Children's Home run by Aspris New Education Services Limited in Lancashire

Inspection report children’s home: SC412971 1 SC412971 Registered provider: Aspris New Education Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is operated by a private organisation. It provides care for up to four disabled children.

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Information about this children’s home

There has been no registered manager since November 2021.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, there were three children living at the home.

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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: 22 February 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 children’s home: SC412971 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

22/02/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 29/05/2019 Full Good 20/03/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness 06/06/2018 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC412971 3

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improvement to be good

Children who live at this home have profound and complex disabilities. They receive individualised care and are making good progress.

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improvement to be good

Children have positive and trusting relationships with some of the staff who support them. Staff were observed to be extremely responsive to children’s needs. One social worker said, ‘Staff are amazing with [name of child]. They are bubbly and playful, which she responds well to.’ However, the provider has struggled to recruit sufficient staff and there is a reliance on agency and temporary staff to cover the vacancies. This has a negative impact on children’s experience of living at the home and it limits children’s ability to form long-lasting relationships.

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improvement to be good

The lack of sufficient staff was a contributing factor to one child moving from this home. This transition to another home within the organisation was well coordinated and the child has settled well. The placing authority and parent agreed with this move. However, managers did not ensure that a meeting was held to review the child’s relevant plans. A requirement has been made to address this.

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improvement to be good

Children are learning new skills which support them to become increasingly independent. For example, one child is learning how to brush his own teeth. However, children’s progress is not being monitored, measured and recorded effectively in their care plans. In addition, copies of some children’s education, health and care plans are not held in the home. Staff should be aware of the content of these plans to enable them to provide cohesive care that is planned effectively.

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improvement to be good

Staff understand children’s individual methods of communication. Staff maximise opportunities for children to have choice and control over their day-to-day care and their preferences are listened to.

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improvement to be good

Children benefit from structured and well-planned daily routines. One child, who previously experienced an erratic sleep pattern, now sleeps through the night, and she no longer requires prescription medication to aid her sleep.

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improvement to be good

Staff encourage children to have healthy diets. Physical exercise is promoted, which has supported one child to lose weight. However, one child, who requires a medical assessment, has experienced significant delay in getting an appointment. Managers have not sufficiently challenged this delay with health professionals.

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improvement to be good

Care plans contain lots of detail about children’s needs and how staff should respond to them. However, they are not of consistent quality and there are omissions regarding some children’s health conditions and how staff should support them. Inspection report children’s home: SC412971 4 In addition, some information in children’s care plans conflicts with information written in their risk management plans. This lack of clear guidance does not promote consistent practice.

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improvement to be good

The responsible individual ensures that any damage to the home is repaired in a timely manner. Redecoration to communal areas was taking place during the inspection. However, there has been a delay in securing funding from senior managers to repair damage caused by a leak. This does not present a hazard to children as they cannot access this area. However, it is not conducive to a homely environment.

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improvement to be good

Children benefit from a high level of supervision and support, which helps to keep them safe from harm.

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improvement to be good

Permanent staff understand children’s needs and the risks that children are vulnerable to. All children have risk management plans which have recently been reviewed. However, some plans contain out-of-date and inaccurate information. This means that staff are not always provided with all the information they need to care for children consistently.

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improvement to be good

Not all risks to children and staff are robustly assessed. For example, one child has a history of taking their seatbelt off in the car and displaying behaviour which challenges. Staff are provided with guidance about how to manage this situation. However, there are risks associated to the advice staff are given to get out of the car. The risk management plan fails to assess the risks to both the child and the staff that are associated with this practice.

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improvement to be good

Physical interventions to manage children’s behaviours are rarely used in this home. All staff have completed training on how to manage children’s behaviours in a positive way. When children’s behaviour becomes challenging, staff use techniques described in children’s behaviour support plans to diffuse situations without the need to physically intervene.

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improvement to be good

There has been one incident where staff delayed seeking medical advice following a child’s self-injurious behaviour. Managers have taken effective steps to strengthen procedures and ensure that staff are provided with clear guidelines to support their decision-making in this area.

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improvement to be good

To keep children safe, there are restrictions in place that limit children’s ability to leave the home. This includes restricting their ability to access the garden freely. These restrictions have been assessed as proportionate; however, managers have not regularly reviewed these arrangements to ensure that they remain necessary.

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improvement to be good

All children have a personal emergency evacuation plan. These plans provide staff with guidance about how to support children safely in the event of a fire. In Inspection report children’s home: SC412971 5 addition, all children have been involved in a fire drill since the last inspection. One child found this drill extremely distressing. A decision was taken for this child to not take part in future drills until desensitisation work, to help ease her anxieties, is completed. However, this work has not yet started, which leaves this child vulnerable in the event of a fire.

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improvement to be good

On one occasion, a lack of staff supervision resulted in one child ingesting another child’s medication. The manager in post at the time did not conduct a timely investigation into this incident and there is no evidence of the steps taken by managers to prevent reoccurrence. In addition, one child is given medication covertly due to difficulties the child has with taking medication. However, the provider is not following their own protocol regarding the covert administration of medication. Advice has not been sought from a health professional regarding this practice. A requirement is made to address this.

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good

The manager of the home has left since the last inspection and there is currently no manager in post. The provider is making efforts to recruit to this role but has not yet been successful. This is having an impact on the effective leadership and management of the home. The responsible individual is aware of the shortfalls and is taking steps to address them. An experienced manager, from within the organisation, has recently been identified to add extra management capacity to the team while a recruitment drive takes place.

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good

The gap in effective leadership means that improvements to the home are not sufficiently prioritised. Five of the requirements made at the last inspection are not considered to be met and are repeated at this inspection. An additional four requirements are made at this inspection.

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good

New staff have been recruited since the last inspection. There are early signs that this is starting to reduce the heavy reliance on agency staff to provide care for children. Managers are trying to mitigate the impact on children by using regular agency staff who are familiar to children. However, this has not always been possible and there has been a significant number of temporary staff working in the home.

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good

Managers do not always use learning from events to shape practice. For example, following a medication error in the home, the manager conducted a lessons learned exercise to better understand the incident. This document has been misplaced and current managers are unaware of its content. This incident was not managed effectively. Furthermore, the incident was not reported to Ofsted. Requirements have been made to address this.

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good

Some improvements have been made to the monitoring and review systems in the home. However, these systems are not yet sufficiently robust to identify the shortfalls in care planning and risk management standards. For example, some children’s care plans omitted important details about how their health conditions Inspection report children’s home: SC412971 6 should be safely managed. In addition, not all staff have signed to indicate that they have read important documents relating to children.

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good

The manager’s six-monthly review of the quality of care provided by the home was not completed and submitted to the regulator within the prescribed timescale. Furthermore, it failed to adequately evaluate the quality of care provided to children or reflect their experiences of living in the home.

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good

Permanent members of the staff team benefit from regular individual supervision sessions. However, agency staff and school staff, who work regular shifts at the home, do not receive regular supervision sessions. This means that not all staff receive an opportunity to reflect on their practice and discuss any concerns they may have.

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good

Most permanent members of the staff team have now completed the organisation’s mandatory training courses. Additional training that is aligned to the individual needs of the children has also been identified. While the number of qualified staff remains low, managers now have a much greater focus on enrolling staff, and they are monitoring the progress staff are making with gaining their qualification. A requirement has been raised to secure improvements in this area. Inspection report children’s home: SC412971 7

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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

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs;

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 5 (b)(c)) 31 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

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

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(vi)) 31 July 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

promotes their welfare. 31 July 2022 Inspection report children’s home: SC412971 8 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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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’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

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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)(c)(e)(h))

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home.

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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 each child’s relevant plans are followed. (Regulation 14 (1)(a) (2)(c)) 31 July 2022

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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.

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Requirement Due date

In particular the registered person must ensure that—

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Requirement Due date

medicine which is prescribed for a child is administered as prescribed to the child for whom it is prescribed and to no other child. (Regulation 23 (1) (2)(b)) 31 July 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider must appoint a person to manage the children’s home if—

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Requirement Due date

there is no registered manager in respect of the home. (Regulation 27 (1)(a)) 31 July 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development;

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b)) 31 July 2022 Inspection report children’s home: SC412971 9 The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation;

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child—

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Requirement Due date

concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e)) 31 July 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 quality of care provided for children;

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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; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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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”).

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must— 31 July 2022 Inspection report children’s home: SC412971 10 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.

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c) (3) (4)(a) (5))

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home is maintained to a good standard. Any repairs to the building should be carried out in a timely fashion and without unnecessary delay. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that restrictions which limit children’s ability to freely access the garden are kept under regular review. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.10)  The registered person should ensure that a copy of the child’s education, health and care plan is kept on the child’s records and that staff are aware of the information in it. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 26, paragraph 5.4)

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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 children’s home: SC412971 11

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Aspris New Education Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: The Forge, Church Street West, Woking, Surrey GU21 6HT

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Inspector

Sophie Thomson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC412971 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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