Children's Home run by We Care Bespoke Ltd in Durham

Inspection report for children’s home: 2650092 1 Registered provider: We Care Bespoke Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and managed by a private provider. It can provide care for one child who may have a sensory impairment, learning disability and/or mental disorders.

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Information about this children’s home

One child currently lives in the home. The inspector spoke to the child and observed the staff supporting the child during the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager and the home were registered with Ofsted in November 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 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: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2650092 2

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Recent inspection history

Not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2650092 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager gathers detailed information from a range of professionals during the referral procedure. This information is used to help staff understand how to meet the child’s individual needs prior to them moving into the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Each day, staff use storytelling skills to bring the child’s books to life. This enables the child to enjoy lively interactive play. Staff support the child to have new experiences, such as trips to the beach and the park. The support provided by staff helps the child to develop confidence to explore their surroundings, which increases their opportunities to have new experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child has good attendance at school and staff provide activities to complement the child’s education. The progress the child makes is often rewarded with educational books and toys, which promotes continued educational progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child has a healthy diet, the majority of which is home-made food. Staff expand the child’s experience of food by including new foods and textures into their meals. This increases food choices available to the child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff incorporate soothing strategies into the child’s routines and specialist health appointments. This helps the child to tolerate the input of medical professionals, which promotes the child’s good health.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Care planning records sometimes lack detail regarding the child’s personal care and health needs. Some entries in the child’s records contain conflicting and confusing information. These shortfalls could lead to the child experiencing inconsistent care.

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

The manager has installed interactive visual and audio aids in the home to enable the child to communicate their views, make informed choices and to ask for help. The support that staff provide helps the child to develop their speech and to extend their vocabulary. One professional said: ‘The staff are attentive and help [name of child] to communicate. [Name of child] is very comfortable with the staff.’

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

The manager acts promptly when safeguarding concerns arise and shares information swiftly with appropriate safeguarding agencies. The manager ensures that any measures requested by professionals to further enhance the child’s safety are consistently applied by staff.

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

Risk assessments identify the vulnerabilities of the child and provide staff with strategies to mitigate these risks. Staff demonstrate that they understand the risks the child faces and that they adhere to the measures in place to protect the child. Inspection report for children’s home: 2650092 4 Staff methodically prepare before taking the child out of the home. Staff carry equipment they may need to respond to the child’s urgent medical needs, or to maintain the child’s dignity. This helps to ensure that the child is kept safe in the community.

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

Two new staff have been recruited. However, there is insufficient information regarding the previous employment history for one member of staff. This means that not all the required information is on record prior to staff caring for the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager values the input of the child’s family and professionals involved in the child’s life. The manager uses feedback effectively to develop the child’s care planning arrangements. The manager welcomes scrutiny of the service, including their own practice, and uses this input to improve the care provided to the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager identifies where systems for communication within the team can be improved and makes effective changes. One professional said: ‘The staff make meaningful contributions to multi-agency meetings and communication is good.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have regular reflective supervision. This is used to highlight strengths and to set targets that focus on areas to improve practice. The manager uses regular team meetings to assign specific areas of responsibility to staff, which they discuss. This helps to ensure that there is a collective effort towards the smooth running of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager helps the staff to learn about relevant legislation and how this links with the direct work that they undertake with the child. This approach helps to develop staff’s understanding, which strengthens their practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager challenges and advocates effectively on behalf of the child when issues are identified. Consequently, this has led to improvements that help to increase the safety and comfort of the child when travelling by car and using their wheelchair.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager’s auditing processes are not consistently used weekly as they should be. This means that management review of care planning records is often missed. This does not provide the necessary level of management oversight required to ensure that the child’s care needs are met.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has adapted the times when a changeover of staff occurs, to minimise disruption to the child’s routines. However, the statement of purpose has not been updated regarding these changes. This means that this document contains outdated information in relation to staffing arrangements. Inspection report for children’s home: 2650092 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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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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

provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(iv)) 12 June 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

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)) 12 June 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. 12 June 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2650092 6 (Regulation 32 (1) (3)(d))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that a full employment history is obtained for those who are employed to work at the home.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home’s statement of purpose is kept under review (regulation 16 and schedule 1). (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 14, paragraph 3.5)  The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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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: 2650092 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: We Care Bespoke Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 164a Front Street, Chester-le-Street DH3 3AZ

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Lindsay Metcalfe-Shaw

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Inspector

Paula Kelly, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2650092 8 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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