Children's home run by Vita Spirit Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2635269 1 Registered provider: Vita Spirit Limited Full 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 by a small private company. The home provides care and support for up to two children with learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager resigned in March 2022.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2635269 2

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Recent inspection history

Not previously inspected Inspection report for children’s home: 2635269 3

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improvement to be good

This is the home’s first full inspection since it was registered in October 2021.

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improvement to be good

At the time of the inspection, two children were living at the home. Transition planning is detailed. One child had recently moved into the home in an emergency. Managers worked with relevant professionals and the child’s school to ensure that all relevant information was readily available to staff. This enabled a successful transition. Despite this detailed planning, another child had to move to a new home as staff were unable to manage their emotional needs.

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improvement to be good

Inspectors observed staff being encouraging and supportive towards the children and this creates a relaxed and calm atmosphere. However, since the last inspection, children have been cared for by an inconsistent staff team, with high numbers of agency staff covering the shortfalls on the rosters. This does not enable children to build long-standing, positive relationships.

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improvement to be good

Inspectors found some areas of the home require attention. Not all areas are maintained to an acceptable standard of cleanliness. One child’s bedroom needs new flooring. The walls in some of the communal areas are dirty and damaged. Repairs, redecoration and more intense cleaning is required to improve the quality of the home so that children are living in a suitably clean, hygienic and welcoming environment.

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improvement to be good

One child is attending school on a full-time basis and is making progress. Another child is yet to have an educational placement identified. This is limiting the child’s educational opportunities. Leaders and managers are working proactively to secure suitable educational provision for the child and have escalated their concerns to the appropriate agencies. However, staff need to plan an effective timetable that provides the child with educational activities during the day while waiting for formal educational provision.

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improvement to be good

The children have up-to-date health assessments and access to universal healthcare services. Staff arrange health appointments for children in line with their needs. For example, they have arranged specialist eye appointments at the home to make the children feel more at ease. Children receive care that supports their complex health needs.

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improvement to be good

There are good-quality key-work sessions to help the children learn about their environment and their community. Staff are using effective strategies of positive praise and incentives that are helping children reach specific goals. Inspection report for children’s home: 2635269 4 Staff respect children’s dignity and are very sensitive to their need for privacy when delivering personal care. Staff ensure that children who are non-verbal have the same opportunities for choice as those who can communicate verbally.

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improvement to be good

Irrespective of any disabilities they may have, children are making progress in spending time in the community. The staff offer lots of activities to enhance children’s lives. The children recently enjoyed trips to the museum and the beach. Their experiences are captured in scrapbooks and the photograph’s displayed in the home. This gives the children a sense of belonging.

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improvement to be good

Individualised risk assessments are in place and regularly reviewed. Staff understand all the children’s risks and know the children well. However, leaders and managers must ensure that all staff understand the roles and responsibilities of safeguarding professionals, including the role of the local authority designated officer.

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improvement to be good

Due to the high staffing levels, the risk of children going missing is low. The staff team has built good links with local police. However, the manager must ensure that staff are clear on what action must be taken in the event of a child going missing. Additionally, there should be a robust missing-from-care protocol in place that contains accurate information and clear timescales for reporting such incidents.

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improvement to be good

There are safe storage systems in place for medication and staff are suitably trained. However, the manager must ensure that children have an up-to-date health plan in place that identifies clear guidance and an appropriate protocol for prescribed medications.

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improvement to be good

Restraint is only ever used as a last resort and practice is proportionate. However, following the restraint, not all staff are provided with an opportunity for a debrief and managers who are involved in the restraint are reviewing their own practice. This is not safe practice. Furthermore, restraint records do not include the strategies used by staff to try to de-escalate situations. Consequently, due to a lack of analysis and scrutiny from the previous manager, children are not being safeguarded. Furthermore, a lack of evaluation of incidents fails to identify learning points to improve practice.

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improvement to be good

All staff are suitably checked and vetted before starting work at the home. The recruitment process is robust and detailed. This ensures that the adults caring for children are safely recruited.

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good

The registered manager left the home in March 2022. There is a new manager in post. She is passionate and knows the children well. The manager is making improvements to documentation to ensure that it reflects the needs of the children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2635269 5 Some areas of the monitoring require improvement. Managers have not always ensured that the children’s case records contain up-to-date information and records are not consistently dated or signed by the author. Some of the children’s plans are confusing and unclear about what support children require. As a result, staff are unclear about the steps they need to take to support children effectively.

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good

Recruitment of staff is ongoing to ensure there is a more stable workforce in place. One member of staff said, ‘Things are improving and morale in the home is good.’ However, more recently there has been a high use of agency staff to meet the needs of the children. This does not ensure that the children are receiving continuity of care.

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good

Rotas do not include the full name of each staff member or their actual hours worked. This is not safe practice for children, as there is no clear record of who was working with the children at that time.

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good

Although staff receive training, there are significant gaps in the training records. Leaders and managers fail to equip staff with the knowledge and skills to support children’s needs. For example, staff require training in autism spectrum disorder, learning disabilities, Makaton and the Picture Exchange Communication System.

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good

Despite the provider having a complaints procedure, when a third party made a complaint, leaders and managers did not record their response and the complaint was not fully investigated. This does not demonstrate that complaints are being fully considered or any learning from them identified.

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good

Staff find the management team supportive and approachable. There are regular supervision sessions and good-quality handovers taking place. Team meeting minutes are detailed. Team meetings provide good opportunities to share information and the minutes are a detailed record. Inspection report for children’s home: 2635269 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 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 and

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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

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

meet the needs of each child and enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to maintenance being completed in the home in a timely manner and all areas of the children’s home being personalised. 4 July 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

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)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This relates specifically to ensuring children’s safety plans include all strategies to support children when they are struggling emotionally. 4 July 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2635269 7 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

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

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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)(a)(c)(d)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to the manager’s oversight, monitoring and evaluation of the quality of care and protection provided in the home. 4 July 2022

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration; 4 July 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2635269 8 details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person who used the measure ("the user"), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure;

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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; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c)) 4 July 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4. (Regulation 37 (1) (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

The provider needs to show on rotas all the hours worked by all staff, including managers, and include full names of staff. 4 July 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2635269 9 The registered person must ensure that a record is made of any complaint, the action taken in response, and the outcome of any investigation. (Regulation 39 (3)) 4 July 2022

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that when children placed in a home are not participating in education because they have been excluded or are not on a school roll for some other reason, the registered person and staff must work closely with the placing authority so that the child is supported and enabled to resume full-time education as soon as possible. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 28, paragraph 5.15)

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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: 2635269 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Vita Spirit Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 25-27 Seel Street, Liverpool L1 4AU

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Inspectors

Judith Birchall, Social Care Inspector Jessica Higginson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2635269 11 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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