that records of restraint are kept. These should enable the registered person and staff to review the use of control,

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Recommendations

discipline and restraint to identify effective practice and respond promptly where any issues or trends of concern emerge. In particular, records should clearly describe what hold staff used and how, and the manager’s review should include an evaluation of how effective and appropriate the intervention and its recording were. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 49 paragraph 9.59)  The registered person should ensure that case records are kept up to date and are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62 paragraph 14.3) Inspection report children’s home: SC370703 7

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Information about this inspection

This inspection focused on the effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of children and young people since the most recent full inspection.

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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 children’s home: SC370703 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Quadrant Court, 35 Guildford Road, Woking, Surrey GU22 7QQ

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Inspector

Chris Peel, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC370703 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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