Children's Home run by Nelbro Group Ltd in Brighton and Hove

Inspection report for children’s home: 2661371 1 Registered provider: Nelbro Group 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 run by a private organisation and can provide care for up to three children with social, behavioural and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since January 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 inadequate

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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: 2661371 2

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Recent inspection history

Not applicable. Inspection report for children’s home: 2661371 3

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improvement to be good

This service requires improvement due to the lack of management oversight of care practice and record-keeping. This has led to inconsistencies in the way children experience care.

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improvement to be good

Children are not yet receiving effective support with their health needs. For example, one child’s records show a history of non-epileptic seizures, yet there is no further information identified to help staff understand this health condition or how to care for this child in the event of a seizure.

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improvement to be good

Staff are still in the process of building relationships with the children. Care planning records demonstrate that the language staff use to write about children is not consistently nurturing or in line with the home’s ethos. The manager has started to make some changes to this process so that children’s plans and events are recorded in a way that helps them feel valued and appreciated.

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improvement to be good

Children engage positively and have fun when taking part in activities in the local community. One child has recently joined the cadets and is working towards attending a residential trip away with the cadets.

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improvement to be good

Each child has a bespoke educational timetable and they are making progress with their learning. For example, one child is learning to read.

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improvement to be good

Children’s house meetings are facilitated on a regular basis and children are invited to contribute their views during meetings. Children have regular weekly key-working sessions that are based around topics identified to help children with areas of learning and development that are specific to their needs.

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improvement to be good

Feedback from external professionals is positive. The social worker for a child who had lived in a secure children’s home prior to moving to this home reported that he was impressed with ‘how well [the child] is coping since being out of a secure unit and the respect he has for the manager.’

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improvement to be good

Staff seldom use physical interventions to manage incidents. However, when they do occur, there are no records of these incidents. This means there is no management oversight of practice to ensure that it has been carried out safely and is proportionate.

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improvement to be good

Children do not receive a consistent approach to behaviour management and this means they are not always clear what is expected of them. There are also Inspection report for children’s home: 2661371 4 inconsistencies in the decision-making of senior management and therefore no consistent messages to staff in terms of how to help children learn boundaries.

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improvement to be good

Staff are proactive in looking for children when they go missing. The manager advocates well for children within the professional network to ensure that children’s safety and well-being are central to care planning.

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improvement to be good

The home is a pleasant environment for children and has a homely feel. However, consideration has not been given to ensure that all windows in the home are fitted with safety devices to reduce the risk of a child entering or leaving the home without staff noticing.

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improvement to be good

The provider carries out rigorous recruitment checks for new staff to ensure that they are suitably experienced and of good character.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The registered manager is currently away on maternity leave and interim management arrangements are in place. She has been off for more than 28 days and, despite being required to do so, the provider did not inform Ofsted of this absence.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager’s oversight of recording is poor. Important records required to inform care practice and care planning are missing or incomplete. This means that there is a lack of clarity for staff with regard to providing consistent care to children. The interim manager was unable to provide any written plans from one child’s placing authority or records to confirm what decisions about children’s care they are authorised to take without needing to consult with the placing authority. Furthermore, consent had not been sought for an independent visitor to look at children’s records.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff receive regular supervision from the manager. However, senior management have not provided the manager with the frequency of supervision identified by the company policy during her probation period.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Children are supported by a small staff team and this ensures that children are cared for by staff who they are familiar with. Staff feel supported by the manager and are passionate about the children they work with. However, the manager has not maintained accurate records to identify which staff have worked in the home at any given time. This is important, not least because in the event of an allegation against staff, it would be important to identify who was on duty at the time.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Most staff have the appropriate identified required training; however, the manager does not have an effective system in place to monitor staff training. Furthermore, there is no workforce plan for the staff. This means the manager is unable to review current training needs and to ensure that staff continue to get the training they need to meet the needs of the children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2661371 5 The manager has failed to ensure that appropriate plans are in place to support a child who uses a vape. This has led to staff purchasing vape products for children, which is against the law. The manager had not considered this, nor discussed this with the child’s local authority to manage this for the child. This is poor practice and does not promote a healthy lifestyle for the child. Inspection report for children’s home: 2661371 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 health and well-being standard is that—

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Requirement Due date

the health and well-being needs of children are met;

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Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being; and

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Requirement Due date

children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that children’s plans are clear about how to meet their health needs. 29 July 2022

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour.

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Requirement Due date

This is with specific reference to applying clear and consistent boundaries to ensure that staff are supported to understand what is expected of them. 31 August 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)) 31 August 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2661371 7 This regulation applies to a child who is looked after by a local authority.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must cooperate with the child’s placing authority in agreeing and signing the child’s placement plan.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy (“the behaviour management policy”) which sets out—

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Requirement Due date

how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home.

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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;

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Requirement Due date

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; 30 June 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2661371 8 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.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 35 (1)(b) (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that there is a clear record in respect of any incident that requires the use of physical intervention.

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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

Schedule 4 sets out the other information that the registered person must keep in relation to a children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the records are kept up to date; and

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Requirement Due date

retain the records for at least 15 years from the date of the last entry.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that staff rotas accurately reflect the staff actually working in the home. 29 July 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2661371 9 The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children’s home at least once each month.

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Requirement Due date

When the independent person is carrying out a visit, the registered person must help the independent person—

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Requirement Due date

to inspect the premises of the home and such of the home’s records (except for a child’s case records, unless the child and the child’s placing authority consent) as the independent person requires.

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Requirement Due date

This is specifically with regard to ensuring that signed consent is obtained for the independent visitor to access children’s records. 30 June 2022

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Requirement Due date

If the person who is in day-to-day charge of the children’s home proposes to be absent from the home for a continuous period of 28 days or more, the registered person must give notice in writing to HMCI of the proposed absence.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the children’s home provides a nurturing, supportive and homely environment that meets the needs of the children. In particular, ensure that language used when recording information is child-friendly. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  Each child’s placement plan should set out the permissions that their placing authority has delegated to the registered person. This should provide clarity on the home’s ability to give permission for school trips, sleepovers or the child’s involvement in sporting, leisure and cultural activities. Wherever possible, the home should secure the appropriate authority to support children to be involved in the same positive activities as their peers. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, pages 30–31, paragraph 6.2)  The registered person should have a workforce plan which can fulfil the

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Recommendations

workforce-related requirements of regulation 16, schedule 1 (paragraphs 19 and 20). The plan should: o detail the necessary management and staffing structure (including any staff commissioned to provide health and education), the experience and qualifications of staff currently working within the staffing structure and any Inspection report for children’s home: 2661371 10 further training required for those staff, to enable the delivery of the home’s statement of purpose; o detail the processes and agreed timescales for staff to achieve induction, probation and any core training (such as safeguarding, health and safety and mandatory qualifications); o detail the process for managing and improving poor performance; o detail the process and timescales for supervision of practice (see regulation 33 (4)(b)) and keep appropriate records for staff in the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page

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Recommendations

53, paragraph 10.8)  The registered person must have systems in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional, which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. In particular, the manager should receive regular supervision from senior leaders. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)

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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: 2661371 11

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Nelbro Group Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 31–33 High Street, Carshalton SM5 3AX

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Inspector

Sara Stoker, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2661371 12 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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