Children's Home run by Blue Mountain Homes Ltd in Derbyshire

Inspection report for children's home: 1244161 1 Registered provider: Blue Mountain Homes Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned and registered to provide care to one child with complex social and emotional needs.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been in post since November 2021. They are not yet registered with Ofsted.

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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 requires improvement to be good

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good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 1244161 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

05/07/2021 Full Good 03/04/2019 Full Good 09/05/2018 Full Good 08/08/2017 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 1244161 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive good-quality care. This is because they are cared for by a team of staff who are extremely resilient and who are overtly child-focused. Staff understand that progress for children may sometimes appear limited; however, they say that ‘small wins are big wins’ for the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s self-esteem is developed at every opportunity. Children have attended two events which celebrated their successes. They had an opportunity to dress up, meet other children who live in a care setting and to receive awards and certificates.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When children are not on roll at a school, effective partnership working means there is minimal delay in finding a new education provision. Staff are effective in identifying alternative activities. Children have become proficient in climbing at a local climbing wall. They have earned certificates. They have helped other people who are learning how to climb. This has built children’s confidence and has developed their skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Stakeholders say that children’s outcomes improve while they are living at this home. They say that children have lots of support and that staff go above and beyond for children. Children make progress with their education. They have better contact with their families, and they become more settled over time.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a small house which is close to the local town and its amenities. They benefit from a good-sized bedroom. They have their own bathroom. Children are provided with outside play equipment. The environment is generally homely. However, there are areas that require quicker updating and repair when damage occurs.

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

Children are safe. They are looked after by a staff team that has regular training on how to safeguard children. Managers ensure that only staff who have been through a rigorous recruitment process can work with children.

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

Care plans and risk assessments are detailed. They are regularly reviewed. Plans reflect the current needs of children whose care needs often fluctuate due to their complexity. This means that as children’s care needs ebb and flow, staff are aware of the most current ways of supporting them.

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

Children have access to information about living at this home. Information includes what their entitlements are, expectations of behaviour and who to contact if they want to make a complaint. Inspection report for children's home: 1244161 4 When children go missing from care, staff work with safeguarding agencies to locate them quickly. Children are safer because agencies work together effectively and follow multi-agency procedures.

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

When children are at risk of harming themselves or others around them, staff use restraint techniques. Staff make efforts to use alternative and less restrictive methods before they use a physical intervention. Staff complete detailed records after each restraint. However, staff do not have discussions with a manager to reflect on their practice. This is a missed opportunity to review incidents, receive support and make plans to reduce the need for physical interventions.

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

Staff know what to do in the event of needing to leave the home due to a fire or other emergency. Children have risk assessments in place. However, when their health care needs change, these changes are not always reflected in these risk assessments. This may cause confusion about the actions that staff need to take.

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good

The manager has been in post since November 2021. They are applying to register with Ofsted. They are ably supported by a deputy manager.

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good

Leaders have not ensured that when investigations into staff practice are concluded, the identified learning and development take place. This means that the opportunities for learning from investigations are missed.

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good

There have been several changes to the staff team, and this has led to a lack of consistent care for the children. The remaining staff have worked longer shifts. Some staff are tired and less resilient. This impairs their capacity to provide the level of care that children require. Managers are taking action to rectify this, and the recruitment of staff remains a priority.

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good

Staff, including senior staff, have not had regular supervision meetings with a manager. This means that they do not have the opportunity to speak about children in their care and their own emotional well-being.

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good

Managers’ audits of medication administration have not been effective. Children have significant gaps where they have not taken medication that has been prescribed for them. Staff have not sought health advice about possible side effects of some medicines. This means that children’s health needs are not always effectively met.

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good

Staff receive a wide range of training. This is specific to the needs of the children. Staff have recently undertaken training on autism spectrum disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, safeguarding children and physical intervention. However, some staff, including senior staff, have not had training in physical intervention for a significant amount of time. Inspection report for children's home: 1244161 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 health and well-being standard is that—

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Requirement Due date

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

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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

achieve the health and well-being outcomes that are recorded in the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 10 (1)(b) (2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to medical advice being sought when children do not take prescribed medication for a significant amount of time. 15 July 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered manager must undertake such continuing professional development as is necessary to ensure that the registered manager has the skills needed for managing the home. (Regulation 29 (4))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to a manager addressing the recommendations from an investigation into practice concerns. 15 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

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— 15 July 2022 Inspection report for children's home: 1244161 6 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 staff having debriefs after physical interventions.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the children’s home is a nurturing and supportive environment that meets the needs of their children. They will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. This is in relation to delays in repairing and maintaining the home. (‘Guide to Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. Where there are safeguarding concerns for a child, their placement plan, agreed between the home and the placing authority, must include details of the steps the home will take to manage any assessed risk on a day-to-day basis. This is in relation to the accuracy of children’s risk assessments. (Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should support staff to be ambitious for every child in the home and to gain skills and experience that enable them to actively support each child to achieve their potential. This is in relation to delays in restraint training refreshers for staff and the manager. (‘Guide to Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.5)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should 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. (‘Guide to 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: 1244161 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Blue Mountain Homes

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Flat 17, Leeland Mansions, Leeland Road, London W13 9HE

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Pradeep Manaktala

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Inspector

Simon Hunter, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 1244161 8 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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