Children's home run by Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council in Sefton

Inspection report for children’s home: SC036298 1 SC036298 Registered provider: Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This local authority home provides a short-break service for up to five children with learning disabilities, physical disabilities and complex health needs.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in March 2007.

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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: 9 November 2021

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

This children’s home was judged inadequate at the full inspection on 9 November 2021. Following the inspection, three compliance notices were issued: under regulation 12, the protection of children, regulation 13, the leadership and management standard; and regulation 14, the care planning standard.

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

At a monitoring visit on 4 January 2022, inspectors found that the registered manager had taken the required action to address the shortfalls identified in the compliance notices. Inspection report for children’s home: SC036298 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/11/2021 Full Inadequate 01/07/2019 Full Good 11/09/2018 Full Good 19/09/2017 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC036298 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The local authority took the decision to close the short-break service for a period of time in order to look after a child on a full-time basis in the home. The child has made significant progress during this time. Staff have supported the child to develop his independence skills, including helping him to learn how to walk and to access new experiences such as trips out and tasting a variety of new foods.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home has now resumed the short-breaks service. There is good planning through a series of tea visits prior to children staying for their short break. Children’s plans are robust, and children receive high-quality personalised care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have positive relationships with staff. They are comfortable around them and enjoy their company. There is a warm atmosphere and inspectors observed lots of laughter in the home. Interactions with children are caring and supportive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from a range of activities and experiences. They have opportunities to socialise and make new friends. There are photos of the children showing them having fun.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Communication with children is tailored to each child. Staff are introducing new ideas to gain their wishes and feelings. Some staff have recently attended training in ‘Talking Mats.’ As a result, communication is more inclusive and ensures that all children can participate and share their views about the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children stay in a warm and good-quality environment. It is spacious and provides children with all the necessary specialist equipment. However, there are locks on some doors and this detracts from the homely feel. Additionally, this means that children are unable to access all areas of the home. This requirement is repeated.

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

Parents say their children are safe and staff understand their children’s risks. Risk assessments are reviewed regularly and provide clear guidance for staff. Each child has a personal evacuation plan in place to help staff support them safely in the event of a fire.

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

Staff are fully trained to safely manage and administer medication to ensure that all children’s health needs are met. There are robust systems in place for the admission and discharge of all medications, including controlled drugs.

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

Positive behaviour is promoted through good use of de-escalation techniques, such as the use of sensory activities to help reduce children’s anxiety. As a result, there have been no incidents of physical intervention since the last inspection. Inspection report for children’s home: SC036298 4 Children are supported by staff to stay safe. However, the managers have not sought consent for the use of monitoring or surveillance equipment used in the home during the night. For example, the use of a baby monitor to monitor a child who has epilepsy was not adequately assessed and the necessary permissions sought.

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good

There is a suitably qualified and experienced manager in the home. She is supported by a deputy. Both managers have been at the home for several years and are aspirational and child focused. Staff feel fully supported by the management team.

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good

Management monitoring systems are not fully effective. This is a missed opportunity to quickly identify strengths and areas of development. The managers recognise there are areas of improvement and are working on developing their internal monitoring and reviewing systems. For example, the quality of care review must ensure that it covers evaluation on all aspects of quality of care provided in the home and ensure that the manager has clear oversight. This requirement is repeated.

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good

The manager has not ensured that regular team meetings take place and there is no workforce development plan in place. Furthermore, supervision is variable in quality and lacks signatures and actions. This does not support staff to reflect on their practice and means that managers are unable to identify plans for developing the service.

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good

The statement of purpose does not clearly reflect what the service offers in line with their current conditions of registration. Additionally, it does not contain information on the monitoring and surveillance arrangements in the home. As a result, parents and placing authorities do not have access to all the correct information about the service.

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good

There is a consistent staff team who have worked at the home for a long time. They provide adequate staffing levels in line with the children’s needs. Staff know the children well and one professional said, ‘Staff are really knowledgeable about all the children.’ This is a real strength of the service. However, not all staff have received refresher training in safeguarding. As a result, this does not provide all staff with the necessary up-to-date knowledge and understanding in safeguarding practice. Inspection report for children’s home: SC036298 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 registered person must compile in relation to the children’s home a statement (“the statement of purpose”) which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must provide a copy of the statement of purpose to HMCI and make a copy of it available upon request to—

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Requirement Due date

a child, or a child for whom accommodation in the home is being considered;

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Requirement Due date

a parent of a child, or a parent of a child for whom accommodation in the home is being considered;

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Requirement Due date

in the case of a qualifying school, the Secretary of State.

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Requirement Due date

keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and

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Requirement Due date

notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 16 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c)(d)(e) (3)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that the statement of purpose accurately reflects the conditions of the home’s registration and must include information about the use of surveillance and monitoring equipment in the home. 29 April 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that the privacy of children is appropriately protected; children can access all appropriate areas of the children’s home’s premises; and any limitation placed on a child’s privacy or access to any area of 29 April 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: SC036298 6 the home’s premises is intended to safeguard each child accommodated in the home;

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Requirement Due date

necessary and proportionate; kept under review and, if necessary, revised; and allows children as much freedom as is possible when balanced against the need to protect them and keep them safe. (Regulation 21 (a)(b)(c)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to the routine locking of doors in the home.

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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;

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Requirement Due date

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.

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the consent for the use of any baby monitors in the home. 29 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 feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it.

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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"). 29 April 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: SC036298 7 The registered person must—

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Requirement Due date

supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(b) (3) (4)(a))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to improving the content of the quality of care review report and ensuring that it reflects children’s experiences and views of the home.

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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: SC036298 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Town Hall, Oriel Road, Bootle, Merseyside L20 7AE

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Inspectors

Judith Birchall, Social Care Inspector Rose Maddocks, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC036298 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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