Children's home run by Consistent Quality Support Limited

Inspection report for children's home: 2570084 1 Registered provider: Consistent Quality Support Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The children’s home is owned by a private provider. It is registered to provide care for one child with emotional and social difficulties or learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager is suitably qualified and experienced.

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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

Date of last inspection: 2 February 2022

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 2570084 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

02/02/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children's home: 2570084 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child who lives here is making good progress. The trusted relationships they have with staff have enabled them to feel happy and safe. Staff know the child well and spend lots of quality time with them. The nurturing and consistent care afforded to the child is helping them to recover from previous trauma and placement breakdowns.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child now attends school and is making good progress in education. They have good attendance. The child is enjoying school after a long time away from education. Effective partnership working with the school is supporting the child’s progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child’s emotional and psychological needs are being met through multi-agency arrangements. The manager is a strong advocate for specialist services to be made available. The staff have escalated concerns and challenged delays in service provision to ensure the child receives the support they need.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child benefits from safe medication practices. Access to health services is supported. The child’s independence has been promoted wherever possible; self- care skills have improved as a result of living at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is being supported to explore their gender identity. This is being done in a dignified and respectful manner. Staff are helping the child develop a positive view of themselves. This sensitive care is helping the child overcome previous experiences of neglect and bullying.

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

Safeguarding practice is effective and has protected the child from potential harm. There has been a reduction in serious incidents and self-injurious behaviours. This is because all staff understand how to respond to potential incidents. The previous shortfalls in safeguarding are no longer apparent.

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

Communication with the placing authority social worker is good. There is regular contact about any safeguarding matters. The child’s social worker said: ‘I feel that my child is completely safe here. I have no concerns at all about safeguarding. The staff know her really well.’ Good communication between the staff and other professionals results in effective partnership working and helps to reduce potential risks.

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

Restraint is only used as a last resort and when necessary to protect the child and/or staff from harm. Staff have had appropriate restraint training. Incidents of restraint have reduced over time, which shows that staff are effective in their use of behaviour management strategies. However, incident reports do not always include Inspection report for children's home: 2570084 4 an evaluation of the restraint used or the views of the staff members involved. This limits how the management team reviews incidents and evaluates the effectiveness of such measures. This also restricts the learning which can come from such incidents.

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

Recruitment practice is not yet robust and remains a requirement from the previous inspection. Full and satisfactory information is not readily available for all individuals who work in the home in respect of the matters in Schedule 2.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed effectively by a qualified and experienced manager. She is a passionate and driven individual. She has been instrumental in the improvements made since the last inspection. The manager will soon be leaving her post. Swift action has been taken by the directors to appoint a new manager. The home is now suitably staffed to meet the child’s needs, which is an improvement since the previous inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Effective action has been taken to address most of the previous shortfalls. The manager uses learning from practice and feedback from others to improve the care of children. As a result, the child’s experiences have improved.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff work positively with other agencies. They have built effective working relationships with social workers, parents and other professionals. This helps to promote positive outcomes for the child in their care. One professional said: ‘Communication from the whole team is really good, especially the manager.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Training and induction activities are effective. Staff receive training that is specific to the individual child’s needs. Specialist training regarding children with autism and self-injurious behaviours has been commissioned by the company. This is to ensure that staff have the necessary skills to care for the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Since the previous inspection, the manager has challenged and escalated matters when necessary. This is no longer a shortfall in practice. As a result, the child now has a school place and has access to specialist mental health services.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive monthly supervision from a manager. This focuses on the child’s needs and experiences. Staff speak highly of the leadership team and feel supported at work. The emotional intensity of caring for one child is recognised by the manager. Changes to the rota are being implemented to give staff a healthy work-life balance.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has ensured that all notifications and documents are sent to the regulator in a timely way. This is no longer a shortfall as identified at the last inspection. Inspection report for children's home: 2570084 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 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. (Regulation 32 (3)(d))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to comprehensive recruitment checks being readily available as specified in Schedule 2. 29 July 2022

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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. (Regulation 35 (3)(b)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that all incidents of restraint include the views of the staff involved and are completed in a comprehensive manner. 29 July 2022

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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: 2570084 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Consistent Quality Support Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 6 Scarlet Way, Shirebrook, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire NG20 8FW

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Inspector

Rachael Sprigg, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2570084 7 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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