Children's home run by Hygge Care Ltd

Inspection report for children’s home: 2503076 1 Registered provider: Hygge Care Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A small private provider owns this home, which Ofsted registered in February 2019.

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Information about this children’s home

The home provides care for up to three children aged five to 12 years on admission, whose adverse childhood experiences and trauma can lead them to exhibit complex behaviours. The home’s purpose is to work therapeutically with children over a period of 12 to 18 months to prepare them for a planned transition to family care.

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Information about this children’s home

The home has been without a registered manager since September 2020. A new manager started in May 2022 and has submitted an application to register.

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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

Date of last inspection: 26 January 2022

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2503076 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

26/01/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 25/02/2020 Interim Declined in effectiveness 22/10/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2503076 3

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improvement to be good

At the time of this inspection, a new manager had been in post for four weeks. The manager has applied to Ofsted to register. The director and the manager are covering shortfalls in staffing to ensure that children have consistent care. Although improvements have been made and children are making progress, this is impacting on managers’ availability to implement further improvements in practice.

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improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, no children have left the home. Children are settled and professionals are positive about the progress children are making from their starting points.

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improvement to be good

Staff ensure that children spend time with those people who are important to them. They work hard to develop positive relationships with family members. When appropriate, staff advocate for children, so that they can spend safe and enjoyable time with their family. This provides children with a positive sense of identity.

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improvement to be good

Staff develop good relationships with children by talking and playing with them. Staff support children’s hobbies and interests, such as attending after-school clubs and taking keyboard lessons. Staff also enable children to develop and maintain friendships. For example, one child has now joined the local Girl Guides and attended a Girl Guides camp. This gives this child the opportunity to meet friends and integrate into the local community.

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improvement to be good

Children attend school full-time and are making progress. Good communication between the staff and the children’s schools means that the children’s emotional needs are understood and sensitively managed. Teachers praise staff for their caring attitude and commitment.

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improvement to be good

Children’s health and well-being are promoted well by staff. Staff ensure that children attend required medical appointments. Managers and staff advocate for children to have additional support when they need it. They work with professionals and clinicians to understand children’s complex behaviours and to ensure children’s emotional needs are met. This enables staff to support children during times of crisis and helps children to regulate their emotions.

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improvement to be good

Staff help children, including those with learning needs, to share their views in planned discussions and general daily conversations. However, the independent person’s report frequently does not include discussions with children. This is a missed opportunity to ensure that children feel safe and that they feel their health and well-being are promoted.

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improvement to be good

Records accurately detail the needs of children in terms of their day-to-day care and how they need to be looked after. However, targets and goals are not clear and Inspection report for children’s home: 2503076 4 measurable. Staff do not involve children in planning their care. This is a missed opportunity to encourage children to invest in decisions about their life.

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improvement to be good

The home is generally a homely and welcoming place for children to live. Photos of the children are prominently on display and age-appropriate books and toys are readily available. However, one child’s bedroom was not a welcoming place for a child to spend time. The bedroom furniture is tired and worn and the mattress, although new, is thin. A towel rail in the bathroom has been partially removed from the wall. Some outside paved areas are covered in moss and need cleaning.

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improvement to be good

Risk assessments are generally clear and of good quality. However, staff are not given sufficient guidance about how to deal with incidents of bullying and unkind behaviour. Staff are too slow in addressing the impact of these concerns and this has potentially left some children feeling vulnerable.

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improvement to be good

Management oversight of incidents is sometimes weak. On one occasion, staff restrained a child in a moving car when managing their complex behaviours. Managers did not challenge staff’s inconsistent and inaccurate recording of the incident. Although managers updated the risk assessment, advice to staff was insufficient to manage the high risk of harm to staff and to children when travelling in the car. This potentially places children and staff at increased risk.

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improvement to be good

Managers have not ensured that good arrangements for the safe administration of medication are in place. For instance, the system for signing medication in and out of the home is unclear. Staff are not guided to take immediate action when there is a discrepancy. Additionally, managers do not regularly assess staff competence to administer medication. This means that children are vulnerable to medication errors.

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improvement to be good

Although regular health and safety checks take place, staff have not identified some risks to children’s health and well-being. The carpet on the upstairs landing is not securely fixed and is a trip hazard. Some children’s bedrooms have locks which cannot be opened by staff in an emergency. This means that children are at increased risk in an emergency situation. More positively, staff ensure that children take part in regular fire drills and children have personal emergency evacuation plans.

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improvement to be good

Managers have completed a safe area report that identifies risks in the local area and has strategies to keep children safe from known risks. However, the report lacks independent oversight from external agencies, specifically the police.

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improvement to be good

Clear boundaries and routines and strong relationships with carers help children to feel settled and secure. As a result, children are more able to manage their emotions and incidents decrease. However, systems to reward positive and kind behaviours and to reflect on negative behaviours are not in place. This is a missed opportunity Inspection report for children’s home: 2503076 5 to help children to reflect on their behaviours and to learn the value of kindness and tolerance.

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improvement to be good

Children living at the home are not at risk of going missing and no children have gone missing from the home since the last inspection. Individual risk assessments tell staff what to do should a child go missing.

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good

There has been no registered manager since September 2020. Since the last inspection, the home has had two managers. Senior managers acknowledge that inconsistency in the management of the home has had an impact on staff morale. The new manager has a level 5 qualification in leadership and management and has previously managed a home where Ofsted judged children receive good care. The manager has plans in place to develop this home and the staff team.

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good

Managers and staff have worked hard to ensure that children have consistent care. This has involved staff working extra hours and managers covering some shortfalls in the rota. When agency staff have been used, managers have tried to ensure that staff are known to children. This means that children build trusted relationships with known adults who care for them. Managers have plans in place to address the shortfalls in staffing.

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good

When agency staff are used to cover shifts, managers do not ensure that these staff read children’s plans and risk assessments. This risks inconsistency in staff’s management of children’s complex behaviours and potentially compromises children’s safety.

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good

Recruitment practice is not sufficiently robust. This is because managers are not professionally curious about gaps in staff employment records or the reasons why staff left previous employment with children. Weaknesses in safe recruitment of staff mean managers cannot be sure they only recruit suitable staff to care for children. This is the second consecutive time that inspectors have identified shortfalls in staff recruitment.

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good

Staff receive regular supervision and an annual appraisal,. However, agency staff who regularly work in the home do not receive supervision. Additionally, managers do not routinely discuss safeguarding with staff in supervision. This means that some staff do not have the opportunity to reflect on their practice and staff supervisions lack a safeguarding focus.

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good

Staff have access to training and advice from a psychologist. This helps staff to develop skills and strategies to respond to the needs of individual children, including children with learning disabilities. Managers recognise the positive impact this knowledge can have on the child’s experiences. Further work is planned to improve staff’s knowledge in working with children’s individual needs. Inspection report for children’s home: 2503076 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 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; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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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

understand and communicate to children that bullying is unacceptable; and

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to recognise incidents or indications of bullying and how to deal with them. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(xii)(xiii))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to managers ensuring that bullying is addressed with children by staff, and that staff talk with children specifically about the impact of their harmful behaviours towards other children. 8 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 premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(d)) 8 July 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2503076 7 This specifically relates to managers ensuring that carpets on the landing area are firmly secured to the floor and thumb locks are installed on children’s bedroom doors.

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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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(v))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to managers ensuring that a child’s risk assessment contains clear strategies to reduce risks to children and staff when travelling in the car.

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Requirement Due date

This also relates to managers ensuring that systems are in place to ensure agency staff are familiar with children’s risk assessments and behaviour management plans. 24 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))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to managers ensuring that they critically evaluate incident reports for accuracy and that staff 8 July 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2503076 8 debriefs following an incident of restraint enable staff to reflect on their actions.

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Requirement Due date

This also relates to managers ensuring that they regularly monitor staff competency in administering medication to children.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home. (Regulation 23 (1))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to managers ensuring that staff keep clear and accurate records of the location and quantity of a child’s medication and that staff are given clear guidance on the action to take when there is a discrepancy. 8 July 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

employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home, if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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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. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a)(b) (3)(d)

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to leaders and managers ensuring that they explore the gaps in new staff’s employment history and the reasons why they left previous employment working with children. 8 July 2022

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Requirement Due date

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— 8 July 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2503076 9 if they consent, to interview in private such of the children, their parents, relatives and persons working at the home as the independent person requires. (Regulation 44 (1) (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to managers ensuring that the independent person has the opportunity to talk with children during their monthly monitoring visit.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must review the appropriateness and suitability of the location of the premises used for the purposes of the children’s home at least once in each calendar year taking into account the requirement in regulation 12(2)(c) (the protection of children standard).

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Requirement Due date

When conducting the review, the registered person must consult, and take into account the views of, each relevant person. (Regulation 46 (1) (2))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to managers ensuring that the location risk assessment is shared with agencies, specifically the police. 8 July 2022

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that supervision of staff practice should ensure that individual adults in the home are engaged in the safeguarding culture of the home so they understand what they would need to do if they found other staff misusing or abusing their position to the detriment of the safety of a child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.14)  The registered person should ensure that they meet Regulation 19(2) regarding sanctions that are prohibited in behaviour management. Any sanctions used to address poor behaviour should be restorative in nature, to help children recognise the impact of their behaviour on themselves, other children, the staff caring for them and the wider community. In some cases it will be important for children to make reparation in some form to anyone hurt by their behaviour and the staff in the home should be skilled to support the child to understand this and carry it

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Recommendations

out. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.38)  The registered person should ensure that staff should understand the system for rewarding and celebrating positive behaviour and recognising where children have managed situations well. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 47, paragraph 9.39) Inspection report for children’s home: 2503076 10  The registered person should ensure that the children’s homes are nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of the child. In most cases, they will be homely, domestic environments. 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. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including

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Recommendations

the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that staff encourage children to see the home’s records as living documents, supporting them to view and contribute to the record in a way that reflects their voice on a regular basis. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 58, paragraph 11.19)

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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: 2503076 11

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Grosvenor House, 11 St Pauls Square, Birmingham, West Midlands B3 1RB

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Inspector

Karen Gillingwater, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2503076 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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